When Brian Kortan took over as head coach of the Texas A&M men’s golf program in June 2021, he inherited both a proud tradition and towering expectations. A former Aggie assistant for long-serving coach J.T. Higgins, Kortan knew the standards required. Since his appointment, his teams have advanced to the NCAA Championships in every season—four straight appearances that underscore both stability and progress.

Kortan, himself a decorated collegiate player and former PGA and Korn Ferry Tour professional, has built a reputation for instilling belief in players who are prepared for relentless effort. “We do it with a bunch of guys that are hard workers,” the 54-year-old explains. “They’re talented for sure, but they’re not maybe the household names that a lot of other programs have. So it’s really fun to watch them grow and chase championships,” Kortan explains.

That ethos has been evident in the contrasting but equally compelling journeys of two Aggies. Sam Bennett (above), the 2022 U.S. Amateur champion who went on to finish as low amateur at the 2023 Masters with Kortan on the bag, became the program’s most visible star in decades. Meanwhile, Thai standout Phichaksn Maichon, who arrived as a relative unknown, blossomed into a top-10 machine and finished runner-up at the 2025 NCAA Championship. Together, their trajectories reveal a coach who cultivates talent by pairing discipline with trust.

Kortan’s methods are traditional at their core: honest communication, hard work, and consistent standards. But he is also pragmatic, always on the lookout for tools that sharpen performance. A conversation with Bruce Heppler, the veteran head coach at Georgia Tech, proved pivotal. Heppler, one of the most respected voices in the college game, introduced Kortan to Clippd, the statistical platform Georgia Tech was the first college team to use.

Kortan did his homework. “I just did some research on my end and kind of started to like the simplicity of it. In today’s world, our guys like to do things quick. And it just became something where the platform made sense and it was easy for them to use,” he recalls.

That ease of use has been decisive. Every Aggie golfer now enters data from tournament rounds and qualifying competitions, giving coaches a comprehensive picture of performance. For Kortan, Clippd bridges the gap between intuition and evidence. “Unless you have evidence to back it up to support the why, I don’t know how much they buy into a lot of what we talk about. So having a platform to do that, I’m grateful we have it.”

So what does peak performance look like in Aggieland? Kortan is careful not to oversimplify. “There’s no exact science to it,” he says. “But we’re very consistent in how we approach it. We stay routine oriented in our gym routine, so we’re building stronger golfers throughout the year. We also speak to the mental side of the game, which we work hard to develop.”

The approach is what Brian describes as “a developmental deal” with the goal of being at their best come the end of the season. “I guess the key to it is that the lessons we're learning, the scars were taken on, the body blows that we've had to withstand help us get stronger. And if we continue to do the right things at a very high level, it'll bear out in the end. 

“We need evidence because this generation wants to know the why”

“I'd love to tell you that it's me or it's [Assistant] Coach Fast,” he adds, “but it's the ability of our guys to keep their chins up, work their tails off and do the things that they came to do, which is to discover what kind of golfer they can be. We're just there to provide the guardrails, the support and the belief sometimes that they have it in them. Is there an exact science? No. But we're very consistent in how we approach it.”

For the coaches and players at Texas A&M, Clippd is an integral part of their never-ending quest for improvement. The app provides targeted feedback, so if a golfer struggles to convert, say, par-5 opportunities from 200 yards out, the numbers don’t lie—and practice can be tailored accordingly. 

“Sometimes it opens their eyes,” Kortan explains. “One common thing is, they’ll come in and say, ‘I’m really good from 110 to 140.’ And then you point to their stats, and they go, ‘Well, maybe not as good as I thought.’”

The impact is twofold. First, players become more self-aware, armed with benchmarks to measure their progress. Second, coaches gain credibility with a generation that demands proof as much as pep talks. “We just need evidence because this generation wants to know the why,” Kortan says.

The Aggies enter each season with new challenges, from roster turnover to the unforgiving competition of the SEC. Yet Kortan betrays no surprise when his players rise to the occasion: “I’m not surprised when they play great because they’ve definitely earned it.”

This mix of fierce work ethic and statistical insight has become the program’s signature. The evidence is in the results: 11 tournament wins, four consecutive NCAA Championship berths, steady improvement across the roster, and individual breakthroughs like those of Bennett and Maichon.

For college coaches weighing whether to adopt Clippd, Texas A&M’s example offers a compelling case study. In Kortan’s hands, the platform is not a replacement for coaching instinct but a complement to it—another instrument in a toolkit defined by authenticity, discipline, and trust. 

And when paired with players who “work their tails off,” the result is a team that consistently punches above its weight, guided by a coach who knows that success is built not on shortcuts but on sweat, data, and belief.

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