How an interim coach led Central Arkansas men's golf to its first conference championship

USA Today

29-04-2025

How an interim coach led Central Arkansas men's golf to its first conference championship
Josh Turnock wasn't blindsided by the news.
An assistant coach for the Central Arkansas men's golf team, Turnock has spoken with head coach Jay Rees toward the end of the fall season when Rees, an accomplished coach at numerous stops during his career, first mentioned he was considering stepping away. With family back home having health issues, Reese wasn't sure whether he'd be able to finish the season.
Right before Christmas. Rees made it official and stepped down. That left Turnock, a graduate assistant, as the lone coach on staff.
"I graduated with my MBA in December of last year, and so I was just planning on going to finding a job, you know, using the MBA and going down that route," Turnock said. "But obviously, once Jay retired, the (UCA) athletic director came to me and asked me if I'd consider doing it.
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"I thought about it a little bit and actually had a couple of job offers, other jobs related to business. In the end, decided to take the interim role."
Turnock didn't accept the interim title until about three days before the start of the spring semester, he said.
And it has been an adjustment. Rees has offered help where he can, but for Turnock, who played collegiately at UCA before spending three semesters as a graduate assistant, the differences are drastic.
"I didn't realize how much there was to do being head coach," Turnock said. "It's been different, but I've enjoyed it. This semester has just gone very quickly."
Central Arkansas placed second at the Gulf Coast Collegiate, Turnock's second event as interim coach, and added a couple more top-five finishes heading into the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship.
The Bears had a stellar opening round, shooting the third-lowest score in ASUN Championship history with a 271. That was tied for second in program history, too. Then UCA held on in the second and third round, with junior Noah Blaickner pouring in a par putt on the closing hole to secure a one-shot win over Stetson.
The victory was UCA's first ASUN Conference title in school history and the first conference title since claiming the AIC Championship in 1972. It locked up a spot in NCAA Regionals, too, with the Bears finding out their destination Wednesday.
"I think most of us still can't believe it," Turnock said. "Going into the week, we were ranked the nine seed in the conference, but went in kind of believing we had a good chance to win it because the guys struggled in the fall. They didn't play as well, didn't really show kind of how good of players they were. Our ranking doesn't show how good we are as a team. So we always had belief that we had a good chance of winning it.
UCA's lineup is comprised of three juniors and two freshman, all new faces after last season's starting five either graduated or hit the transfer portal. Turnock mentioned how the team was more nervous teeing off in the opening round of the ASUN Championship than it was day two or three, when they grasped to the lead.
Come Wednesday, the Bears will have a watch party to see which NCAA Regional they'll head to. In the meantime, it's business as usual for a team that has had a year unlike most others.
"I've enjoyed it a lot," Turnock said. "The guys make it a lot easier with with how hard they work and how well we've been playing this semester, it makes my job a lot easier. So I've enjoyed it a lot. It's been hard at some times, but with how hard the guys work every day, it's nice to see that pay off."