Chris Zambri - Men's Golf Coach

Chris Zambri

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
zambri@usc.edu
Phone:
821-3010

Chris Zambri, a former USC All-Pac-10 performer and longtime Nationwide Tour veteran, is in his 14th year as USC's men's golf head coach, establishing himself as one of the top coaches in the nation with a recent string of three consecutive NCAA Championships quarterfinal match-play appearances – including one final and one semifinal berth -- among 12 total trips to the NCAA Championships final week.

Zambri's teams have won 32 events (as of the end of the 2018-19 season), including conference titles in 2007, 2011 and 2018 and NCAA Regional wins in 2008, 2012 and 2017. His 2015 team was a program-best NCAA Championships runner-up, followed up by an NCAA semifinal finish in 2016 and a quarterfinal appearance in 2017. His 2008 team came within three strokes of first place at the NCAAs. Trojan golfers have also won 30 individual crowns – including one NCAA and three conference titles -- under Zambri (as of the end of the 2017-18 season).

In 2019, Zambri oversaw a Trojan program that won three tournaments (the fifth straight year with at least two wins) and returned to the NCAA Championships for USC’s 12^th appearance at nationals in 13 seasons. Zambri also helped senior Justin Suh earn his second straight PING All-American first team selection, becoming USC’s first back-to-back first teamer since Jamie Lovemark in 2007-08. Suh spent much of the season ranked as the top amateur in the world and finished with a team-best 69.39 stroke average, second-best in program history behind only his record 68.73 2018. Suh, who won twice as a senior, also matched his school record with 21 rounds in the 60s. Sophomore Kaito Onishi earned All-American honorable mention honors in 2019 and joined Suh as All-Pac-12 first teamers. Sophomore Issei Tanabe earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors and freshman Charlie Reiter was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman honorable mention team.

Zambri’s Trojans put together a streak of 11 consecutive NCAA final appearances that was tied for the nation’s longest streak before it ended in 2018. Troy had also been one of only three schools to advance out of NCAA regional play each season since it was split into six sections in 2009. Troy’s streak of three straight top 8 finishes between 2015-17 was its best since five top 7 results in a row between 1973-77.

The 2017-18 season under Zambri was highlighted by the team’s Pac-12 title at the championships it hosted at Rolling Hills C.C. as well as then-junior Suh’s record-breaking season. Suh, the fifth All-American first teamer coached by Zambri, won a USC-record five tournaments, including the individual crown at the Pac-12s, leading the Trojans to a four-stroke team win. Suh, who also set USC season records for stroke average (68.73) and rounds under 70 (21), was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year, the third Trojan under Zambri to earn the honor. Suh represented the U.S. on the Palmer Cup Team after the season and was also a finalist for the Jack Nicklaus Award and a semifinalist for the Ben Hogan Award. Onishi earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors, the fifth Trojan to win it under Zambri. Onishi had a pair of top 4 finishes, four top 20s and seven results in the top 28. In addition to the Pac-12 title, USC’s other win on the season came at the Saint Mary’s Invitational. Four Trojans were also named to the Pac-12 All-Academic team.

The Trojans, in Zambri’s 11^th year, posted five tournament wins in 2016-17, its most since the 2007-08 season, and reached the NCAA Championships quarterfinals before falling to Illinois, 3-1-1. USC’s five victories marks the third year in a row with three or more wins. Senior Rico Hoey earned 2017 Golfweek All-American first team and PING All-American second team honors while junior Sean Crocker earned PING and Golfweek second team honors and sophomore Suh claimed All-American third team in both. All three golfers earned 2017 PING All-Region and All-Pac-12 first team status while junior Jonah Texeira and freshman Cheng Jin were Pac-12 honorable mention picks. Hoey joined Trojan great and All-American Sam Randolph as the only Trojans to claim first-team status four straight years.

