Former Navy golf coach Pat Owen retiring after more than three decades as club professional

It was announced in late April that Pat Owen would be retiring after more than three decades as head professional at the Naval Academy Golf Club.

Owen served 32 years as Navy men’s varsity golf coach before stepping down following the 2022 season. For the past two years he has held the title of Director of Navy men’s and women’s golf, while continuing to work as head pro.

Owen, whose retirement became effective Saturday, spent the past month on a farewell tour with dozens of former Navy golfers reaching out to wish him well. Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk called Owen “one of the most personable and professional” individuals he’s had the privilege to work with.

“I believe confidence, trust, competence and kindness best describe everyone’s friend in Pat Owen. He has never fallen short on any front,” Gladchuk said in a statement. “His influence as a  coach, competitor, mentor, educator and leader has affected the lives of hundreds. Our most heartfelt gratitude to a loyal and dedicated legend who is the benchmark for everything that exemplifies the absolute best within the sport of golf.”

Owen has been humbled and overwhelmed by the steady stream of Naval Academy Golf Association members that have stopped by the pro shop to praise his performance in multiple roles from 1988 to the present.

“Pat Owen has served the membership with the highest level of professionalism, whether in his role as Navy golf coach or Director of Golf,” said Mike Cumberpatch, one of the most senior NAGA members. “Pat has made everyone who has played golf at Navy feel welcome. He greets everyone with a smile and always has a word of encouragement. Pat will always have a place in our hearts.”

Owen, a lifelong Annapolis resident, feels fortunate to have fashioned a successful career pursuing a profession he is passionate about. The 1977 Annapolis High graduate recently reflected on the path that led him to work for the Naval Academy Athletic Association.

Owen was raised in the Homewood neighborhood of Annapolis that is located near Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. He was one of five children and grew up playing whatever sports were in season — football with Annapolis Elks, basketball with the Thunderbirds and baseball for St. Mary’s.

“I learned about sports from an early age and always valued the importance of teamwork,” Owen said.

Owen was introduced to golf at the age of 6, tagging along with his father and older brother to South Sherwood Forest Golf Club, an 18-hole course located where The Downs community is now.

“I loved golf right from the start and really took to it,” said Owen, who befriended head professional Ed Graefe and spent summer working at the course. “I began playing tournament golf before my teens and found out I had the temperament and skill set to do fairly well.”

Owen won the Anne Arundel County Junior Championship at age 11, shooting a 38 for nine holes at Eisenhower Golf Course. He captured the District V championship as a senior at Annapolis, which drew the attention of Johns Hopkins athletic director Bob Scott.

Hopkins had just added men’s golf as a varsity sport and Scott was seeking to fill the roster.

“I’ll never forget Bob Scott calling me at home and saying: ‘How would you like to come to Johns Hopkins to play golf?’ It was a life-changing moment,” said Owen, who was a four-year varsity letterman and senior captain of the Hopkins golf team.

Finding his calling

After graduating from Hopkins in 1981, Owen worked various jobs. One day he stopped by BWI Golf Range to talk to longtime friend George Graefe. Owen told Graefe, “I’d really like to do what you’re doing” — meaning working in the golf industry. Graefe told Owen he should visit with Naval Academy Golf Club head professional Larry Ringer to get some advice.

Graefe knew Ringer had an opening for an assistant pro and sure enough the position was offered to Owen, who spent the next three years getting certified as a PGA professional.

“I learned a great deal about the golf business and the sport of golf from Larry. He taught me the fundamentals of the game and how to score well,” Owen said. “Larry was a great influence as far as teaching others how to play golf.”

When Ringer left Navy in 1991 to become head pro at the Country Club of Woodmore, Owen replaced him on an interim basis. Owen, who earned national recognition by posting the highest score ever on the PGA of America’s Business School exam, so impressed athletic director Jack Lengyel during his first year on the job that the interim tag was dropped.

Owen spent considerable time learning what the best college golf programs were doing and introduced weight training, conditioning, sports psychology, course management and video analysis to the Navy program. As a young varsity coach, he felt blessed to have two tremendous mentors in assistant athletic directors Dave Smalley and Carl Tamulevich.

