Colton Cowan completed his third season as the head coach of the men's and women's golf teams at Henderson State following the 2023-24 campaign. Cowan was hired in July of 2021 and is the sixth coach in program history.
During his third season in Arkadelphia, Cowan once again led the HSU men and women to a GAC Title and delivered a third consecutive women's regional championship. Cowan also led the Reddie men to the program's first ever National Championships after finishing as Runners-Up in the Central/Midwest Regional with a program-record 13-under 267 on the final round.
In his three years as head coach, Cowan has never lost a GAC Championship on either side with a perfect 6-0 record, has never lost a women's Central Region Championship (3-0), and has now coached three women's teams and a men's team to the Division II National Championships.
Under Cowan, Henderson State has produced the last three GAC Female Players of the Year and at least three All-Conference First Team recipients each season. Additionally, the GAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Year has come from the HSU women's golf program each of the last three years. At least one WGCA All-American golfer has come from Cowan's tutelage in each of his three seasons in Arkadelphia, including two First Team All-America honorees, and four total GCAA PING All-America selections.
At the 2024 Division II Championships, Cowan led the Reddie women to their second consecutive Top-8 national finish, reaching the National Quarterfinals one year after a berth in the semifinals. The men saw their best national finish in program history, placing 12th out of 20 teams.
During his first two years on the job, Cowan saw incredible success, claiming a men's and women's GAC Championship in each of his first two seasons, along with back-to-back women's Central Region Championships. In the 2022-23 season, Cowan led the Reddie women to one of the greatest finishes in Henderson State Athletics history, finishing in the National Semifinals as one of only three HSU programs to ever reach such a plateau.
Through those historic initial two seasons, Cowan was named the GAC Women's Coach of the Year and Women's Central Region Coach of the Year for consecutive seasons while being tabbed the Men's GAC Coach of the Year for the 2022-23 season.
Cowan saw a first year few have ever seen, winning both the 2022 men's and women's GAC Championship and winning the women's Central Regional Championship - the first in program history. The region victory sent the Reddie women to Nationals for just the second time ever, where they finished ninth in the nation.
A native of Piedmont, Oklahoma, Cowan spent five seasons as both a player and assistant coach at Southwestern Oklahoma State prior to his time at Austin Peay. Cowan was a three-year letter winner for the Bulldogs from 2014-17 and served as SWOSU’s graduate assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s teams until 2019.
During his two seasons at SWOSU, Cowan helped the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs each secure two appearances in the NCAA Central Regional Tournament, and led the women’s team to a berth in the 2019 NCAA National Finals. At the 2019 NCAA DII Championships, SWOSU advanced to medal match play before eventually bowing out in the national semifinals. In Cowan’s tenure, Southwestern Oklahoma State produced six Academic All-Americans and two WGCA All-Region players in Gloria Choi and Elin Wahlin.
At Austin Peay State, Cowan was part of a staff that guided the Lady Governors to seven Top-5 team finishes from 2019 to 2021. APSU took sixth at the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and was the recipient of the 2021 OVC Team Sportsmanship award.
“Colton Cowan is an excellent choice to lead the Henderson State golf programs,” Troy University head coach and former Henderson head coach Forrest Schultz said. “I have known Colton for many years as both a player and a coach, and he is as good a person and teacher of the game of golf as they come. I know he will make a tremendous positive impact and continue the success the program has enjoyed.”