USC's 2015-16 squad made its second straight deep run at the NCAA Championships in Zambri's 10th season at the helm, reaching the match play semifinals, where it fell to Texas, 4-1, after a quarterfinal win over Vanderbilt by the same score. Troy, which won three regular season titles for the second year in a row, reached the NCAA match play bracket after tying for fourth in the 72-hole stroke play. Hoey earned GCAA All-American second team honors while Suh was a GCAA honorable mention pick. Hoey joined Crocker and Texeira on the PING All-West Region team. Hoey was an All-Pac-12 first teamer, Crocker and Texeira earned second-team notice, true senior Andrew Levitt was an honorable mention selection and Suh was tabbed to the All-Pac-12 Freshman team. USC earned its 10th-straight trip to the NCAA Championships final field after a third at the NCAA Albuquerque regional, which followed a fifth at the Pac-12 Championships.

In 2014-15, Zambri led the Trojans to a program-best NCAA runner-up finish during a season in which the Trojans won three times. USC's three regular-season wins were among eight top 3 finishes and featured 20 15 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Crocker and All-Pac-12 first teamers sophomore Hoey and Crocker. The pair also earned PING All-West Region honors. The Trojans qualified for the NCAA Championships final field of 30 teams after finishing third at the NCAA Bremerton Regional. At the NCAAs, USC finished fifth after 72 holes of stroke play to earn a spot in the eight-team match play final. USC, as the No. 5 seed, faced No. 4 seed and second-ranked Texas in the quarterfinals and upset the Longhorns, 4-1, Crocker clinching the win on his first extra hole to complement victories by Hoey and junior Bobby Gojuangco. The Trojans then downed No. 1 seed and fourth-ranked Illinois, 3.5-1.5, in the semifinals. Gojuangco and Hoey won again and senior Eric Sugimoto provided the clincher after winning the 17th hole. USC, which had never finished better than third place in program history (something it had done seven times), then battled eventual champion LSU deep into all five matches before ultimately falling, 4-1.

The 2013-14 Trojans featured a pair of PING All-American third teamers in freshman Hoey and junior Anthony Paolucci, who led the team to the eighth straight NCAA Championship final under Zambri. The squad won once and posted six top 3 finishes and tied for fourth in a tight NCAA Sugar Grove Regional to earn a spot into the NCAA final. Hoey was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year with one of the top seasons in USC golf history, leading USC in stroke average (71.36), top 10 finishes (eight), rounds in the 60s (16), birdies (165) and eagles (eight). Hoey and Paolucci earned 2014 GCAA All-West Region honors, Paolucci was All-Pac-12 second team and three others earned honorable mention honors. Hoey also represented the U.S. on the 2014 Palmer Cup team.

The Trojans won twice in 2012-13, and used a fourth-place NCAA Pullman Regional result to advance to their seventh straight NCAA final, where they tied for 23rd. The team won back-to-back titles mid-season at The Prestige at PGA West and at the North Ranch Intercollegiate. Senior Sam Smith and freshman Yi Keun Chang both earned PING All-American honorable mention and All-Pac-12 second team honors and finished 1-2 in stroke average on the team.

USC hosted the NCAA Championships at The Riviera in Palisades, Calif., in Zambri's sixth season at the helm in 2011-12. The Trojans punched their ticket to the NCAA final after a win at the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional, one of two victories on the year (the other at the Gifford Collegiate). The Trojans did not make match play, however, tying for 15th. Senior Steve Lim and sophomore Jeffrey Kang each earned PING All-American honorable mention honors while Lim earned All-Pac-12 first team honors and Kang second team. The duo finished 1-2 in stroke average and also each won an event, Lim in the final fall event at the Gifford Collegiate, Kang to open the spring season at the Amer Ari at Waikoloa Beach.

The 2010-11 Trojans made their fifth trip in a row to the NCAA Championships finals in Zambri's fifth year at the helm and won the Pac-10 title for the second time in five years. Zambri's squad won twice on the season, getting hot in the spring. Troy claimed the ASU Thunderbird Invitational, took second at the Western Intercollegiate and then won the Pac-10 title (in a playoff). In addition to the conference crown, sophomore Martin Trainer won a seven-hole playoff for the individual title. USC finished second at the NCAA San Diego Regional to advance to the NCAA final. But the steam ran out and saw the Trojans tied for 12th, missing the top 8 cut for the match play portion of the championships. Trainer earned All-Pac-10 first team honors while Lim, as a junior, and Kang, as a freshman, nabbed second team notice.

