Mike Cook enters his 16th season at the helm of the Coastal Georgia men’s golf program. Last season he led his squad to the programs 10th NAIA National Tournament appearance. Two of those appearances ended in NAIA National Championships (2014 & 2015) and the Mariners have not missed the NAIA National Tournament since 2014*.(*2020 did not hold a tournament due to COVID-19)
Since taking over the program during its final season in the NJCAA, Cook has coached 12 GCAA All-American Scholars, 26 NAIA All-Americans, 24 PING NAIA All-Americans, 32 NAIA PING All-Region Players and 40 All-Conference Players (SSAC & SUN) including a Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year in Mark David Johnson (2019). Cook has also won Conference Coach of the Year three time (2014, 2016, 2019), twice in the SSAC and once in the SUN, and NAIA Coach of the Year twice (2014, 2015) after back-to-back National Championship wins. Cook has won 45 total tournaments since Coastal Georgia joined the NAIA in 2011, including eight in the 2014-15 season.
Cook has also had two GCAA Outstanding Academic Teams in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. A career highlight for him was being selected to coach the USA v. Europe in the 2016 Arnold Palmer Cup in Southport, England.
The Coastal Georgia men’s golf program has been named an NAIA Scholar-Team twice (2016-17, 2017-18) and has boasted 27 Conference All-Academic Players (SSAC & SUN) and 14 Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athletes.
The 2024-25 season was another successful tenure for Cook and the Mariners as the men once again returned to the NAIA National Tournament, marking the 11th straight time (excluding the COVID-19 2020 season when the tournament was cancelled). Cook also led Antonio Juarbe to Third Team NAIA All American honors for the second straight season, and was ranked as high as number five in the NAIA Coaches Poll.
During the 2023-24 season, the Mariners were consistently ranked inside the NAIA National Polls, making it as high as 11th in the poll before season's end. The Mariners picked up a third place finish at the Sun Conference Tournament which punched their ticket to the NAIA National Tournament where they finished 12th as a team. Cook coached Freshman Antonio Juarbe to third place finishes in both the SUN Tournament and the National Tournament, allowing him to earn Third Team NAIA All American honors.
In 2022-23, the Mariners got off to a slow start before ramping things up after the winter break. All-Americans George Langham and Thacher Neal led the way in the second-half push as the Mariners climbed up to No. 5 in the NAIA and finished t-7th in the NAIA National Tournament.
In the 2021-22 season, Cook led his team to two tournament victories on their way to the NAIA National Tournament. Throughout the season they were ranked consistently in the top five, being ranked as high as three in the final two polls. Marcus Reynolds help lead the charge, as he was ranked 65th in the NAIA by GolfStats.
The success of 2021-22 was carried over from the previous season where they finished No. 3 in the NAIA polls after the Mariners competed in their seventh straight NAIA National Tournament. The 2020-21 season also brought two tournament wins into the program and they finished two more tournaments as the runner-up. All-American’s Jackson Lawlor and Chip Thompson entered that season as the No. 8 and No. 15 ranked golfers in the NAIA according to GolfStats, both of whom were medalists in one tournament that season.
In the shortened 2019-20 season, the Mariners were primed to make another run at the NAIA National Championship. Through six tournaments they had four wins, one runner-up finish and a third-place finish. Eli Scott, Lawlor and Thompson all finished the season with scoring averages worthy of being top 10 in the school’s record book. Scott continued on his All-American performance from the previous season where he was ranked No. 5 in the NAIA, scoring an average of -0.45 under par per round. Scott finished out the 2019-20 season moving down just one spot to No. 6, while Thompson joined him in the top 10 at No. 8.
Former Jack Nickalus National Player of the Year, Mark David Johnson, led the way for Cook’s 2018-19 NAIA Tournament run. David Johnson was the No. 1 ranked golfer in the NAIA that season as he helped the Mariners finished as the National Runners-Up in the 2019 NAIA National Tournament on his was to finishing as the medalist with a +2 finish. This finish would be an improvement from the 2017-18 season when they finished fourth and David Johnson finished T-3.
The 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons were down years in terms of Coastal Georgia’s standards. Cook and company were coming off back-to-back NAIA National Championships and were trying to fill the gaps left by three players who were all ranked in the top 10 but still continued the streak of NAIA National Tournament appearances.
Alastair Tidcombe, Allen Bradford and Hunter Cornelius marked the 2014-15 era for Cook. The Mariners were ranked No. 1 throughout the year and lived up to that ranking as they went on defend their National Title victory from last season. This was the first and last time that Coastal Georgia had three players ranked in the top 10 as Tidcombe, Bradford and Cornelius sat at No. 2, No. 4 and No. 10, respectively. The Mariners recorded their best score v. par to date in an NAIA Tournament with a -7.
The 2013-14 season was the first year the Mariners made it to the NAIA National Tournament as well as the first time they won. Bradford and Cornelius were instrumental in this title run as well, both finishing the NAIA Championship in the top 25. Dylan Freeman and Chase Miller were also a crucial part of the victory, both finishing in the top 25 as well.
Cook graduated from the University of Georgia in 1983 where he played golf and was first-team All-SEC and a third-team All-American his senior year. Cook began hist pro career that same year and played on the pro circuit until 1986. He was a member of the South African PGA Tour in 1984 before he went into coaching.
Since taking up coaching, Cook has been one of the best in the business. In 2001, Golf Digest tabbed him one of the top 15 coaches in Georgia and he would later get recognized on a national level as he was named the coach of the 2016 US Team for the Arnold Palmer Cup which featured 10 premier golfers from power five Division I schools.
Personal
- Married to his wife Lori.
- The couple has a son, Michael, and a daughter, Madelyn.
- Long-time teaching instructor at renowned Sea Island Golf Club, where he is currently a Senior Instructor.
