Jerry Pittman Head Men’s Golf Coach Chris Parra enters his seventh season (2024-25) at the helm of the SMU men’s golf program and his 10th overall season on the coaching staff. Parra was named full-time head coach on April 16, 2020, after serving the 2019-20 season as interim head coach.
Last season, Parra guided the Mustangs to two tournament victories at the Vaqueros Intercollegiate and the Hal Williams Collegiate. The team advanced out of the stroke play portion of the ACC Championship in their first year in the conference. The Mustangs captured three individual crowns (Will Sides-Stephens Cup, Zach Kingsland-Trinity Forest Invitation & Hal Williams).
In 2023-24, Parra and the Mustangs returned to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2022. They finsihed in 26th at the Championship. SMU recorded a tied for fourth place finish at the NCAA Regional and finished in second at the AAC Championship. The team had a scoring average of 283.90, good for -1.03 below par on average.
Parra led the Mustangs to a third place finish at the AAC Championship in the most recent season. During the 2022-23 campaign, the Mustangs won two individual titles. The previous season, Parra was named American Athletic Conference Head Coach of the Year for the 2021-22 season after leading the Mustangs to their second AAC title since joining the league in 2013, and 10th title in program history behind a 54-hole tournament-record performance at Southern Hills Golf Club (282-277-276, -29).
In his first two seasons as head coach, Parra led the Mustangs to their two best finishes (No. 12 in 2019-20, No. 18 in 2020-21) in the Golfstat rankings since the organization began ranking teams in 1993-94. The Mustangs have won three of 13 tournaments since he took over the reins of the program, and produced five individual tournament champions in that timespan.
Parra’s time at SMU has been highlighted by success in NCAA postseason play, including leading the Mustangs to the 2021 NCAA Championships in his first opportunity as head coach. As an assistant in 2015, he saw Bryson DeChambeau win the program’s first individual NCAA Championship, and helped the Mustangs reach the 2019 NCAA Quarterfinals after a memorable playoff win against Clemson for the eighth and final spot. In addition, the Mustangs won the 2015 Noblesville (Ind.) Regional and Noah Goodwin claimed medalist honors at the 2021 Stillwater (Okla.) Regional, Parra’s first NCAA Regional as head coach.
Since arriving on campus in 2014, Parra has coached 11 All-American Athletic Conference selections (three as head coach), 10 all-region selections, three AAC Golfers of the Year (DeChambeau, 2015; Mac Meissner, 2019; Noah Goodwin, 2021), seven All-Americans, and been a part of 11 tournament wins. Eight of his players have gone on to play professionally, including three who won professional tournaments in 2021; DeChambeau (eight-time PGA Tour Winner), Austin Smotherman (Korn Ferry Tour tournament winner) and Meissner (Forme Tour tournament winner).
In addition to success on the course, the Mustangs have been successful in their courses during Parra’s tenure. The Mustangs have earned an Outstanding Team Academic Award five times in Parra’s eight school years, including both seasons that Parra has been in charge of the program. In addition, 19 Mustangs have been named All-America Scholars by the GCAA, with 13 of those selections coming since Parra was named head coach.
In 2019, the Mustangs won his first two events as acting head coach, making him just the 11th men’s golf coach in NCAA history to win multiple events in his first season as head coach, and the first to win his first two tournaments as head coach since Mississippi State’s Nick Goetze in 1998. The Mustangs would rise all the way to No. 2 in the Golfstat rankings and sat at No. 12 at the time of the season’s cancellation due to COVID-19. The following season, Parra led the Mustangs to a NCAA Championships bid and a national finish of T-17th, after spending the entire season in Golfstat’s top 25.
The Irving, Texas, native played for the Mustangs from 1996-98, earning a tournament win in 1997 at the UTSA Invitational. Parra had a 75.94 stroke average in six collegiate events, turning pro in 1999.
Parra competed professionally for 14 years (1999-2014), spending most of his career on what is now known as the Korn Ferry Tour. He played in 36 events on the PGA Tour’s developmental circuit, earning one top-10 finish and four top-25 finishes. His best finish came in 2010, where he finished tied for seventh at the Fort Smith Classic. In 2006, Parra made his first PGA Tour appearance in the Byron Nelson Championship, where he made the cut and finished 72nd overall. Later in his professional career, he played in the LatinoAm and the PGA Canada Tour. At the 2013 U.S. Open Local Sectional Qualifying, Parra carded a 70 to tie for second.
Parra's Head Coaching Record:
Parra Timeline:
2019-Present: SMU (head coach)
2014-19: SMU (assistant coach)
1999-2014: Professional career (Korn Ferry Tour + others)
1996-98: SMU (student-athlete)
Note: was acting/interim head coach in 2019-20
Parra by the numbers:
19: GCAA All-America Scholars
17: AAC All-Conference selections
13: Tournament Victories
7: All-Americans
6: GCAA Outstanding Team Academic Award
4: NCAA Championships Appearances
3: AAC Golfers of the Year
2015 Individual NCAA Champion
