University of New Orleans Men's Golf

FIRST SEASON: 2016-2017 - 2020 Louisiana Sportswriters Association Coach of the Year - 2024 Louisiana Sportswriters Association Coach of the Year - Two-Time Louisiana Cup Champion (both as an amateur and a professional) - Coached 6 All-Southland Golfers - Coached 6 All-Louisiana Golfers - Coached 2 U.S. Amateur Participants Jeff Lorio enters his tenth season on the Lakefront in 2025-2026 after leading the University of New Orleans Golf squad to three top-3 finish at the Southland Championships in the past four seasons. Three seasons ago, Lorio's golfers finished in second place at the Southland Championship – the school’s best finish at any conference championship since 2010. Replacing 11-year veteran Chris McCarter as head coach on September 9, 2016, Lorio made an immediate impact on a program struggling to transition back to full Div. I status. His first signing class of Brady Bennett, Max Hellstrom, Nolan Lambert, and Ulisses de Toledo Jr. quickly became stalwarts of an improving program. Lorio was named the 2020 Louisiana Coach of the Year by the LSWA after the Privateers finished the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season with the best scoring average in school history (289.850). Lorio led his young squad to the program's first 54-hole tournament victory in over a decade, winning the Gulf Coast Collegiate in Diamondhead, Mississippi. A year later, Grayson Gilbert became the first individual Privateer to win a 54-hole tournament since 2010 after a pair of sudden death playoff holes at the 2021 Colin Montgomerie Invitational. His second Louisiana Coach of the Year award came following the 2023-2024 season, another record-breaking one for New Orleans golf. His squad averaged 288.633, setting the school record for the second time. The team also finished with 12 rounds as a team below par, another school record, surpassing the mark of 11 set by the 2007-2008 team. Individually, UNO golfers tallied 41 rounds below par in 2023-2024, with 17 rounds below 70 shared between seven golfers. Kyle Bennett's scoring average of 71.93 in 2023-2024 ranks third in school history and was the best by a Privateer in a full season since 2008. The Privateers have improved their stroke average from one season to the next in five of Coach Lorio’s nine seasons at the helm. The 2019-2020 squad set a school record with a 10.76 stroke improvement from 2018-2019. Each returning member of that team improved their personal stroke average by four or more strokes. During his nine seasons in charge of the golf program, Lorio has guided six Privateers to All-Southland status. Max Hellstrom became the first Privateer All-Southland selection after earning second team status following the 2018-2019 season, while Brady Bennett became the first to earn first team honors following the 2020-2021 season. Florian Moosmeier, Grayson Gilbert, Ryan Fulton, and Matt Weber have also earned All-Southland honors under Jeff Lorio. Six of Lorio’s student-athletes have been recognized by the Louisiana Sports Writer’s Association as All-Louisiana during his tenure as well: Gilbert, Moosmeier, Fulton, Kyle Bennett, and Weber. Moosmeier became the school’s fourth two-time selection after being chosen following the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons. Not just successful on the golf course, Coach Lorio’s student-athletes have also earned recognition in the classroom. Markus Kreiger became the first Privateer to be selected for the Southland Conference’s F.L. McDonald Post Graduate Scholarship following the 2016-2017 season. All 15 of UNO’s GCAA All-American scholars are from Coach Lorio’s tenure, with Brady Bennett (three times), Moosmeier (three times), Kyle Bennett (two times), Hellstrom (two times), and Mason Roberts (two times) earning multiple selections. Coach Lorio has also placed at least one golfer on the Southland All-Academic team in eight of his nine seasons in charge, most recently with Thomas Artigas and Kyle Bennett earning the honor two seasons ago. Student-athletes from his program earned Southland Commissioner’s Honor Roll status 65 times. Prior to his arrival on the Lakefront, Lorio spent three years with the crosstown Loyola Wolfpack men’s and women’s golf programs. In his lone season as an assistant in 2013-14, Lorio helped the Wolfpack women win the Emmanuel Invitational, finish runner-up at the Carey College Classic and SSAC Championship, and post a 20th-place showing at the NAIA National Championship. He also helped recruit a women’s class that ranked fifth in the nation by Golfstat.com. Promotion to the head coaching spot followed a year later, and Lorio helped guide the Wolfpack teams to one tournament victory and a combined four runner-up finishes in his two seasons as head coach. Along the way, Daria Delfino claimed medalist honors as she won the Freed-Hardeman Invitational from October 12-13, 2015. Both teams showed improvement under his direction as the women’s team jumped from 36th nationally in the GolfStat.com standings in 2014-15 to 33rd a season later, while the men’s program rose from 126th to 83rd during that same time. Julchen Narwark claimed All-Southern States Athletic Conference honors both seasons under Lorio’s tutelage, and a pair of student-athletes – Sarah Anne Smurlick in 2015 and Alexis