Josh Brewer has had a lot of things to be proud of coaching college golfers since 2002.
He has coached at Indiana University, University of Southern California and University of Georgia.
“The role I have been granted (is) to help shape each player’s path in life,” he said. “I start to form relationships when they are in high school. Over time, you develop great trust with one another and they understand it is my job to guide them during their college years."
He said he strives to make sure they understand it continues past college, too, just in a different manner since they are in the real world.
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"It is fun talking to players who graduated eight, 10, 15 years ago," he said. "Many of them now have families. I love asking if their kids do something to drive them crazy and then remind them it is only karma for what they tried to get away with as my player.”
Brewer said among the things he enjoys about coaching college athletes is establishing relationships with them and hoping each player takes away something positive to use in their life when they graduate.
"The players are my kids and always will be, even when they finally have their own families and kids,” he said.
Two of Brewer’s former Georgia players, Jillian Hollis and Harang Lee, are on the LPGA Tour, and four others have earned Symetra Tour status.
Brewer said it’s hard to believe he has been at Georgia since 2012. He said his highlight was winning a regional title in 2016.
“That was only the third in school history,” he said.
In March, all of the college spring sports programs were canceled because of COVID-19.
“We had a much earlier grasp of COVID-19 than the general population as I have players from five countries,” Brewer said. “We had players with family members in lockdown as early as February, so we were very aware of the virus."
The official news of the NCAA shutting down occurred during the school’s spring break.
"So all of us were scrambling back to campus and then start making plans to get the players home safely," Brewer said. "Luckily, we acted swiftly and were able to have players with their families within a week. If we had waited a few more days, some of them might not have been able to leave the United States.”
Brewer said most of the courses in Georgia were closed for approximately one month.
“A majority reopened as soon as they were granted permission, and they have seen a surge in play and revenue," he said. "Unfortunately, our university course is still closed due to it being the plan of the university of reopening. It is going to be in amazing shape for our fall season.”
Recruiting has been shut down since the NCAA halted everything, and Brewer said he has been making many phone calls and trying to give virtual tours when allowed.
“With the players being given an extra year of eligibility, we are in a great recruiting spot," he said. "Our top players this year were freshmen and sophomores, so they will be freshmen and sophomores next year, as well. We will have five freshmen and two sophomores on the roster."
During the pandemic, Brewer and his players have participated in weekly Zoom meetings to go over any developments. The meetings also are a chance to see each other and be a family, he said.
“The university and SEC are also hosting various meetings as we all plan on returning to play in the fall," Brewer said.
Brewer graduated from Brownstown Central High School in 1994. He qualified for the state tournament at Prestwick Golf Course three times and placed second in the state tournament that spring, losing to Jeremy Wilkinson of South Bend Clay in a playoff.
Brewer, who was inducted into the Brownstown Central Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018, was the recipient of the mental attitude award in 1994.
“Probably still my greatest individual award,” he said. “It meant that I had great mentors, coaches and family members showing me the importance of being well-rounded in life. It should be an award for those close to me to have great pride in as they never let me settle on an achievement. They taught me that you can always achieve more if you are willing to put in the time and sacrifices.”
Brewer then went on to play golf at Indiana University for coach Sam Carmichael.
As a senior at IU, Brewer birdied the final two holes to finish second individually and help the Hoosiers secure a one-shot victory in the Big Ten Championship. It was Brewer’s final collegiate match as a player and also Carmichael’s final match as the Hoosiers’ coach.
He said winning the Big Ten Tournament was a great honor.
“It is really special to be called a Big Ten champ,” he said.
Winning a tournament as a freshman at The Legends in Franklin also was a big honor.
“I believe I was only the second freshman in school history to win a tournament," he said.
Another great moment is when the Hoosiers qualified to compete in the 1996 national championship. Brewer said Indiana has only done that three times since 1991.
“That was the last year that a conference championship didn’t earn you an automatic bid to the NCAAs,” he said. “We were on the bubble and thought winning the Big Ten would get us in, but it didn’t. Obviously, I was disappointed at the time, but to look back now, it was a pretty neat way to wrap up my career as a college golfer.”
He won the Indiana State Amateur Tournament in 1998 and went to work in the business world for three years.
Mike Mayer moved from assistant to head coach of the Hoosier men when Carmichael retired.
Mayer was Brewer’s childhood golf instructor. A position opened up on the IU staff, and in 2001, Brewer began his coaching career as an assistant men’s golf coach at IU.
“I just really enjoyed the interaction with the student-athletes,” he said.
Over the years, Brewer said he has been blessed to learn under some of the country’s greatest coaches, and he looks forward to continuing to use those lessons.
"Georgia is a program that has a rich and storied history beginning with one of women’s athletics greatest visionaries and leaders, Liz Murphey," he said. "I want to help build on the tradition she started at UGA of winning championships while graduating our student-athletes.”
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Josh Brewer
Graduated from Brownstown Central High School in 1994.
Qualified for the state golf tournament three years, finishing second his senior year.
Received the mental attitude award in 1994.
Won the Indiana State Amateur Tournament in 1998.
Graduated from Indiana University in 1998.
Played golf four years at IU and won a tournament at The Legends in Franklin his freshman year.
Helped the Hoosiers qualify for the national championship in 1996 and helped IU win the Big Ten Championship in 1998.
After spending three years in the business world with Linsco/Private Ledger in Indianapolis, he became the assistant men’s golf coach at Indiana University and ran the day-to-day operations of the Indiana University Golf Course.
He held that position for five and a half years before moving to the University of Southern California for four years.
He was the assistant coach for the men’s and women’s programs and helped each program qualify four times for the NCAA Championship.
The women finished runner-up twice, while the men made match play one year.
The Trojans won three PAC 12 titles (two men, one women) during the four years.
Brewer was named the women’s golf head coach at the University of Georgia on June 18, 2012.
During his first seven seasons at Georgia, he coached the Bulldogs to 24 tournament victories with 12 team and 12 individual wins.
He coached the team to the 2016 NCAA Bryan Regional title, and the Bulldogs shot 8 under par as a team.
Two of his former Georgia golfers, Jillian Hollis and Harang Lee, joined the LPGA Tour. Hollis, a rookie on the tour this year, holds the school record with an average of 71.04 set in 2017-18 and shot a 65 in winning the PING/ASU Invitational last year.
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