“I was able to apply some of the lessons they taught me about the Naval Academy and sports in general to the golf team,” said Owen, who was named Patriot League Coach of the Year nine times.

Navy athletics joined the Patriot League in 1992 and men’s golf was an immediate contender for the conference championship. Owen led the team to six straight runner-up results before the Midshipmen finally broke through. Navy captured three consecutive Patriot League Tournament crowns from 1988 through 1991 and finished with a total of seven titles during Owen’s tenure.

“My goal was to make sure we were always the best prepared team for the Patriot League championships,” said Owen, adding that the coach’s role at the competition site is vitally important. “Over the span of a college tournament there are roughly 875 strokes taken. If you can positively influence your team on about 17 of those strokes it can mean the difference between a middle-of-the-pack finish and a championship.”

Owen’s first big recruit was Aaron Wright, who became Navy’s first Patriot League individual champion in 1997. Wright was a two-time Illinois state champ at Anna-Jonesboro High and lost to Tiger Woods in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur.

“Aaron changed the whole program. He was a tremendous talent and lifted the entire team,” Owen said.

Owen would develop eight conference champs with Pete Lauder (1988), Joel Almquist (2000), Brian Crum (2003), Billy Hurley (2004), Erich Schoen (2008), Chris House (2013) and Charlie Musto (2018) being the others.

Lasting relationships

Hurley played on the PGA Tour for seven years, winning the 2016 Quicken Loans National at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda. Throughout his time as a professional, Hurley lived in Annapolis and regularly practiced at the Naval Academy Golf Club and considered Owen a close confidant.

“Few people outside of my family have been more influential in my life than Pat Owen. I could not have asked for a better coach, mentor and friend — not only during my four years at the Naval Academy, but through the ups and downs of life as well,” said Hurley, a four-time All-Patriot League performer and member of the 2005 Walker Cup team.

“Pat was much more than a golf pro and what really sets him apart is the love he shows for the people around him. Pat made everyone better and we are all blessed to know him.”

Owen spent the early years of his coaching career figuring out the philosophy and style he wanted to project. “What I found works best for me is to be totally invested in each player’s world, which includes their academic and family life. I always believed in getting to know the players on a personal level as well as possible,” he said.

Owen built lasting relationships with all the players he coached and enjoyed following their careers in the Navy and beyond. While the likes of Wright and Hurley were highly-touted recruits, many other players needed to be developed.

Owen loves to tell the story of Chris Renninger, who had no competitive accomplishments coming out of Sidwell Friends School in D.C. Renninger got into the academy of his own accord and sent Owen a letter asking to join the varsity golf team.

Anne Renninger, the longtime athletic director at Sidwell Friends, contacted Owen and said: “If you just give my son a chance, I promise he will eventually help you.”

Owen agreed to do so and figured he’d made a mistake when Renninger shot a 92 in an early season tournament in Florida as a freshman. However, Renninger improved as a golfer and wound up becoming a two-time All-Patriot League pick and captain of the 2008 Patriot League championship team. He graduated with a 4.0 grade point average, attended Stanford Medical School and is now an orthopedic surgeon at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

What’s most remarkable is that Owen juggled two demanding jobs for more than three decades — that as varsity coach and head professional. He worked seven days a week for 12 hours a day for a long time and spent considerable time handling course business via the phone and computer while on road trips with the golf team.

It speaks volumes that two people now handle the two positions with Jimmy Stobs the men’s varsity golf coach and Rick Phelps the head professional of the Naval Academy Golf Club. Meanwhile, Mike Burke has succeeded Owen as Navy Director of Golf.

Owen applauded the promotions of his two longtime trusted lieutenants.

“Mike and Rick know all the members personally and have that institutional knowledge that takes years to develop,” he said. “They make people feel welcome and make it a family atmosphere at the golf course.”

The 64-year-old Owen plans to spend his retirement years playing golf and traveling with his wife Karen, whom he married in 1992. They reside in the St. Margaret’s community and have two grown children — Patrick Jr. and Noelle.

“All my travel for the past 30 years has been based around the golf team. I got to go to some great places, but not necessarily with my wife,” Owen said. “Karen has been my rock and I can’t say how much I appreciate the wise counsel she has provided over the years as well as being my No. 1 fan.”