MSU Denver Athletics

Ben Portie enters his fifth season as head coach of the Roadrunners in 2017-18. In his first three seasons, he has been named RMAC Coach of the Year and led the Roadrunners to back-to-back RMAC Championships in 2014-15 and 2015-16.

The 2016-17 was a transitional year for Portie and his young team. Portie welcomed freshman Jennifer Hankins (Thornton, Colo. / Legacy H.S.) who fired a 66 (6 under par) at Murphy Creek Golf Course in the fall of 2016.  Her round of 66 tied for the lowest single round in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference history and is the lowest in MSU Denver history. The Roadrunners placed 6^th at the RMAC tournament with juniors Meg McMullen (Kent, Wash./Kentridge) and Kendra Meeker (Friday Harbor, Wash./Friday Harbor) tying for 18^th place.

In 2015-16 the Roadrunners secured their second RMAC championship by defeating UCCS 4-0-1 in match play, with all players shooting an 80 or better. This season was extended by sending women’s golfers Cha Cha Willhoite (Palm Desert, Calif./Palm Desert H.S.) and Allie Johnston (Castle Rock, Colo./Rock Canyon H.S.) to the NCAA Super Regional in for the first time in school history.

Portie led MSU Denver not just to the RMAC Tournament title in 2015, but won it in record fashion. The Roadrunners set RMAC championship records for lowest round (298, previously 299 by Western New Mexico in 2012) and lowest tournament score (599, previously 607 held by two teams). He guided three first team all-RMAC golfers in Nathalie Gallacher, Allie Johnston and Cha Cha Willhoite. In addition to winning the RMAC Tournament, Portie's team won two other tournaments during the season.

In the classroom, the Roadrunners had a team GPA of 3.55 during the 2016-17 season, the best of any team at MSU Denver. Senior Sabrina Naccarato (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo South H.S.) and junior Lindsey Gullikson (Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) were named 2017 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference all-academic honor roll. In 2015 Allie Johnston earn Capital One first team Academic All-District. She was one of four Roadrunners to earn academic all-RMAC that year.

In the school's inaugural year of golf in 2013-14, Portie was named RMAC co-coach of the year for his efforts and guided the team to a sixth-place finish at the RMAC championships.

Portie brought in transfer Nathalie Gallacher at the semester break and she became the school's first-ever medalist on April 8, winning the Maverick Spring Invitational in Grand Junction, Colo., and went on to be named second team all-RMAC. His team was just two strokes out of fifth place at the RMAC championships and 15 out of third place, while finishing ahead of the other first-year golf program, UC-Colorado Springs.

Portie brought four years of collegiate coaching experience to the Roadrunners. He was an assistant men’s and women’s golf coach at the University of Northern Colorado for the previous three seasons. With the Bears, he coached seven (four women) all-conference selections and led the women’s team to its all-time low 18, 36 and 54-hole tournament school records at the Big Sky Conference tournament. He also helped to lead the women to the 2012 conference tournament championship and a third-place finish in 2013. In 2012 he coached the individual conference tournament champion and conference freshman of the year.  In addition to his instruction duties, Portie assisted in fundraising, recruiting, helped oversee budgets and facilitated practice and travel schedules.

Prior to UNC, he served as an assistant men’s coach at the University of Colorado for one season in 2007-08, helping the Buffaloes to an NCAA tournament appearance.

Portie currently is also a golf instructor at Trent Wearner Golf Academy and served as the golf professional at Pawnee Pines Golf Club in Sterling, Colo., from 2008 to 2009.

A native of Westminster, Colo., Portie was a four-year letterwinner at the University of Colorado, where he earned all-region honors and twice led the Buffs in stroke average. He earned his bachelor’s degree from CU in communication.

As an amateur, he was nationally ranked and was the 2001 Colorado Golf Association player of the year, winning back-to-back state public links titles. Following his collegiate career, he has continued to play at the professional level including mini-tour events, South American Tour, European Challenge Tour, Canadian Tour, Nationwide Tour and PGA Tour events. He has won over 30 professional events and was the 2011 Colorado Open champion. In 2002, he competed at the U.S. Open and finished 107th, ahead of the likes of Paul Azinger and Hale Irwin.
Portie lives in Westminster, Colorado with his wife Christy and two sons, Braiden and Collin.
 

Portie's Collegiate Head Coaching Record