With the start of the Oregon State Men’s Golf season approaching in September, head coach Jon Reehoorn announced that the team has signed Sulman Raza as the new assistant coach.
“I’ve known Jon since I was in the recruiting process, when I was a junior golfer when I played at Oregon,” Raza said. “So I’ve known Jon for a long period of time. Just to have the opportunity to work alongside him is an honor.”
Raza, a former golfer from the University of Oregon, has returned to the state where he grew up and his golfing career developed.
Born in Lithuania, Raza was adopted and grew up in the United States. He attended South Eugene High School, where he won the Oregon State State Prep Title.
His collegiate career began in 2012 at UO. He competed in 13 tournaments his freshman year.
“I never expected to play every single tournament my freshman year. I was just hoping to play three/four events if I could,” Raza said
During his time at UO, Raza also took a redshirt year after discussions with coaches. He redshirted in the 2014-15 season. After that, he emerged as one of Oregon’s most reliable players as a redshirt junior.
In the 2015-16 season, he acquired his first individual win by winning the Northwest Classic.
He was a crucial part of the Ducks’ 2016-17 national championship season, and appeared in many tournaments for the university before turning pro in 2018.
“Nationals was definitely the highlight of my college career,” Raza said. “Being at Eugene Country Club and having that amazing moment with my teammates, with Casey (Oregon head coach Casey Martin), with Van Williams, who’s now at Wake Forest.”
Raza’s first professional tournament was the 2018 U.S. Open in New York. He appeared in 23 PGA tour events, earning a top-10 ranking once and a top-25 ranking five times.
Raza was eventually hired to the Tennessee State University golf team as an assistant coach prior to the 2023 season. There, he took on a large workload, working with both the men’s and women’s teams.
“It wasn’t something I thought I would do, but it was certainly something I was curious about,” Raza said. “When I finished up my last professional event I was like, ‘I loved being in college, I love being part of my team and just watching my teammates succeed and being in that environment.’ So I thought that would be a nice next step and so far it’s been amazing.”
Now on the Oregon State roster, Raza said that he will be in a position which focuses more on the men’s team.
“When I was at Tennessee State I was working for both teams, so I was recruiting for both teams and scheduling practice for both teams, mainly with the guys. My coach had given me some leeway, he kind of told me to put my attention more with the guys and I think that prepared me really well for going into this new chapter for OSU.”
Reehoorn had already been in communication with Raza about the position at Oregon State when Raza was at Tennessee State. Raza initially declined because of his then-current position. Reehoorn then hired current assistant coach Nolan Thoroughgood, a five-year Oregon State golfer.
Reehoorn then ran into Raza at the 2024 Golf Coach Convention. Here, Reehoorn informed Raza that there was a possibility to bring another assistant coach to OSU. After Raza voiced his interest, he kept watch on the team’s season. After a few conversations, he was offered the position.
“I followed closely to their performance and tried not to be in his business, but obviously was very eager to start a conversation again,” Raza said. “And so we got back in touch over kind of the end of the season, sending some texts here and there, congratulating them on some finishes and then we had a phone conversation. It went very well.”
Raza, the new assistant coach, is now working on building relationships with his new team and developing the best ways to help the Oregon State golf team prosper.
“Just trying to support him (Reehoorn) and support the players as much as I can, and try to learn how I can best be there for all of them,” Raza said.
Reehoorn is excited by Raza’s experience as a champion on the collegiate level and his history of playing in Oregon. Reehoorn believes Raza’s experience will be invaluable to the team, especially alongside his passion and personality.
Raza wants to take his coaching to a new level at Oregon State. He hopes to build towards working as a head coach one day.
“It’s certainly something I want to do in my coaching career, I want to be a head coach,” Raza said. “Obviously, I’d like to do it sooner rather than later, but I’m the kind of person where I want to dot my I’s, cross my T’s and make sure I’m prepared for that when that opportunity comes.”
While head coach Reehoorn prepares Raza for the processes of coaching and recruitment at Oregon State, the golf program is already prepared to take in new freshmen before the upcoming season.
Oregon State’s golf program is currently ranked 96th among Division I schools, but Raza looks to help bring in new forms of success for the program in the upcoming season. This season, he will even have the opportunity to coach against his former alma mater.
“My main role is to support Jon, support the players and do what I can to help keep the team comradery in a good place and build that connection essentially as one,” Raza said.
“With golf, it’s an individual sport, so when you’re put in a team sport it’s a different realm. But I think that teams that accomplish the most are the ones that are the most connected, the ones that will go to battle for each other no matter what and will root for whichever player is in contention but do everything they can.
“You’ll have more bad days than good days on a golf course, doing everything you can to make it as good as you can on a bad day and help your team. I think that’s the most important part.”
