Meet the Coach
One of the first coaches to join Florida Gulf Coast University, Dr. Jim Suttie enters his seventh season as the head men’s golf coach. He began his tenure in November, 1999.
The Eagles have been among the top Division II programs under Suttie, winning an astounding 18 tournaments and finishing in the top-five in 37 tournaments.
In 2006 the Eagles finished the season with 6 top-10 finishes and a season high fifth at the Matlock Invitational in Lakeland, Fla. Senior Drew Pierson was selected and competed in the NCAA Division II South Regional Tournament.
Suttie, who serves as the director of Dr. Jim Suttie’s Training Centers at the Club at Twin Eagles in Naples and at Cog Hill Country Club in Lemont, Illinois, is considered one of the top golf instructors in the nation.
An educational consultant to the National Golf Foundation, Dr. Suttie was honored as the 2000 National PGA Teacher of the Year and ranked No. 12 on Golf Digest’s 2004 list of America’s 50 Greatest Teachers. In addition, he is a three-time winner of the Illinois PGA Teacher of the Year award.
He was worked with many PGA and LPGA touring professionals including Paul Azinger, Chip Beck, Fred Funk, Carin Koch, Vicki Goetze Ackerman, Steve Flesch, Silvia Cavalleri and Loren Roberts. Dr. Suttie has been seen frequently on the Golf Channel and conducts numerous seminars for the PGA.
Prior to joining the staff at FGCU, Suttie was the head coach at Northwestern University from 1986-1998. He also spent three seasons as the head coach and director of the Golf Management Program at Methodist College, where his teams twice finished as the NCAA Division III national runners-up. Suttie also won two conference championships and 12 tournaments in four years as the head coach at Eastern Kentucky University and coached six all-Americans – including Paul Azinger – while winning two state championships and finishing second nationally in three years as head coach at Brevard Community College.
Suttie received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Physical Education from Northern Illinois University. He earned a doctorate degree in Physical Education with an emphasis on biomechanics from Middle Tennessee State University. He now resides in Bonita Springs.
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