Zambri directed the 2009-2010 squad deep into the postseason despite fielding a team often relying on three freshmen and a sophomore in many events. Junior Matt Giles (the team's only upperclassmen) and freshman T.J. Vogel, a 2010 NGCA Freshman All-American and Pac-10 Co-Freshman of the Year, helped lead USC to seven top 5 finishes, including a third at the Pac-10 Championships and a second at the NCAA Regional in Washington that sent USC to the NCAA Final for the fourth year in a row. Following the season, Zambri served as head coach for the U.S. team that defeated Europe, 13-11, to claim the 2010 Palmer Cup, America's first win since 2002.

In the 2008-2009 season, Zambri directed a squad that featured three All-Americans in Giles, Tom Glissmeyer and Tim Sluiter. Giles was also the 2009 Pac-10 Player of the Year. The Trojans, who won two tournaments on the year, advanced past the NCAA Championships stroke play stage into the eight-team match-play competition before falling in the quarterfinals to Michigan.

After a highly successful 2007-2008 season, Zambri was named the 2008 GCAA National, the Pacific Region and the Pac-10 Coach of the Year. The honors came on the heels of a stellar campaign that saw USC finish just three strokes short of winning its first-ever NCAA title. As it was, USC finished third at the NCAA Championships (something Troy hadn't done since 1975). USC won four tournaments on the season (all within its final seven events), including its first ever NCAA Regional championship. Troy also tied for first at the Pac-10 Championships (but fell in a playoff). Sophomores Jamie Lovemark and Rory Hie were tabbed as All-American first teamers while Glissmeyer, Sluiter and Giles all earned All-American honorable mention honors. It was the first time in school history USC featured five All-Americans. Lovemark and Hie also marked the first time USC had two All-American first teamers in one season.

In his first season as head coach, Zambri guided USC to an appearance in the 2007 NCAA Championships and the Trojans' 18th Pac-10 team title. At the NCAA Championships, Lovemark, then a freshman, became Troy's fourth NCAA individual champion. Lovemark earned the Arnold Palmer (national championship individual medalist), Jack Nicklaus (national player of the year) and Phil Mickelson (nation's outstanding freshman) Awards and was tabbed a Ping All-American first teamer. Lovemark earlier became USC's 20th Pac-10 individual champion while four other Trojans finished in the top 10 en route to the team crown. Lovemark was named Pac-10 Co-Golfer and Freshman of the Year honors while fellow freshman Rory Hie was tabbed a Pac-10 second teamer. On the season, the Trojans posted 12 top 5 finishes and six in the top 2.

Zambri, 47, played six years on the Nationwide Tour and was an active teaching professional when he was not competing.

A 1993 USC graduate who played for the Trojans from 1989 to 1993, Zambri played six seasons on the Nationwide Tour between 1997 and 2004. He finished as high as 19th on the circuit's money list in 1998, posting two second-place finishes that year. He competed in four PGA Tour events as well as the 1995 and 1999 U.S. Opens. As a Trojan, he was a two-time All-Pac-10 second team selection in 1991 and 1993.

"This is the opportunity of a lifetime," said Zambri when he was hired. "I look forward to not only bringing championships to USC, but to influencing the young people on the team in positive ways on and off the golf course."

Zambri is married to Kim Zambri and they have three children: Wyatt, Joseph and Laney.

