Jim Ott, a 1991 Illinois Wesleyan graduate and captain of the 1991 Titan golf team, has been the men's golf head coach at his alma mater since 2000. He guided the Titans to consecutive NCAA Division III Championships in 2019 and 2021. He was selected to serve as the
Co-Head Coach of Team USA in the 2022 Arnold Palmer Cup at Golf Club de Genève and was inducted into the
Golf Coaches Assocation of America Hall of Fame in 2021.
During that tenure, his teams have won 21 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championships, including five straight from 2001 to 2005, three in a row from 2008 to 2010, and 13 more from 2012 to 2025. Ott’s teams have made 18 straight NCAA Division III tournament appearances (2007-19, 2021-25), including winning the 2019 and 2021 NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championships. The Titans have posted 10 top-10 finishes under the direction of Ott, including a second-place finish at the 2025 NCAA Division III National Championship.
Most recently, Ott's squad completed posted the third-best team scoring average all-time at 290.1 during the 2024-25 campaign. IWU won five tournaments before completing the season with a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championship. Griffin Pohl and Michael Spitzer were voted GCAA PING Second Team All-America, while the duo along with Aidan Healy, Juney Bai, and Quinn Clifford were tabbed GCAA PING All-Region. Pohl was named the CCIW Men's Golfer of the Year, marking the second straight season a Titan took home the honor (Bobby Beaubien - 2024).
In a shortened 2019-20 season, Ott guided IWU to a No. 1 national ranking. For IWU's strong performance, Ott was named the NCAA Divsion III Dave Williams National Coach of the Year awardwinner, while junior Rob Wuethrich was selected as the recipient of the Jack Nicklaus Division III Golfer of the Year award.
Ott was named the Dave Williams National Coach of the Year in three consecutive seasons (2019, 2020, and 2021), while also being tabbed a National Coach of the Year finalist five times. Additionally, he has been CCIW “Coach of the Year” in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Under the guidance of Ott, Titans have earned PING Golf All-American status 40 times, been named Cleveland Golf All-American Scholars on 40 occasions, and seen the team garner all-academic team honors for nine straight seasons.
Eight of Ott's former players have played professionally, including Bennett Blakeman in two U.S Opens (Pebble Beach and Congressional); Shane Smith, who competed on the Latin American Tour as well as advanced through all stages of Q-school and was fully exempt on the 2019 and 2020 Korn Ferry PGA Tour; Tony Albano, who finished fourth on the Dakotas Tour money list and recently qualified for the PGA's Korn Ferry Tour. Additionally, 3 recent graduates have qualified for the U.S. Amatuer, Ben Johnson and Drw Pershing (2018 at Pebble Beach) and Rob Wuethrich (2019 at Pinehurst).
Elsewhere, Ott has served on the NCAA Men's Golf Committee since 2018, including as chair in 2020-21, in addition to serving as the Chair of the Central Region Golf Committee. Previously, he had served on the Central Region Men's Golf Advisory Committee from 2014-17. Additionally, Ott holds posts on the Golf Coaches Association of America All-Region group and the Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year committee.
Ott was a four-year member of the Titan golf team and was the squad's "Most Valuable Player" in both 1989 and 1991.
A Plainfield (Ill.) High School graduate, Ott has a daughter Kelsey, an Illinois Wesleyan graduate, and a son Tyler, who attended the University of Alabama.
