Since his hire at North Texas in December 2008, Brad Stracke has taken the Mean Green men’s golf program to heights not seen in nearly half a century.
With the exception of his first season in Denton, Stracke has coached at least one individual to the NCAA regionals and has sent his entire team to regionals five times, while also sending three individuals – Ian Snyman, Cory Churchman and Thomas Rosenmueller – to the tournament in 2017.
Stracke, a two-time conference Coach of the Year selection, has coached an All-American (Mario Cazaubon in 2012-13), a conference golfer of the year in Ian Snyman (2018) and three individual conference champions in Carlos Ortiz (2010-11 Sun Belt Conference), Ty Spinella (2011-12 Sun Belt) and Juan Munoz (2014-15 Conference USA). He also coached the conference freshman of the year in 2010 (Cazaubon) and 2016 (Snyman), while leading his teams to 10 tournament championships, with the most recent coming in 2018 when UNT rallied from a final-day deficit to beat conference foe Rice for the Spring Break Challenge championship at the TPC Four Seasons in Las Colinas. Three of those tournament wins were of the conference championship variety – back-to-back Sun Belt tournaments in 2012 and 2013 and a C-USA tournament win in 2015.
In his 10 seasons, Stracke has had nine players earn numerous all-conference honors.
The Mean Green had a strong season in 2017-18, as they finished the year ranked No. 65 in the country for the second consecutive year and were the highest ranked C-USA team for the entirety of the season until the final poll when conference champion Middle Tennessee finished the year at No. 63. Ian Snyman finished the year ranked 60th in the country and was named the C-USA Golfer of the Year along with earning first-team all-conference honors for the second straight year. The Spring Break Challenge title at TPC Las Colinas was Stracke’s 10th in his UNT tenure. The program also showed its upward trajectory as freshmen Viktor Forslund and Vitek Novak were named to the five-man all-freshman C-USA team.
In 2016-17, UNT finished the year ranked No. 65 in the country and had an unprecedented three players earn at-large bids to the NCAA regionals in Austin, led by Snyman, who shot a final-round 67 to finish just two shots shy of advancing to the NCAA finals. Fellow sophomore Thomas Rosenmueller finished tied for 34th, and senior Cory Churchman finished tied for 54th to close out his career. Snyman earned a first-team nod on the all-conference team, while Rosenmueller and Churchman were both second-team selections.
In 2015-16, Stracke coached the Mean Green to an NCAA regional at-large bid, marking the fifth postseason appearance in his tenure and the second at-large bid. UNT won the Quail Valley Collegiate Invite – marking the seventh straight year with at least one tournament title for the program – before losing in the semifinal of the Conference USA tournament and then finishing 10th at the Tucson Regional in Arizona. Snyman was named the C-USA Freshman of the Year, while he and teammate Thomas Rosenmueller also earned second-team honors, as well as all-freshman team honors. Churchman was also a second-team selection.
The 2014-15 season showed Stracke’s and his program’s staying power as the Mean Green started a new chapter of their championship history with their first C-USA title, which was the 30th conference title in program history. UNT won the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate before going on to win the C-USA tournament behind Juan Munoz’s individual conference championship. Stracke was named the C-USA Coach of the Year – his second coach of the year honor in three years and first as a member of C-USA. That season also saw the rise of one of Stracke’s first recruits to Denton, as Carlos Ortiz won three tournaments on the Web.com Tour and was named the 2014 Web.com Player of the Year.
UNT won the second of back-to-back Sun Belt championships in the 2012-13 season and made a third straight appearance in the NCAA tournament behind a stellar year from Rodolfo Cazaubon, who became the 13th All-American in program history and the first since 1992. Cazaubon won three individual titles that season – the most in the modern era for a UNT golfer. He also became the second player in program history to earn all-conference honors in four straight seasons. Jason Roets also earned an all-conference selection. The team broke into the top 25, which was the highest ranking that late in the season since the modern ranking system began in 1998. Stracke capped the year by winning Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors.
In 2011-12, UNT won its first conference title in Stracke’s tenure and its first since 2003 and earned a second straight NCAA tournament bid – the first time UNT had earned back-to-back NCAA bids since 1974-75. Ty Spinella also captured the Sun Belt individual championship, giving the Mean Green their second straight individual champion, following Ortiz’s title in the 2010-11 season. That year, UNT climbed as high as No. 3 in the country behind Ortiz and Cazaubon and the team finished in the top five in nine of 11 tournaments. The Mean Green claimed one tournament championship, winning the Waterchase in Arlington.
In 2009-10, North Texas was the only program in the country to have two freshmen selected as at-large bids to the NCAA tournament, as Ortiz and Cazaubon, who was the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year, both got invites. It was also the first time in program history to have two players earn individual bids to the NCAA regional.
Prior to North Texas, Stracke spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Florida and was the head coach at Indian Hills Community College for nine seasons, during which time he won a NJCAA national title in 2000. At Florida, Stracke helped guide the Gators to three straight NCAA championships, highlighted by a second-place finish in 2006.
At Florida, Stracke coached six All-Americans, eight all-SEC players and a Walker Cup player. He coached 21 All-Americans at Indian Hills and led the program to its first national title and No. 1 ranking.
Stracke earned an associate degree in arts and science at Indian Hills in 1990 and a bachelor’s from UAB in 1993, after a golf career with the Blazers. Stracke earned all-conference honors in 1993 before turning professional. As a pro, he was a sectional qualifier for the U.S. Open in 1995 and earned top-10 finishes in Player of the Year points in 1995 and 1996. He won the Lake Bracken Pro-Select and the Fort Dodge Pro-Am in 1996 and claimed the Bos Landen Prairie Tour event in 1997.