The Norris File
Hometown: Fresno, Calif. • Alma Mater: Texas-El Paso ‘91

Coaching Career: Texas-El Paso head men’s golf coach (1990-97)... Kansas State head men’s golf coach (1997-Present)... Has taken Kansas State to four NCAA Regionals... Led the Wildcats to a school-best fourth-place finish at the 2004 Big 12 Championships... Guided UTEP to six NCAA West Regional appearances and three appearances at the NCAA Championships.

Playing Career: Started collegiate career at Fresno City College before transferring to Fresno State... Garnered second team All-America honors at Fresno State in 1979... First Team All-American in 1980 at FSU... Selected as the Fresno State Athlete of the Year in 1980... Played professionally for nine seasons... Ended his professional career with four victories... Holds the 72-hole tournament record at the Greater Hartford Open after firing a 259... Shot the third lowest one-round score in the history of Pebble Beach Golf Links (64) en route to winning the Spalding Invitational Pro-Am in 1986... Had first career victory in his professional debut at the 1980 California State Open.

Family: Married to the former Shelley Kerr... Has two children, Ashley and Tyler.


When head coach Tim Norris arrived in Manhattan on Aug. 1, 1997, he inherited a program that hadn’t finished in the top half of its conference since placing fourth in the former Big Eight Conference in 1969. Making the assignment even tougher was the fact that the Wildcats finished last in the Big Eight for 14 straight years from 1978-91. K-State was so far off that map that the thought of post-season NCAA play was nearly inconceivable. But that all changed once Norris took the helm.

Now in his 11th season at Kansas State, Norris has turned a once dormant Division I golf program into a legitimate Big 12 player and an annual NCAA Regional contender.

In 74 seasons of men’s golf at K-State, the Wildcats have qualified for the NCAA regionals five times. Four of the five appearances have come in consecutive years, with Norris guiding the Wildcats to the NCAA Central Regionals from 2003-2006.

In 2003, the Wildcats came within one-stroke of qualifying for the NCAA Championships. In 2004, had regionals only been 36 holes, the Wildcats would have advanced, but a final round score of 318 dropped them to a 15th-place finish. In 2005, K-State shot a solid 881, but were unable to advance to the NCAA Championships, finishing six shots shy of qualifying. And in 2006, the Wildcats finished 18th, four spots better than their 22nd seed.

“We sat down and talked about our team about how we’d gone to regionals the last four years,” Norris said. “There’s not another team in the Big 12 North that had done that. We want to get it to five, six, seven and on down the line. We’re a very capable team.”

Even though the Wildcats have yet to advance a team past regionals, Norris has guided individuals to the NCAA Championships in two out of the last four years. AJ Elgert tied for 12th at the 2003 Central Regional to extend his collegiate career to the national championship where he finished tied for 28th following a 72-hole score of 8-over 288.