Christopher Newport University

Entering his 17th season as the head coach of the Christopher Newport University golf program in 2024-25, Jamie Coleman has helped the Captains men's golf team reach an unprecedented measure of success while overseeing the construction and development of the women's golf program since its inception in 2017-18 through the 2021-22 campaign.

During his tenure, Coleman has guided the men's program to five league championships, including four straight Capital Athletic Conference titles from 2014-17. The Captains have also qualified for seven NCAA Championship appearances, highlighted by a program-record 6th-place finish at the national tournament during the 2023-24 campaign. 

Meanwhile, on the women's side, Coleman's crew quickly established itself as one of the finest programs in the region. During their very first year of competition, the Captains won the CAC title in 2017-18 before sending an individual qualifier to the NCAA Championships the following year. 

Along with their postseason success, Coleman's squads have captured 24 tournament titles on the men's side since 2008, while the women have walked away with four, including an incredible victory in the program's first-ever competition at the 2017 Bay Creek Invitational. 

In addition to the overall team success under Coleman's watch, he has also helped recruit and coach some of the finest individual competitors in school history. Since 2008, Christopher Newport has produced nine All-Americans, including national runner-up Robb Kinder in 2021 and first team selections Brian Jaeger, David Rabil, and Alex Price. Additionally, 20 Captains have taken part in the NCAA Championships, including Kinder's second place finish and Joseph Evans' sixth-place showing at the 2012 competition. 

Under the tutelage of Coleman, Alex Price made history for CNU golf by qualifying for and playing in the 122nd U.S. Amateur over the summer of 2022. Price became the only Division III player to reach the U.S. Amateur Quarterfinals since at least the 1990's in what was inarguably one of the finest runs ever by a DIII student-athlete. Price went on to secure the Division III Jack Nicklaus Award in 2023, capping a storied career with the highest honor in NCAA Men's Golf. Price is the most decorated athlete in program history including four All-American certificates with back-to-back first team selections. 

Along with the national success, Coleman's student-athletes have received 41 All-Conference honors and 21 All-Region plaudits. Four Captains have also walked away with league championships since 2014, including CNU women's golf coach Jonathan Howard who kicked off that run. 

Equally impressive on the women's side, Christopher Newport has seen six different competitors earn All-CAC accolades over the first three seasons of the program, including two-time Player of the Year Erica Whitehouse. Whitehouse also became the program's first All-American and national qualifier after finishing ninth at the NCAA Championships in 2019. Additionally, she became the first-ever recipient of the VaSID Virginia State Player of the Year award as a sophomore, while teammate Shreya Ganta was named the top freshman in the conference in 2019. 

Ganta would go on to earn All-American honors in 2021 after becoming the second player to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Alongside Katie Thome, Ganta was also named a Scholar All-American for her work in the classroom as well. 

For his work at the helm of the program, Coleman has also received personal recognition. He picked up four consecutive CAC Men's Coach of the Year honors from 2014-17, while he nabbed the women's top award in 2018 and 2019. Meanwhile, he has been named the VaSID All-State Coach of the Year five times on the men's side after securing the award in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2021, and 2023.

Prior to his arrival at Christopher Newport, Coleman built an extensive resume in the region's golf community. A native of Smithfield, Va., he was the Golf Events Coordinator at Golden Horseshoe Country Club in Williamsburg from 2000-01. He also served as the Assistant Golf Professional at Two Rivers Country Club from 2001-02 and Stonehouse Golf Club from 2002-03. 

A graduate of Atlantic Shores Christian High School in Virginia Beach, Coleman played golf for three years at Liberty University before graduating in 2000.