Zambri's USC Team Champions
2006 Inverness Intercollegiate Inv., Inverness Club, Toledo, Ohio
2007 Duck Invitational, Eugene CC, Eugene, Ore.
2007 Pac-10 Championships, Eugene CC, Eugene, Ore.
2008 USC Collegiate Invitational, North Ranch C.C.
2008 U.S. Collegiate Championship, G.C. of Georgia
2008 U.S. Intercollegiate, Stanford G.C., Palo Alto, Calif.
2008 NCAA Champ. West Reg., Gold Mountain G.C., Bremerton, Wash.
2008 CordeValle Collegiate, CordeValle G.C., San Martin, Calif.
2009 UH-Hilo Intercollegiate, Waikoloa, Hawaii, Waikoloa C.C.
2011 ASU Thunderbird Invitational, Tempe, Ariz., Karsten G.C.
2011 Pac-10 Championships, Stanford (Calif.) G.C.
2011 Gifford Col. Champ., CordeValle G.C., San Martin, Calif.
2012 NCAA Ann Arbor Regional, Michigan G.C., Ann Arbor, Mich.
2013 The Prestige at PGA West, La Quinta, Calif.
2013 North Ranch Intercol., North Ranch C.C., Westlake Village, Calif.
2014 Lamkins Grips San Diego Classic, San Diego C.C., Chula Vista, Calif.
2014 Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, Palouse Ridge C.C., Pullman, Wash.
2014 Bill Cullum Invitational, Wood Ranch C.C., Simi Valley, Calif.
2015 Jones Invitational, Valencia C.C., Valencia, Calif.
2016 Amer Ari Invitational, Waikoloa, Hawaii, Waikoloa C.C.
2016 Jones Invitational, Valencia C.C., Valencia, Calif.
2016 Southern Highlands Coll., Southern Highlands C.C., Las Vegas, Nev.
2016 Cypress Point Classic, Cypress Point GC, Monterey, Calif.
2016 Gifford Collegiate, Silverado G.C., Napa, Calif.
2017 Southern Highlands Coll., Southern Highlands C.C., Las Vegas, Nev.
2017 Western Intercollegiate, Pasatiempo, G.C., Santa Cruz, Calif.
2017 NCAA Washington Regional, Aldarra G.C., Sammamish, Wash.
2017 Saint Mary’s Invitational, Poppy Hills G.C., Pebble Beach, Calif.
2018 Pac-12 Championships, Rolling Hills C.C., Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.
2018 Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational, G.C. of Georgia, Alpharetta, Ga.
2018 Saint Mary’s Invitational, Poppy Hills G.C., Pebble Beach, Calif.
2019 Southwestern Invitational, North Ranch C.C., Westlake Village, Calif.

Zambri's USC Individual Champions
2006 Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge, Jamie Lovemark
2007 USC Collegiate Invitational, Rory Hie
2007 Duck Invitational, Jamie Lovemark
2007 Pac-10 Championships, Jamie Lovemark
2007 NCAA Championships, Jamie Lovemark
2008 USC Collegiate Invitational, Tim Sluiter
2008 UNLV Southern Highlands Collegiate, Rory Hie
2008 U.S. Intercollegiate, Rory Hie
2008 CordeValle Collegiate, Tim Sluiter
2009 Morris Williams Intercollegiate, Tom Glissmeyer
2011 Pac-10 Championships, Martin Trainer
2011 Gifford Collegiate Championships, Steve Lim
2012 Amer Ari at Waikoloa Beach, Jeffrey Kang
2013 North Ranch Intercollegiate, Yi Keun Chang
2013 NCAA Regional Championship, Sam Smith
2013 Gifford Collegiate Championships, Rico Hoey
2014 Jones Invitational, Anthony Paolucci
2015 Jones Invitational, Sean Crocker
2016 Jones Invitational, Andrew Levitt
2016 Bill Cullum Invitational, Jonah Texeira
2016 Gifford Collegiate, Rico Hoey
2017 Amer Ari Invitational, Rico Hoey
2017 Western Intercollegiate, Justin Suh
2017 Trinity Forest Invitational, Justin Suh
2017 Saint Mary’s Invitational, Justin Suh
2018 Amer Ari Invitational, Justin Suh
2018 Southern Highlands Collegiate, Justin Suh
2018 Pac-12 Championships, Justin Suh
2018 Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational, Justin Suh
2019 Southwestern Invitational, Justin Suh