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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Women's Golf
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach
- Year at Ole Miss:
- Fourth
- E-mail:
- zmbyrd@olemiss.edu
- Phone:
- 662-816-2274
- Alma Mater:
- Coastal Carolina (2009)
| CAREER HIGHLIGHTS |
| • 2021 NCAA Team National Championship • 2019 SEC Team Championship • Career Tournament Wins (Team): 7 • Career Tournament Wins (Individual): 3 • All-American Honorees: 3 • All-SEC Honorees: 5 |
Zack Byrd is in his fourth season as assistant women’s golf coach at Ole Miss.
Byrd’s third season with the Rebels saw him pushing the team to the very top of collegiate golf, with the team winning the 2021 NCAA National Championship under his guidance. The title marked the first ever Ole Miss women’s team NCAA National Championship in school history, while also marking the university’s first national championship since the football team’s 1962 win.
After joining the team in the spring of 2019, Byrd made an immediate impact in Oxford.
Year two led to four team titles and a new program record, with wins at the Golfweek Conference Challenge, Jim West Challenge, Battle at the Beach and the Moon Golf Invitational. Three Rebels earned SEC All-Conference honors and concluded the season with nine top-ten finishes.
The 2019-2020 record breaking season included the Rebels finishing first in the conference in scoring average (284.22, 4-under par) and the program’s lowest single-round total, shooting 19-under in the first round at the Jim West Challenge.
Ole Miss finished the year with its best ranking in all major polls, at No. 11 in the WGCA Coaches Poll, No. 12 in Golfstat’s team rankings and No. 13 on Golfweek’s national rankings.
Ole Miss collected three SEC weekly awards in the spring. Conner Beth Ball was named Player of the Week after her performance at The Bruzzy, while Ellen Hutchinson-Kay was tabbed Freshman of the Week twice after her outings at the Tar Heel Classic and The Bruzzy.
Byrd walked alongside Macy Somoskey at the conference championship, who went an incredible 63 holes of match play and turned in three match deciding victories that secured the first SEC Championship title in program history.
Ole Miss claimed the sixth spot at the Norman Regional to clinch a berth in their second straight NCAA Championships. The Rebels finished tied for 14th at the NCAA Championships, a new program-best finish.
Byrd, who spent 10 years as a professional golfer, most recently served as an assistant coach at Colorado State.
During his time at Colorado State, Byrd helped the Rams post their best fall three-round average (292.1) since at least 2011. CSU won the Ron Moore Women's Intercollegiate last fall with a four-under 860, the second lowest three-round score in program history. Colorado State had four top-10 individual finishes in their four fall tournaments in 2018.
Prior to joining Colorado State, Byrd spent 10 years as a professional golfer, most recently playing on the Sunshine Tour in South Africa. On the Sunshine Tour in 2017, he posted a 70.98 stroke average with seven top-20 finishes and three top-10s, including a second-place finish at the Investec Royal Swazi Open carding a 63 in the final round to break into the Top-700 of the world rankings. Following his finish and runner-up for the tour's Rookie of the Year honor, he gained full status for the 2018 season, finishing 44th on the money list while making the cut at the 2018 BMW SA Open.
Byrd qualified for the Canadian PGA Tour in 2015 and also competed on the PGA's China and Latin America tours. Byrd held conditional status with the Web.com Tour in 2014, as well as the Nationwide Tour in 2012 and Web.com Tour in 2013 after again making the final stage of Q School.
Byrd began his pro career with numerous wins and top-10 finishes on mini tour circuits in Southeast U.S. and nationwide in PGA sectional events. In 2011, he qualified and competed in the U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club, while also making the final stage of the PGA Tour's Q School.
Byrd is a 2009 graduate of Coastal Carolina University where he was a five-year member of the men's golf team. As a freshman, he won the Big South Conference individual championship and was named Big South Freshman of the Year. During his time at Coastal, he helped the Chanticleers to three NCAA Championship berths alongside PGA Tour member and 2016 U.S. Open Champion Dustin Johnson.
Following an injury, Byrd posted his best season of collegiate golf as a senior, breaking the school record with a nine-under 63 in a round. That same year, he was the Big South Player of the Year and Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while being named third team All-American by PING and Golfweek. He was also a two-time GCAA All-America Scholar in his junior and senior seasons. In 2015, he was inducted in the Coastal Carolina Hall of Fame.
