Michael Wilson is the new Cal Men's Golf Head Coach
Michael Wilson, Cal alum and 2004 NCAA champion, replaces Walter Chun, another Cal alum, who was fired despite leading the Golden Bears to 19th overall finish nationally
The current “Golden Age” of Cal Men’s Golf alumni on the PGA Tour also means that the expectation for the program is higher. With three Cal Bears alumni (Collin Morikawa, Max Homa, and Byeong-Hun “Ben” An) in the marquee PGA events and Majors and two more on tour (Michael Kim and James Hahn), Cal Men’s Golf pulled in a consensus top-3 nationally ranked freshman class ahead of the 2023-24 season. That coupled with the return of a duo that won the 2023 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship in seniors Sampson Zheng and Aaron Du, meant a very high expectation for the California Golden Bears.
Although the Cal Bears did advance to the 2024 NCAA Championship after finishing 2nd at the Rancho Santa Fe Regional, they only managed to finish 19th overall in Carlsbad, CA after three rounds of play. The top 15 squads of the 30-team field advance to the fourth and final round before the top eight switch to match play. Cal’s previous NCAA Championship berth was back in 2019 when then-senior Collin Morikawa led the Golden Bears to 10th place, just a stroke out of the top 8.
Having these two NCAA Championships on his head coaching resume was not enough for Walter Chun to save his job. Chun was relieved of duty on July 2nd, 2024. Around that time (but WFC does not know if it was the cause or effect) Eric Lee and Ethan Fang opted to transfer to Oklahoma State after very successful freshman seasons as Golden Bears. Those departures and the graduation of Sampson Zheng meant that Cal will have a brand new trio atop their lineup in 2024-25.
Walter Chun, Cal Men’s Golf alumnus (1997-2002), has been involved with the program for 27 years. After graduation, Chun worked as an assistant at Cal under Steve Desimone and was a big part of the Cal Men’s Golf “golden age” from 2009-14, an era that produced current PGA tour pros like Michael Kim, Byeong-Hun An, and Max Homa as well as previous PGA tour pro Brandon Hagy. While Collin Morikawa was recruited by Desimone before retiring, his fantastic collegiate career happened under the tutelage of Chun. Despite the talent and individual successes, Cal Men’s Golf did not have the same team success in the eight years with Walter Chun as the head coach.
A third Cal alumni will be the third head coach of the Cal Men’s Golf program. Michael Wilson, Cal Men’s Golf alumnus (2002-06), was named the Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Men’s Golf earlier today. Wilson was a key member of the program’s lone NCAA championship title in 2004. He is also coming off two successful seasons as the head coach of Colorado State men’s golf, leading the Rams to two NCAA Regional berths and a 2023 NCAA Championship berth. Before Colorado State, Wilson was the head coach at Long Beach State for five years.
"I'm humbled and honored to be named the next head men's golf coach at Cal – it's a dream come true," Wilson said. "It's great to return home, and I can't wait to get to work the student-athletes, administration and the Cal Golf Family. Cal Golf has always been close to my heart as a Northern Californian, alumnus and member of the 2004 NCAA Championship team. My experience at Cal lasted me a lifetime. There's incredible tradition here, a long history of developing elite golfers, an outstanding support group and the perfect environment to learn and grow both on the course and in the classroom. Cal has everything needed for a young golfer looking to achieve greatness. Thank you to Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton and Associate Athletics Director Jay John for believing in me to lead the program forward.
"We will challenge and empower our golfers to be the very best version of themselves on and off the course. Our teams will win, bring home championships and passionately work to build something bigger than ourselves. The Cal Golf experience will take our student-athletes far in life; when they graduate, they will carry the lessons learned, confidence gained and Cal logo proudly with them forever."
Cal Men’s Golf does have five newcomers for 2024-25, including a graduate transfer from Seton Hall Weliang Xie. While the freshman class is not ranked, Ziqin (Eric) Zhou is the 16th-best prospect nationally according to GolfChannel.com. There may also be further player movement into the program now that the Michael Wilson hiring is official.
Cal Men’s Golf will be one of three programs to have a new head coach in 2024-25. Cal Volleyball hired Jen Malcom after going through the 2023 season with an interim head coach. Cal Women’s Golf hired Sofie Aagaard, Cal Women’s Golf alumna (2003-06), to replace the retiring Nancy McDaniel. Aagaard returned to Cal after head coaching stints at Cal Poly and Washington State.
Welcome back to Bear Territory, coach Michael Wilson!
Do you think Walter got a fair shake? I mean 19th nationally is a pretty good finish for the program historically.