New head golf coach has high hopes for team

Lewis & Clark welcomes Brad Breier as the new head coach of men’s and women’s golf this year. Breier is originally from Los Angeles, CA. After college, he worked as a teacher and an assistant golf coach at University of Redlands, whose women’s team won the national title in Division Three (DIII) golf last year. Brier and his wife moved to Portland this year to escape the heat, and the move opened up new opportunities.

“The Redlands team pushed me to apply,” Breier said. “If you told me a year and a half ago that I was going to be a head coach for a college program, I probably wouldn’t have believed it. But now, I love it.” Breier did not start his sports career in golf. In college, he played DIII baseball at Willamette University in Salem, OR, and only fell in love with golf after his baseball career ended.

“After spending so many years in the weight room, I just didn’t really want to go back,” Breier said. “My buddy called me and said, ‘Hey, you want to play nine holes of golf?’ I was absolutely horrible. I was awful. But I hit one good shot and I was addicted. I bought golf clubs the next day.” Breier inherits a team that has struggled in recent years due to low recruitment and a rotating coaching staff. Millen Mistry ’26, the sole captain for both the men’s and women’s golf teams this year, is hopeful that Breier’s guidance will be a much-needed boost to performance and morale.

“There’s a lot more structure in the program, and a lot more discipline about what we’re accountable for, and what he’s expecting out of us, which at the end of the day is just going to make the program even better,” Mistry said. One way Breier has already implemented changes to the golf program is by installing a new golf hitting simulator. “Not many people know about it, but there’s a door in the gym that leads to a pretty big space where we can hit balls,” Mistry said.

“There’s a projector, there are simulators, so we get all the numbers and we can play courses in there. Coach Brad got hired early in the summer, and thatwas the first thing he took under his wing.” Breier has many more goals in mind to move the program forward. Although he was hired too late to do any serious recruiting for the team’s 2023 season, he is hitting the ground running by looking for freshman recruits for next year, and building skills with the current team members to rise in the Northwest Conference rankings.

“This year is about laying the foundation, the culture, the work ethic, what’s going to be required on a year in year out basis,” Breier said. Breier is also looking to expand the golf program, both at the competitive level and within the general LC student body. “It’s a great sport to learn and to be able to go do recreationally with friends,” Breier said.

“There are a lot of great public forces around here. We’re going to have a golf class on campus next semester that’s going to be teaching anyone – people that have played forever or people that are just learning. I’m happy to work with everyone, it’s such a fun sport, and it’s something that you can do and it’s not super stressful on the body.”

Mistry also has goals to build the team up to be stronger competitors.

“In terms of the team, I think everyone’s looking for the same thing. We’re just trying to improve, especially because we got no recruits this year. We’re just trying to look to play better this year, and then put us in a better position to succeed,” Mistry said.

With Breier as the devoted new head coach, the team is looking positively towards the future. LC cannot wait to support the team during the season.
“I’m excited to be here,” Breier said. “I’m excited to help build the program, and I don’t plan on going anywhere.”