AUGUSTA — Chris Haack is going to be Georgia’s golf coach a while longer.
About to complete his 26th year as UGA’s director of golf, Haack agreed to a five-year contract extension. The deal has not been finalized, but has been agreed to in principle.
Haack met with athletic director Josh Brooks last month and left with a handshake agreement. According to Haack, he is in the last year of his contract.
“He indicated he wanted me to go for another four or five years,” said Haack, who turns 62 this year. “I told him I could do four and he said, ‘Well, let’s do five,’ and I said, ‘All right, let’s do five.’ We haven’t etched anything in writing yet, but he told me he didn’t want me or Manny (Diaz) or Jack (Bauerle) or Jeff (Wallace) going anywhere.”
Those are Georgia’s longtime coaches in men’s tennis, men’s and women’s swimming, and women’s tennis, respectively.
At issue now is Haack’s salary. He makes $220,000 a year, which is below most of the top college coaches. According to a survey done by USA Today in 2018, at least 12 men’s golf coaches made more than $300,000 in annual compensation. That list includes Stanford’s Conrad Ray, Alabama’s Jay Seawell and LSU’s Chuck Winstead. Even Oklahoma’s Ryan Hybl, who played for Haack at Georgia and was his assistant coach for several years, makes more than Haack. Hybl’s Sooners won the 2017 national championship and were runners-up last year.
Stephanie Ransom, Georgia’s deputy athletic director for business operations, is conducting a salary survey to ensure that Haack’s compensation falls in line in the SEC and with the top coaches in the game.
“I trust them,” Haack said.
Haack has led the Bulldogs to their only two national championships in golf, but it’s been a while since the last one. Georgia earned national titles in 1999 and 2005. Including runner-up finishes in 2007 and 2011 and third-place showings in 2009 and 2015, the Bulldogs have had nine top-10 and 17 top-20 efforts at the NCAAs.
It appears they will be contenders again this year. Georgia, which is ranked No. 8, is playing in the rain-delayed Calusa Cup in South Florida and was scheduled to resume second-round play with Oklahoma and Purdue on Tuesday. The final round also was scheduled Tuesday.
Next up will be the SEC Golf Championships from April 19-24 at Sea Island, where the tournament has been played since 2001. Georgia has won six of the 21 titles there, but none since 2016.
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