Ryan Donovan Hometown: Yorba Linda, Calif. Position: Head Coach Experience: Eighth Year Alma Mater: San Diego State, 2001

Ryan Donovan recently completed his seventh year as head coach at San Diego State, having elevated his alma mater into a perennial national top-25 program.

Donovan has coached the Aztecs to 73 top-10 tournament finishes, including 11 of 13 in 2009-10, 50 top-five tournament performances, 12 team titles and three NCAA national championship appearances. During his tenure, the team has advanced to the NCAA regionals every season with a current active streak of 12 straight postseason bids. SDSU has also placed in the top two at the conference championships three of the last five campaigns.

In 2009-10, Donovan helped San Diego State to seven top-five finishes, including victories at the Turtle Bay Resort College Invite in Hawaii and the Barona Collegiate Cup in March. The Aztecs were also runners-up at the Mountain West Conference championships and prestigious U.S. Intercollegiate, attaining a final No. 24 national ranking by Golfweek/Sagarin.

Individually, four different SDSU players won or shared an individual tournament title this past season. Redshirt sophomore Tyler Morris kicked off the year by placing first at the Firestone Grill College Invite in October, before Andrew Cooley and Alex Kang shared medalist honors at the Hawaii event in November. In the spring, sophomore J.J. Spaun, who later was named all-MWC, beat out 88 other golfers to win the Thunderbird Invitational in a playoff in Arizona.

The 2008-09 campaign saw Donovan lead the program to 10 top-five finishes, bolstered by six runner-up performances, en route to its 11th consecutive and 14th overall NCAA regional appearance. The Aztecs ended the season ranked 21st nationally by golfstat.com, and narrowly lost in a playoff to TCU for the 2009 league crown. Three players finished as tournament runners-up, including then sophomore Johan Carlsson, who received conference player-of-the-month honors in November 2008, and was later named all-conference.

Under Donovan's tutelage in 2007-08, San Diego State placed in the top 14 in all 15 outings with the 15th tournament of the campaign being a 14th-place finish at the NCAA Championships, the school's best placing in 26 years.

Just getting to the national stage took a great leadership from Donovan, as he helped the Aztecs vault 11 places from 20th into a tie for ninth to force a three-way playoff during the final round of the NCAA West Regionals. SDSU posted a tournament-low tying 5-under-par 283 over the final 18 holes of regulation, then shot a combined 2-under par along with Texas in a shotgun sudden-death format to advance to nationals.

Individually, Donovan tutored a pair of athletes, senior Aaron Goldberg and junior David Palm, to All-America accolades. Goldberg became the first Aztec to gain All-America status in consecutive seasons since 1983-84 after he was awarded with third-team honors. Palm, meanwhile, was named to the honorable mention squad. Additionally, both were all-Mountain West Conference and all-Southwest Region selections. Other players to earn season-ending recognition under Donovan were Matt Hoffenberg (MWC Freshman of the Year, all-MWC, all-Southwest Region) and Carlsson (all-Southwest Region). For his team's performances, Donovan, himself, was named the Eaton Golf Pride Division I Coach of the Year for the Southwest region, given annually by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

In 2006-07, SDSU secured three team tournament titles and reached the NCAA Regionals for the team's ninth straight appearance. Goldberg had one the program's finest seasons, finishing with a scoring average of 70.71, seven top-10 finishes and medalist honors at the District 7 Fall Shootout on his way to being named a honorable mention PING All-American, the program's first such honor since 2001.

The 2005-06 season was equally impressive as Donovan guided SDSU to three team tournament victories en route to its eighth consecutive NCAA regional appearance. Three Aztec golfers - seniors Andrew Scott and Josh Warthen and sophomore Palm - also claimed individual titles during the season, while Scott and Goldberg garnered all-Mountain West Conference accolades.

In 2004-05, Donovan led SDSU to its second NCAA championship appearance in three years, while the Aztecs posted 12, top-10 individual finishes to go along with six straight top-five team performances during the regular season.

Donovan returned to Montezuma Mesa as an assistant coach under former head coach and current director of operations Dale Walker, but was later promoted to interim head coach after the conclusion of the 2003 fall season and guided SDSU through the entire 2004 spring campaign.

Donovan completed his first season as head coach with four of his players combining for eight, top-five individual tournament finishes and two tournament wins.

Prior to coaching at SDSU, Donovan was a four-year member of the Aztec golf squad and went on to join the professional ranks.

Donovan competed for the Aztecs from 1997-2001. His most successful season came as a junior when he posted five, top-30 finishes. During his senior year, he shot a career-best 4-under 212 at the Aztec Invitational, placing second overall and helping SDSU to the tournament title.

Donovan also has national experience on his playing résumé. He qualified for the U.S. Amateur in 1996 and 1999, and played in the British Amateur in 2001 before turning pro. He then competed on the Golden State Tour in 2001 and the Gateway Tour in 2002.

A native of Yorba Linda, Calif., Donovan was a four-time all-Sunset League performer at Esperanza High School and was named first-team all-Orange County his senior season. Donovan graduated with a degree in public administration and currently resides in San Diego.