Hazard in 2016 – claimed Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete recognition. In addition to success on the course, Lorio’s teams were spectacular in the classroom as Loyola student-athletes earned SSAC All-Academic recognition a combined 12 times during his tenure. His recruiting efforts were a major reason for the Wolfpacks’ steady increase in productivity, as Lorio landed student-athletes from 13 states and four foreign countries. Those recruits helped Loyola rank nationally among NAIA programs, with the 2015-16 rookies ranked seventh by GolfStat.com on the women’s side and eighth on the men’s side. Coach Lorio boasts an extensive competitive playing record that includes junior, Division I, amateur, and professional competition. After capturing the Louisiana High School Athletic Golf Championship in 1994, Lorio began his collegiate career at ULM before finishing his eligibility and earning a Bachelor of Science degree in human resource management from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Lorio has twice competed in the Louisiana Cup, an event that pits the top amateurs in the state against the top professionals. He won the event as both an amateur in 2000 and a professional in 2008. In 2010, Lorio qualified for the United States Mid-Amateur Championship at Atlantic Golf Club in Bridgehampton, New York. Golf Week ranked Lorio in the Top 800 in the United States and Top 1,650 in the world among amateur players in 2012. A native of Luling, Louisiana, Lorio completed his bachelor’s degree in human resource management from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1999. He is married to the former Franchesca Boudreaux of Luling, and the couple has one daughter, Vivian. Lorio has been on the board of Directors for the Louisiana Golf Association since 2017.  

McCarter enters his 12th season with the Privateers. Taking over a program that was at the bottom of the Sun Belt Conference, McCarter turned it around through improved recruiting and relationships throughout the New Orleans golf community. The highlights: ** Coached five student-athletes in a three-year period to NCAA Division I Regionals, including a pair of players in 2009 to the Austin Regional, marking the first time in school history that UNO sent multiple players to the postseason tournament. The feat was repeated a year later when two players qualified for the 2010 College Station Regional. ** UNO was the only school in the Sun Belt Conference to finish in the top four in the league championship from 2005-08. The Privateers claimed a runner-up finish in the 2008 SBC Tournament the best finish in school history. ** In 2010, UNO golfer Oscar Zetterwall was the Sun Belt Conference champion, claiming individual medalist honors. Zetterwall was the lone league champion to hail from UNO during its tenure in the SBC. ** From 2005-10, the Privateers  won 11 tournaments including four in a row during the 2008-09 academic year (Squire Creek, Sam Hall Intercollegiate, Mardi Gras Invitational, Louisiana Classics). ** From 2005-10, coached seven all-Sun Belt Conference players including two-time all-conference selections Kenji Muryama and Jose Toledo. ** Coached six players to a combined 10 individual medalist honors from 2004-10. This group included three-time championsMuryama and Ken Looper. ** Coached three Louisiana Players of the Year (Muryama, 2006; Toledo 2007 and 2008),  one Louisiana Newcomer of the Year (Toledo, 2007), 10 All-Louisiana selections. *** Named Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year in 2006, 2009 and 2010 while earning Louisiana Coach of the Year recognition in 2006 and 2008. ** Coached Jason Kuperman (2007) and Looper (2010) to Louisiana State Amateur Championships. Under McCarters guidance, the Privateers have seen steady improvement. In 2008, UNO won three team titles including the inaugural Texas Cup hosted by the University of Texas and was ranked 30th in the nation in scoring average. Following the campaign, McCarter was named the LSWA state coach of the year an award he also won in 2006. In 2008-09, the Privateers followed that up with four consecutive tournament championships, including their own Mardi Gras Invitational at TPC Louisiana.  McCarter was named the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year for the second time in four years after the season, an award he win once more in 2010. McCarters 2009-10 team featured the first individual medalist in school history and the Louisiana State Amateur champion. Off the course, McCarter has flourished as well forging relationships that have helped UNO get practice access to some of the best courses in the city. UNO frequently practices at the TPC of Louisiana, home to the PGA Tours Zurich Classic, and the Privateers also work at such fine clubs like Lakewood Country Club, Oak Harbor Golf Club and Audubon Golf Course. McCarter came to UNO from the private sector after owning his own wholesale import company. He also owned and operated a clothing store for seven years. In addition, McCarter served as Director of Golf Instruction at Eastover Country Club. The Binghamton, N.Y., native has lived in the New Orleans area since 1970 and earned his bachelors degree from UNO in 1974. McCarter has two daughters, Kelly and Kristen, plus two grandsons: Wesley and Hunter.