UC Riverside Men's Golf has seen tremendous strides of improvement in Mary Ritchie's time as head coach. Ritchie, who was named interim head coach in spring of 2022 and also coached the men in the fall of 2015, had the interim tag removed on November 29, 2022 when she was named Director of Golf.
UCR has seen five Big West All-Academic selections since Ritchie took over the program and the program's best third-round score in history with Josh Hu's 65 (-6) at the 2022 Visit Stockton Pacific Invite. Ritchie has also overseen two of the lowest individual 36-hole scores and three of the lowest 54-hole scores in program history.
The Highlanders have lowered their team scoring average in three consecutive years, posting a 296.88 in 2023-24. In the classroom, 85% of last year's roster was named to the Big West Commissioner's Honor Roll while three student-athletes made the Dean's List. The team also registered a 3.45 cumulative GPA through winter of 2024.Â
Ritchie's 2023-24Â squad saw career lows from newcomers Kamaljit Singh and Chanhee Ryu while as a team, UCR shot 27 individual rounds at or under par. Singh, a true freshman, was tied for fourth overall after 36 holes in the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational for his collegiate debut. Ritchie also guided UCR to a dual win over Cal State San Bernardino last season, led by a 68 (-4) from Hu.Â
Under Ritchie's guidance, Hu earned a national ranking of 34 by Golfstat in October of 2022, the program's highest since Brendan Steele's 14 in 2004-05. Hu was named an All-Big West Honorable Mention in 2022-23.Â
UC Riverside enjoyed a banner year in 2021-22 with Hu earning an eighth-place finish at the Big West Championship while Minjae Park tied for 12th and Sam He tied for 18th. UCR finished sixth as a team at the 2021-22 Big West Championship in La Quinta, the program's best team finish since 2015-16.Â
Ritchie's fall 2015 stint with the men's team introduced immediate success, as she paved the way for the Highlanders' first Big West title since 2005 and a pair of All-Big West selections in Sam Gillis and Matt Lutz.
As a member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association, Ritchie remains active as a teaching professional and elite competitive coach. Before returning to collegiate coaching at UC Riverside in 2014, Ritchie worked as the Director of Instruction at Moreno Valley Ranch Golf Club in Moreno Valley, CA and was an LPGA Teaching Professional at TemekuHills Golf and Country Club in Temecula, CA for over 15 years. Prior to her time on the West Coast, Ritchie was a golf professional at Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami, Fla. from 2000 to 2002.
She transitioned from student-athlete to coach at her Alma Mater, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and served as head women's golf coach for the 1996-98 following a stint as assistant golf coach for the Blazers in 1995-96. As head coach, Ritchie improved the team's national ranking from 89th to 56th as rated by Golfstat.
Ritchie was an all-conference performer at UAB, winning one tournament, finishing with 11 top-five finishes, and leading the team in scoring for three seasons. She became a touring professional in 1999, playing on the Futures Tour (now named the LPGA Epson Tour), US Challenge Tour, West Coast Ladies Tour, and Canadian Women's Tour. Additionally, she finished in the top 10 in over 30 events, including three tournament wins, and a third place finish in the 2004 LPGAT&CP Championship.
Ritchie is a LPGA Class A Professional, currently serves on the Southern California PGA Junior Advisory Board and also served as the LPGA Western Section Secretary from 2014-16. She was also a nominee for both the 2013 Western Section Teacher of the Year, and 2013 Western Section Junior Leader of the Year.
