The Bruins’ third-longest tenured head coach has announced her retirement.
In a statement released Monday morning, UCLA women’s golf coach Carrie Forsyth declared that the 2022-2023 season will be her final year at the helm of the program. Forsyth is in the midst of her 24th season with the team, having joined in 1999 after graduating from UCLA in 1994. Forsyth spent four years as a player in Westwood, joining as a walk-on in 1990 before earning a scholarship after her first season.
“I have been blessed to call UCLA my home for 29 years,” Forsyth said in the statement. “It has been a privilege to live out my dream as the head coach at my alma mater and carry on the legacy of our golf program at this world-class institution for more than two decades.”
Forsyth led the Bruins to a pair of national championships over her tenure, first in 2004 and most recently in 2011. Her teams have also won five conference titles, featuring three in a row from 2004 to 2006 before going back-to-back in 2017 and 2018.
The announcement of Forsyth’s retirement comes in the middle of UCLA’s postseason run. Following an eighth-place finish at the Pac-12 championships last week, the team is now waiting to find out which NCAA regional it will compete in for Forsyth’s last opportunity at a national championship.
In addition to the team championships, Forsyth has garnered a number of individual accolades. The longtime head coach was inducted into the Women’s Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2012 and is the most recent individual to be included in the group.
Following the 2004 national championship season, Forsyth was named the WGCA National Coach of the Year, and she has earned WGCA Regional Coach of the Year honors four times, most recently in 2018. Forsyth also earned Golfweek’s Coach of the Year award in 2011.
Her 24-year coaching career is the third longest of any active UCLA coach, trailing only men’s tennis’ Billy Martin and women’s tennis’ Stella Sampras Webster.
As Forsyth transitions away from coaching, UCLA Athletics announced she would be taking on a role as special assistant to athletic director Martin Jarmond, and the search for her replacement will commence promptly.
“Carrie is elite, one of the most accomplished coaches in UCLA history,” Jarmond said. “Her knowledge of our Bruin culture and tradition of winning with two NCAA titles will be incredibly valuable as we build for our future.”
