WACO, Texas (KXXV) — Veteran coach Mike McGraw announced his immediate retirement from Baylor men's golf on Wednesday, ending a 42-year coaching career to care for his wife Pam, who requires dialysis three times a week.
The 65-year-old McGraw led the Bears to NCAA Championship berths in six of the previous nine potential championship seasons during his 12-year tenure at Baylor.
"I'm stepping away from coaching to help Pam with her health issues," McGraw said. His wife of 30 years takes dialysis three times a week for five hours at a time. "I need to be there for her."
McGraw spent the last 28 years in NCAA Division I golf and won three national championships during his career at Oklahoma State, Alabama and Baylor.
"It's been an amazing journey," McGraw said. "Thankful to have been on it with so many great people."
At Baylor, McGraw transformed the program to unprecedented heights, including 20 team championships, 13 individual titles and 11 All-America selections. Prior to his arrival, Baylor had advanced to the NCAA Championship five times in program history.
"It is hard to overstate how blessed we are to have had Mike McGraw lead our men's golf program for over a decade and how thankful I am to get to call him a mentor and friend," said Baylor Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Doug McNamee.
"Any list of the most influential leaders in college golf for the past generations has to include Coach McGraw. And we saw that firsthand here in his dedication to excellence on the course, in the classroom, and in leading young men to successful careers in golf and beyond. We are deeply grateful for his service to the Baylor Family and wish him all the best as he enters this well-deserved next chapter."
McGraw began coaching in 1984 as a voluntary assistant at Edmond (Okla.) Memorial after graduating from Central Oklahoma University. He led Edmond North to three state championships in four seasons as the Bulldogs' head coach.
Joining the Oklahoma State coaching staff in 1997 as the men's assistant, McGraw helped lead the Cowboys to the 2000 national championship. He served as head coach for the women's team for one season, leading the Cowgirls to the 2005 Big 12 championship, before eight years as the head men's coach in Stillwater.
McGraw's OSU team won the 2006 national championship and finished as the national runner-up in 2010. In his eight seasons, the Cowboys won five Big 12 titles and advanced to the NCAA Championship five times.
Before coming to Baylor in June 2014, McGraw served as an assistant coach on the Alabama team that won a national championship.
A 2025 inductee into the Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame, McGraw led Baylor to four-consecutive NCAA Championship berths, highlighted by a match play appearance in 2017 and the program's best finish with a tie for fifth, falling 3-2 to eventual national champion Oklahoma in a 19th-hole playoff.
Johnny Keefer, a three-time All-American and the only three-time Big 12 Men's Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year in conference history, became the latest of McGraw's pupils to make it to the PGA Tour. The points leader in the PGA Tour of Americas and Korn Ferry Tour in his first two professional seasons, Keefer earned his Tour card this year and is currently 46th on the Official World Golf Rankings.
Ryan Murphy, who came to Baylor in January 2025 after 10 seasons as the head women's golf coach at the University of Texas, will serve as the interim head coach this spring. The Bears will play in the Brentwood Collegiate Feb. 9-10 in Montgomery, Texas.
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