For Hiram College graduate Brennan Cain, golf represented a second chance after his baseball career ended. After only four years around the Terriers’ golf program, Cain has been selected as Hiram’s new golf coach with a formal announcement on social media on July 16.
“I guess the biggest thing I could say is that there is no place that I would rather be to get my first head coaching position than Hiram just because of the familiarity and already knowing the guys and knowing what they need to work on,” the 2024 graduate said. “I love that group; I am glad I can continue to see them grow.”
Having played golf for three years at Hiram, Cain served as a graduate assistant for the last one-and-a-half years, playing and working for his college coach James Workman, who spent four years as the Terriers’ golf coach.
According to Cain, Workman decided to step down as the golf coach as his other administrative responsibilities required his attention and Cain was personally recommended by his former college coach to become his successor.
“I would say that I had come a long way,” noted Cain. “I was lucky enough to even be a part of that team when I was playing. I had played in the NCAA tournament and for the conference. I have dedicated my life to golf, and it doesn’t happen overnight.”
Throughout his time as a golfer for Hiram, Cain competed in the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament in his junior season, as one of four golfers representing the Terriers.
When Cain arrived at Hiram College in 2020, he came to play baseball, recruited from North Olmsted High School to pitch for the Terriers’ baseball team.
He said that his baseball career ended in his sophomore year due to injuries and he was looking for a new opportunity. During that time, he had become interested in golf, as he frequently played with his friends at the Sugar Bush Golf Club in Garrettsville.
He credited his girlfriend for helping him continue his collegiate athletic career.
“She noticed that I liked golf and started playing golf and really was trying to get better any way that I could; she noticed that and went to Coach Workman,” he said. “I had known Coach Workman because he was at that time the Head of the Office of Residential Education there, so I had met him a few times. I was able, along with my girlfriend, to reach out to him and see if I could try out and walk on.”
Cain said that Workman played a huge role in helping him re-shape his athletic identity, referring to himself as a late bloomer in golf.
“I have to say I don’t think I would be where I am if it weren’t for him,” he noted. “I fell in love with golf and Coach Workman gave me the opportunity to walk on to the team. Not really having much tournament background or golf background in general, he got me to the point I am at today.”
Since arriving in 2020, Cain has developed a connection to Hiram, attending graduate school and holding a full-time position at the Sugar Bush Golf Club, where he occasionally serves as a golfing instructor in a group setting.
He said that his goal is to eventually take classes at the Professional Golfers Association Management University so he can become a certified professional instructor.
For now, Cain remains with a program he has been a part of for four years but is now the man in charge.
Although he has familiarity with most of Hiram’s current golfers, he is eager to improve Hiram’s recruiting efforts.
“I want to do a little bit better job of recruiting,” he said. “There is so much you can do as a coach to make your players better, but you obviously have to have a good starting base at the college level. I want to give everybody an opportunity but at the same time, a lot of it is going to be recruiting and trying to get better talent on to our golf team. The other thing I really want to try to do is to try to continue that family-oriented program. We all work together to get better.”
