EUGENE, Ore. – University of Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens announced on Friday that women’s golf head coach Derek Radley has signed a contract extension that will keep him in Eugene through the 2028-29 season.
In his sixth season as Oregon’s head coach in 2023-24, Radley led the Ducks to the national semifinals at the NCAA Championships for the second time in three years. In 2021-22, he guided Oregon to the program’s first ever Pac-12 championships and a national runner-up finish
“Derek Radley’s leadership and commitment to the University of Oregon have elevated our women’s golf team into one of the truly elite programs in the country,” Mullens said. “He has created a championship culture and is extremely dedicated to providing an exceptional student-athlete experience both on and off the course, and he and his wife, Sara, and their children are terrific members of our Oregon community. We are excited to continue to have Derek lead our program for years to come as we compete for both Big Ten and national championships.”
Radley has led the Ducks to eight tournament titles in his six years as head coach, including a program record five wins during the historic 2021-22 season. He has also coached five players to seven all-America honors, after taking over a program that had just two all-Americans in its history prior to his arrival.
“I am incredibly humbled and grateful to be able to continue to lead the Oregon women’s golf program,” Radley said. “I want to thank Rob Mullens, Jody Sykes and the rest of the Oregon administration for their continued trust in me, as well as assistant coach Krissy Carman and our entire support staff for everything they’ve done to help us provide the best experience possible for our student-athletes. Most importantly, I want to thank my amazing wife, Sara, and our three incredible kids, Palmer, Ryder and Zaylee, for their unwavering love and support through all the tournaments, days at practice, recruiting trips, and everything in between.
“I am so proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish here at Oregon over the last six years, and I am really excited about what the future holds for this program. Coach Carman and I are going to continue to work hard each and every day to do the very best we can for each of our student-athletes and represent the University of Oregon on the biggest stages in college golf.”
The 2023-24 Ducks set a new single-season program record with a 288.88 team scoring average, surpassing the previous record of 288.92 set by the 2021-22 team. The Ducks also produced the second-most birdies (491), eagles (14) and par-or-better rounds (15) in program history, and they set the UO 54-hole scoring record with a 28-under 836 to win the Molly Collegiate Invitational in the fall.
The Ducks reached match play for the third time in program history and second time in three years, tying for sixth overall in stroke play while playing with three true freshmen in their lineup. Oregon knocked off No. 2 seed LSU in the NCAA quarterfinals to reach the semifinals.
Oregon was led in 2023-24 by freshman Kiara Romero, who became the first Duck under Radley and the first since 1996-97 to be named a WGCA first-team all-American. Romero was also the WGCA Co-Freshman of the Year as well as a first-team all-Pac-12 selection, the eighth for Oregon in Radley’s six seasons. Prior to Radley’s arrival, Oregon had just three all-Pac-12 first-team selections in its history.
Romero set Oregon single-season records for scoring average (70.84) and birdies (118), and she became just the seventh Duck to win multiple tournaments in a season with victories at the Annika Intercollegiate – in her collegiate debut – and at the San Diego State Classic. Romero also tied for the third-lowest round in program history with a 7-under 65 at the Pac-12 Championships, and she shot a 6-under 66 at the NCAA Championships on her way to finishing sixth overall and becoming the first Duck ever to shoot under par (-4) across a 72-hole tournament.
Romero joined Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen, Briana Chacon, Tze-Han Lin and Hsin-Yu Lu as Ducks to be named WGCA all-Americans under Radley since the 2019-20 season. In 2021-22, Lu became the second Duck ever to win the individual Pac-12 title while leading Oregon to the team title, and Chacon became the first Duck to win an NCAA Regional individual championship.
In six seasons at Oregon, Radley owns an impressive 569-221-11 competitive record and has led Oregon to 41 top-five finishes in 58 events.
