After six years at the helm, Jason Enloe resigned as head men’s golf coach at Southern Methodist on Thursday.
Enloe, who spent three years as an assistant before taking over the program August 8, 2014, took a leave of absence last October as he and his two daughters, Emma (age 7) and Maddie (4), continue to deal with the tragic 2018 passing of his wife, Katie.
“It’s been a terrible few years,” said Enloe, who learned of his wife’s cancer diagnosis almost two years ago to the day. “The last 18 months or so have been trying to figure out how to be the best dad, juggle coaching and keep my head above water.”
He coached two events this fall, where his Mustangs finished second at their Trinity Forest Invitational and won the Maridoe Intercollegiate. In September, he realized it was time for a break so he could evaluate his “emotional and physical health” while also working with his two daughters on healing without worrying about the team.
“Through these last several months, I’ve been working hard with my counselors, talking to friends and mentors and being with my girls, I just felt it was the right time to try and move into a different space with a little more time at home,” said Enloe, citing travel as a big concern. “That was the main factor. I thought about 10 years from now, and I don’t know if I would have been able to be as passionate and committed as a coach, so I thought I should find a new career.”
“I think I can be a happier, healthier and better dad with less stress and travel,” added Enloe.
The Decatur, Illinois, native also finds himself in a legal struggle with his in-laws, which he cited as a “contributing factor” to his resignation, but declined to comment further.
According to Dallas court filings from November 2019, Enloe is seeking monetary relief from his wife’s sister, Kandi Mahan (married to professional golfer Hunter Mahan) and his wife’s mother, Debra Breaux, over a $500,000 life insurance policy.
Assistant coach Chris Parra, a former teammate and long-time friend of Enloe’s who joined his staff when Enloe was promoted to head coach, took over in his absence and led SMU to another win at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate and a seventh-place finish at the White Sands Invitational before the winter break. SMU, one of Golfweek’s teams to watch in 2020, begins its spring season Feb. 17-19 at The Prestige at PGA West.
Parra will continue to coach in the interim.
Enloe and the Mustangs rebounded from a difficult stretch both on and off the golf course in the 2018-19 season, earning four wins and advancing to the quarterfinals at the NCAA Championship before losing to the No. 1 seed, Oklahoma State. After his team finished fourth at the Athens’ regional in 2019, Enloe said his team has “made the journey bearable” after losing his wife a year prior. In his six years, Enloe led the Mustangs to 10 tournament wins.
A four-year letterman at SMU, Enloe returned to Dallas to coach at his alma mater after a 14-year professional golf career, including eight years on the Korn Ferry (then Nationwide) Tour, where he played more than 200 events. Enloe won the Nationwide’s Fort Smith Classic in 2009 and the Pete Dye Classic in 2006.
“My plan was to coach until I was 50 and then try the senior tour,” said the 45-year-old Enloe, noting he would have only coached at SMU. “That was when I had Katie, she knows what it’s like to be a Tour player’s wife. You need a strong woman at home to hold the fort down. If my situation is completely different in four years and God willing I’m healthy and my game’s good, of course I’d love to go give the senior tour a shot. Now it’s more of a pipe dream.”
As an amateur, Enloe twice made it to match play at the U.S. Amateur, advancing to the quarterfinals in 1995 and Round of 16 in 1996. He qualified again for the event in 2019 at Pinehurst.
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