Men's Golf
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- james.b.bracken@csun.edu
- Phone:
- 3228
Jim Bracken completed his 39th season as head coach of the CSUN men's golf team in 2024-25.
During the 2023-24 season, Bracken's 38th, the Matadors posted three top-five finishes as five players finished the season with a scoring average of 74 or better. Graduate transfer Antoine Sale set the single-season scoring record, averaging 70.79 over 33 rounds to lead the squad. Sale and senior Felix Schrott earned All-Big West accolades. CSUN has now had 37 golfers earn All-Big West honors since the 2002-03 season.
Schrott posted CSUN's lone individual win of the season, firing a 12-under 198 to win the Vanharte Orange County Collegiate in February. Schrott also had three other top-five finishes, including a team-best seventh-place finish at the GOLFWEEK National Golf Invitational, CSUN's first postseason appearance since 2001.
Bracken has coached nine All-Americans since taking over for the legendary Bill Cullum following the 1985-86 season. Nick Delio is Bracken’s most recent All-American, setting the then-school scoring record following his senior season in 2010. 
In 22 seasons as a member of the Big West Conference, Bracken has led the Matadors to a second-place finish (2017) along with four third-place finishes (2004, 2008, 2011, 2023).
Bracken was named Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year in 2000 after leading the Matadors to their only Division I conference championship. CSUN claimed its only Div. I conference championship by finishing with a three-round team score of two-over-par 866. The Matadors then went on to finish 17th at the NCAA Regionals, their first appearance in the Regionals since 1992-93.
In Bracken’s 38 seasons, CSUN has produced nine All-Americans and has had 34 golfers named all-conference since the 1996-97 season.
Bracken, who was named head coach in 1986, has guided his alma mater to three District 8 championships, four appearances in the NCAA Division II championships, and one appearance in the NCAA Division I championships. The three-time District 8 Coach of the Year (1987-89) led the Matadors to a third-place trophy at the NCAA Division II championships in 1990, the program’s last season at the Division II level. Northridge also has NCAA finishes of third in 1989, fifth in 1987, and eighth in 1988.
A 1980 graduate of CSUN with a bachelor’s degree in commercial recreation, Bracken played for the school’s golf program during the 1978 and 1979 seasons. His career low round was 70, shot in the Matadors’ victory over Cal Poly Pomona on Feb. 9, 1979. Bracken was 3-0 in 1978 and 4-2 in 1979 for the Matadors in match play. His best tournament was a 152 at the 1979 UC Riverside Invitational.
Bracken was voted all-league in golf and basketball at James Monroe High School, graduating in 1975 before earning his associate of arts degree at Los Angeles Valley College in 1978.
After college, Bracken’s playing experience includes winning the Oxnard City Championship and a fourth-place finish at the Ventura County Championship in 1991. He also was a qualifier for the 1987 U.S. Amateur, the 1985 Low Amateur at the California State Open and a quarterfinalist for the Pacific Northwest Amateur Championship in 1985.
A native of Los Angeles, Bracken has been an active member of the Southern California Golf Association, the Southern California Public Links Golf Association and is co-chairman of the Ben Graham Memorial Scholarship at CSUN.
Bracken and his wife, Kim reside in Granada Hills. He has two daughters, Hallie and Carly.
