Photo by: Roger Horne
Woodruff Departs to Become Head Coach at Chattanooga
6/2/2022 7:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
MALIBU, California – After five highly successful seasons at Pepperdine, men's golf associate head coach Blaine Woodruff is departing to become the head coach at Chattanooga.
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Woodruff, a finalist for the 2021 Jan Strickland Award as the nation's top assistant coach, was part of 17 tournament victories during his tenure, including the 2021 national championship. He and the Waves just wrapped up a semifinal finish at the 2022 NCAA Championships.
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"There aren't enough words to describe how much the last five seasons have meant to me at Pepperdine," Woodruff said. "I met my wife at Pepperdine, our teams created multiple program milestones, won a national championship in 2021 and had another great run in 2022. Great players make great coaches and I'm so grateful for the guys I've been able to coach these last few years. I'm excited to follow each of them at the next level.
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"I'm thankful for all the friendships that have been created with administration, alumni, donors and families – we once again had the loudest crowd at Grayhawk. I want to thank Michael Beard for giving me this incredible opportunity. It's been a crazy ride and there were a lot of ups and downs but I'm honored to have spent five seasons working with him and learning from the best coach in college golf. Pepperdine will always hold a special place in my heart and I am blessed to have been part of the family."
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Over his five seasons, the Waves produced 18 individual medalists at tournaments, nine All-American selections (with 2022 yet to come) and 17 All-West Coast Conference honorees. He also helped Pepperdine to the nation's #1 ranking when the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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"We are all so excited for Blaine and Katie," Beard said. "I feel very fortunate to have spent five years with Blaine here at Pepperdine. He has given so much to our players and our program during his time with us. I have no doubt he will be an extremely successful head coach, and I'm excited to see him build the program at Chattanooga."
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A native of Acworth, Georgia, Woodruff played collegiately at South Carolina, and was an assistant coach at Wisconsin before joining the Waves in December 2017.
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Woodruff, a finalist for the 2021 Jan Strickland Award as the nation's top assistant coach, was part of 17 tournament victories during his tenure, including the 2021 national championship. He and the Waves just wrapped up a semifinal finish at the 2022 NCAA Championships.
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"There aren't enough words to describe how much the last five seasons have meant to me at Pepperdine," Woodruff said. "I met my wife at Pepperdine, our teams created multiple program milestones, won a national championship in 2021 and had another great run in 2022. Great players make great coaches and I'm so grateful for the guys I've been able to coach these last few years. I'm excited to follow each of them at the next level.
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"I'm thankful for all the friendships that have been created with administration, alumni, donors and families – we once again had the loudest crowd at Grayhawk. I want to thank Michael Beard for giving me this incredible opportunity. It's been a crazy ride and there were a lot of ups and downs but I'm honored to have spent five seasons working with him and learning from the best coach in college golf. Pepperdine will always hold a special place in my heart and I am blessed to have been part of the family."
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Over his five seasons, the Waves produced 18 individual medalists at tournaments, nine All-American selections (with 2022 yet to come) and 17 All-West Coast Conference honorees. He also helped Pepperdine to the nation's #1 ranking when the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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"We are all so excited for Blaine and Katie," Beard said. "I feel very fortunate to have spent five years with Blaine here at Pepperdine. He has given so much to our players and our program during his time with us. I have no doubt he will be an extremely successful head coach, and I'm excited to see him build the program at Chattanooga."
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A native of Acworth, Georgia, Woodruff played collegiately at South Carolina, and was an assistant coach at Wisconsin before joining the Waves in December 2017.
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