Cal Athletics
Peter Ireland was hired as the Cal men’s golf assistant coach on Friday following five years on staff with Delaware’s men’s and women’s teams.
Experienced Coach Joins Cal Staff Ahead Of 2022-23 Campaign
BERKELEY – Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Men’s Golf Walter Chun announced Friday that Peter Ireland has been hired as an assistant coach ahead of the 2022-23 men’s golf season.
Ireland arrives in Bear Territory following five years spent at Delaware, where he was the men’s and women’s assistant coach and director of recruitment.
“It is a privilege to bring a coach like Peter into our program,” Chun said. “Peter is an enthusiastic coach, hardworking and very competitive. Add in his 10-plus years of coaching experience, and you’ve got someone who can make an immediate impact on our student-athletes. We all look forward to welcoming Peter to the Cal golf family.”
Ireland fills a vacancy on Chun’s staff left by Chris Massoletti, who was announced as UC Santa Barbara’s men’s golf head coach on July 28 after three seasons spent in Berkeley.
“It is an honor to be joining the Cal golf family,” Ireland said. “I want to thank the Director of Athletics Jim Knowlton spirit Walter Chun for this opportunity of a lifetime. I would also like to thank Patty Post at Delaware for being an incredible mentor. Cal golf has a very proud and impressive history. It will be very exciting to work alongside Walter and the incredible young men that make up this team.”
The Blue Hen women’s team posted 37 top-10 finishes during Ireland’s five seasons at Delaware and placed second at the CAA Championship in three of those years, including 2022. Delaware amassed five All-CAA accolades with Ireland’s guidance, including Ariane Klotz (2018- 19), Thitaree Sakulbunpanich (2019) and Oihana Etxezarreta (2021, 2022). Sakulbunpanich was additionally selected as the 2018 CAA Rookie of the Year while Etxezarreta became the program’s first freshman medalist in 2021 and helped the Blue Hen women set a team program record of 76.38 shots per round in 2022.
Delaware’s men also posted 37 top-10 finishes in Ireland’s five-year stint with the program and captured a pair of tournaments in the 2021-22 campaign, the first time doing so since 2010-11. UD’s 73.72 team average round in 2021-22 was the lowest in program history. Ireland coached two-time All-CAA first team selection Roberto Nieves, who broke his own program record by averaging 70.58 shots per round in 2021-22 and earned an at-large berth to the NCAA New Haven Regional. Nieves was the program’s first male All-CAA selection since 2010-11.
Prior to his time in Newark, Delaware, Ireland served as the men’s and women’s golf head coach at Thomas University (Thomasville, Ga.), where he led his teams to seven NAIA National Championship appearances over a five-season span (2013-17 ). In 2014, Ireland’s Night Hawks won their first Sun Conference Men’s Championship and placed 12th at the NAIA National Championship. For his efforts in the Night Hawks’ 2014 run, Ireland was named the Sun Conference Men’s Golf Coach of the Year. Ireland also guided the Thomas women placed 17th at the 2016 NAIA National Championship and oversaw six tournament team victories and five players who earned medalist honors.
Ireland graduated from the University of Arizona with an undergraduate degree in communications in 2011 following a four-year collegiate career (2008-11) with the Wildcats. He competed in 28 collegiate/amateur events, posting a career scoring average of 75.15 in collegiate events. Ireland recorded six top-25 finishes during his career, including a low round of 67.
Ireland then played professionally on the National Pro Golf Tour for two years and averaged 73.82 strokes per round in 11 events.
Originally from Pebble Beach, California, Ireland attended Stevenson School. He and his wife Sarah, have a two-year-old son, Henry.
STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Cal men’s golf, follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalMensGolf), Instagram (@CalMensGolf) and Facebook (/CalMensGolf).