Owen initially served as assistant basketball coach from 1981 to 1997 before assuming the head coaching responsibilities from 1998 to 2003. He became head golf coach of the men’s team in 1993, leading the program to NCAA Division III national titles in 2009 and 2012.
Owen helped launch women’s golf at Oglethorpe in 1997 and has since led both programs to consistently finish in the national top 25, including the men’s team that consistently ranks in the top 10.
Owen took two individual male golfers to the SCAC Championship in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1993, his first year as head coach. Those two golfers began the program that has developed in the last 25 years into one of the most successful and respected in the nation. Since 2000, a span of 25 consecutive years, the Stormy Petrel men have been ranked inside the top 10 in the nation. They have also finished in the top 10 at the NCAA championships 15 years during that span.
Owen and Oglethorpe have won 16 conference championships (10 SCAC, six SAA) in the past 25 years, including four in a row from 2001 to 2004 and three in a row since 2022.
Owen has also coached two Jack Nicklaus player of the year winners, as Anthony Maccaglia (2015) and Trent Erb (2004) both took home the award for the best individual golfer in Division III. In addition, Owen has coached three Phil Mickelson award winners as the national freshman of the year. Kyle Shealy (2016), Maccaglia (2012) and Joe Green (2003) all took home that prestigious honor.
Under Owen's watch, the Stormy Petrels have had 10 two-time All-America Scholar honorees and 26 total.
Owen is a member of both the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) Hall of Fame and the Oglethorpe Athletics Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the GCAA Hall at the GCAA convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, in December 2013, joining an elite group of over 125 coaches and ambassadors of collegiate golf. This followed his induction into the Oglethorpe Athletics Hall in April 2001 after 20 years of loyal service to the university. Owen now serves on both Hall of Fame committees and as a member of the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame Honors Court.
Owen originally hails from Rome, Georgia, where he was a standout football and basketball player at Coosa High School before earning a scholarship to play basketball at Berry in 1977. At Berry, Owen was a three-year starting guard and was named basketball team MVP his senior season. He was also named most outstanding senior athlete, the highest honor awarded each season at Berry.
Owen earned a Bachelor of Science in education from Berry in 1981 and later earned a M.Ed. from Georgia State University in 1986.
Owen currently resides in Duluth, Georgia, and is the father of two grown children. His son, Jayce, attended Oglethorpe and played baseball as a catcher. His daughter, Michaela, was a four-year letterman for women’s golf at Auburn, playing there from 2015 to 2018.
Awards (as of Summer 2025)
- 8x Conference Coach of the Year.
- 2x Dave Williams Award NCAA DIII National Coach of the Year (2012 &2014)
- Cambridge Who’s Who.
- GCAA Hall of Fame.
- Richard Gordin Contribution to Golf Award (2015).
- 16x Conference titles.
- 2 National Championship titles (2009 & 2012 men’s team).
