Former Texas Pan American head coach Armen Kirakossian joined the Pepperdine men’s golf program as the assistant coach in July 2015 and he spent two seasons (2015-16 and 2016-17) with the Waves.
During his tenure, he helped the Waves in 2017 to their best finish at the NCAA Championships (13th) and their best end-of-season ranking (20th) since 2004.
In his one season as UTPA's head coach, Kirakossian led the Broncs to three top-five finishes in 2014-15. One of his golfers won the Western Athletic Conference's crown and advanced to an NCAA Regional, becoming the school's first student-athlete to participate in the NCAAs since 1978. He was a volunteer assistant in 2012-13 before being hired in August 2014.
"I am very excited to have Armen join our men's golf program," said Beard at the time of Kirakossian's hiring. "He will be a great contributor to our program and our University's Christian mission. He brings experience as a player and as a coach. Armen is motivated to develop young men into better players and people as well as to help us compete for a national championship every year."
Kirakossian was one of the best golfers in UTPA history from 2006-10. He won the Great West Conference's individual title as a junior, leading to all-conference first team honors. He also collected All-America Sky Conference first team acclaim as a senior and was the medalist at the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championships that season. He shot a program-record 204 (67-66-71) in winning the event.
Off the course, he was also a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-American Scholar in 2009.
"I am grateful that Michael has given me the opportunity to become a part of the Pepperdine family," Kirakossian said. "This is an amazing University to work for, one that upholds Christian values and really transforms the lives of college students. The direction that this team is headed is very exciting. There is no ceiling for the program and I hope to help it achieve its goals in any way possible."
Kirakossian competed professionally on the Golden State Tour, PGA Tour Latino American, PGA Tour China and PGA Mexico Tour, and also took part in Nationwide Tour qualifying.
He graduated from UTPA in 2010 with a degree in business administration.
He is married (his wife's name is Maria). He has family in nearby Pasadena.
