OGDEN, Utah (April 25, 2017) – David Sutherland, the Sacramento State Director of Golf and women’s golf coach, heard many cheers and experienced many thrills in his years playing professional golf.
In the years since he took over the Sacramento State golf program, the friendly, story-telling coach has taken the Hornets’ program to the status of consistent contender in #BigSkyGolf. However, for all of the success that the Hornets have had over the past decade of his tenure, it wasn’t until Sunday that Sacramento State reclaimed a conference title. Sacramento State did that by way of a playoff win over defending champion Idaho, downing the Vandals on a windy Sunday at Boulder Creek Golf Club.
Thanks to Sacramento State’s win, and berth in the NCAA regionals next month, Sutherland was named the inaugural Jeff Smith Big Sky Women’s Golf Coach of the Year. The yearly coaching award was renamed last summer for the longtime Weber State coach, who passed away in February of 2016. In his tournament acceptance speech Sunday, Sutherland was quick to credit Smith for teaching him how to coach collegiate golf.
Sutherland has led the Hornets to runner-up appearances at the Big Sky Conference championships in a string of recent years, usually suffering heartbreaking losses. Sunday, the Hornets found a way to shoot even-par on the challenging par-4 18
th hole, earning the playoff win over Idaho.
This season, Sacramento State placed four golfers on the #BigSkyGolf All-Conference team, with Julia Becker making the first-team. The Hornets placed the second-most players of any team on the all-conference team, behind Idaho.
A veteran PGA Tour player, Sutherland competed in 215 PGA events and 83 Nationwide Tour tournaments during his 17 years on the circuit. A native of Carmichael, Calif., Sutherland recorded eight top-10 and 32 top-25 finishes on the PGA Tour. His best PGA finish came at the 1997 Greater Milwaukee Open, where he tied for second. He also recorded a pair of third-place ties, including the 1999 Bell Canadian Open. In addition, Sutherland competed in the British Open at historic St. Andrews.
A graduate of Fresno State, Sutherland was a two-time All-American (1987 and 1989). He also succeeded in the classroom where he was an Academic All-American as a senior and was named Fresno State’s Pacific Coast Athletic Association Student-Athlete of the Year. He turned professional in 1989 and joined the PGA Tour in 1997.
Sutherland’s brother, Kevin, also starred at Fresno State and is currently a member of the PGA Tour.
David and his wife, Molly, live in Carmichael with their two sons (Matthew and Andrew).