Mike Wilson

Charleston Southern Head Golf Coach Mike Wilson enters his third season at the helm of the program in 2012-2013. Wilson will look to build off a 2011-2012 campaign which earned him Big South Coach of the Year honors as the Bucs took third place at the Conference Championship, finishing just five strokes behind runner-up and rival Coastal Carolina.

Individually, Wilson helped mentor senior Jacobo Pastor, and junior David Denlinger, to the NCAA Athens Regional. Pastor had also achieved a third place finish at the 2012 Big South Conference Championships with a score of 72-68-69-210. Denlinger, meanwhile, carded a three-round total of 214 to take tenth place, and also fired a 66 at the Dash Thomas Memorial to record the third lowest round in CSU history. Wilson’s tutelage helped both players enter red numbers on day two of the NCAA Regionals, as Pastor finished 45th while Denlinger took 60th.

Earlier in the year, Wilson oversaw a total team effort as CSU compiled 36 and 54-hole records en route to besting the competition by capturing the 24th Annual Coca-Cola Invite with a 23-under par final ledger. The Bucs finished a full ten strokes in front of second place East Tennessee State, and Pastor led the way by shooting 73-67-65-205 to finish second individually with an 11-under par score.

In his first season at CSU, and in a concerted effort to make the Charleston Southern golf team a nationally recognized program, Wilson announced a challenging yet exciting 2010-11 schedule for his players.  The Bucs competed with some of the nations’ best golfers at challenging venues like TPC Sawgrass, Kiawah Island, Haig Point, TPC Myrtle Beach and TPC Tampa Bay. 

After a short stint as interim head coach, Wilson led the Buccaneers to a second place finish at the 2010 Big South Championship, a marked improvement from their seventh place finish the year before.    Led by Kelvin Day, who cracked the top-100 rankings during the season, the Bucs had four top-five finishes and eight top-ten finishes as team in Coach Wilson’s first season.  They also boasted a win at the CSU Fall Invitational.  Day concluded his CSU career with a second-place individual finish at the Big South Championship, and earned BSC All-Conference honors. 

Prior to taking the reins of the men’s program, Wilson served as the inaugural head coach of the CSU women’s golf team and was an assistant to the men’s program. 

Boasting an 81-77-1 overall record, Wilson led the Lady Bucs to a second place finish at the 2009 Big South Championships and claimed a win at the Wendy’s Invitational.   Olivia Jordan-Higgins paved the way for the Buccaneers, earning a share of the BSC Golfer of the Year honors as well as a spot on the All-Conference team.  Teammate Madison Jeter earned BSC Academic All-Conference honors.

In 2007-08, Wilson led the Lady Bucs to the 2008 Big South Championship and onto the NCAA East Regional, where the Bucs finished 19th overall.  Jordan-Higgins finished second overall at the Big South Championships and, along with teammate Katrin Rumpf, earned BSC All-Conference honors.   Jeter again earned BSC Academic All-Conference accolades as the Bucs shared the BSC Sportsmanship Award with Radford. 

After concluding his four-year playing career at CSU in 1999, Wilson joined the Buccaneers as an assistant coach from 1999-2000.  He spent seven years as the Golf Assistant and Director of Instruction as the Seabrook Island Club on John’s Island, S.C., before joining the Top Golf Academy in Alexandria, Va., as a teaching professional in 2006.  Wilson also spent time as a golf professional at nearby Coosaw Creek Country Club in North Charleston, S.C.

As a player, Wilson was the 2001 Santee Amateur champion before becoming a PGA professional in 2001.  In 2010, he was the Low Amateur at the North Charleston Open.