RC golf coach among finalists for Arnold Palmer Cup position

Ranger College golf coach Jared Harriman came within a virus from possibly handing the Rangers' their first-ever national golf championship this past season.

His efforts didn't go unnoticed in the golfing ranks.

Only a few weeks after the 2020 national golf tournament had been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Harriman joined an elite group of coaches who were nominated to serve as the head coach of the U.S. collegiate team at next year's 2021 Arnold Palmer Cup. The event pits the top 12 U.S. men's and women's golfers against the top 12 international players at the Rich Harvest Farm Golf Course in Illinois.

"I'm truly blessed to have been nominated," said Harriman, the lone two-year college head coach among the 10 candidates for the position. "To be the nominated in a group that includes programs like Duke and North Carolina is very humbling. I have to give all of the credit to the talented players we have had, both men's and women's, and to the support the administration here at Ranger College has shown."

Harriman, who is entering his second year at RC, helped the Rangers' men's and women's programs blossom into one of the nation's best last season. Prior to having the season cut short by the coronavirus pandemic in March, Ranger College featured the nation's No. 1 and No. 2 ranked junior college golfers in Jacob Skov Oleson and Brandon Shong, respectively, and spent much of the season ranked No. 1 in the men's division. The RC women were ranked as high as No. 7 nationally.

The Arnold Palmer Cup was co-founded by Arnold Palmer and The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and began at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Fla., in 1997