James Bartlett, who was promoted to associate head coach in 2023, is in his fourth season with the Furman men's golf program.
During the 2022-23 season, Furman, which concluded the season ranked 62nd by Golfstat and 58th by Golfweek, received an at-large regional bid for the first time since 2002 and made its fifth NCAA Regional appearance and first since 2010. At the NCAA Salem Regional, senior Sam Lape fired a final-round 64 to finish second, the highest regional finish in Furman men's golf history, and claim the region's individual bid to the championship. After posting rounds of 65-72-64=201 to finish 15-under par at the event, he became the first Paladin to compete at the NCAA Championship since Kirk Satterfield finished fifth at the 2001 NCAA East Regional to advance to the finals.
Also during the 2022-23 season, sophomore Will Morlan, a PING All-Region Team selection, became the first Paladin to win three individual titles in a season since Brad Faxon accomplished the feat in 1983. An All-Southern Conference honoree, he led the Paladins and ranked second in the league with a 70.06 stroke average over 36 rounds, the lowest season stroke average in the history of the Furman program. In September, he tied for the individual championship at the Old Town Collegiate with a three-round score of 10-under after shooting a career-best 63 in the second round, then he tied for individual medalist honors at the Furman Intercollegiate at 9-under in October. Morlan shot 18-under par to win the Hootie at Bulls Bay in March, setting both a Furman and tournament 54-hole record. Harris Barth was voted to the 2023 SoCon All-Freshman Team with a 72.4 stroke average over 21 spring rounds, while the Paladin team finished as runner-up at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate and took third place at the SoCon Championship and the Old Town Collegiate.
In 2021-22, the Furman team finished as runner-up at the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate and turned in a third-place finish at the SoCon Championship. Junior Ross Funderburke, an All-Southern Conference selection, tied for 30th at the NCAA Palm Beach Gardens Regional and finished second at the prestigious Hootie at Bulls Bay tournament. Senior Jack Crosby noted three top-10 finishes and joined Funderburke on the all-conference team, while Will Morlan was voted to the SoCon All-Freshman Team.
The 2021 season, Bartlett's first on the Paladin staff, was shortened, with Furman playing only in the spring. The Paladins won the Furman Intercollegiate team championship for the first time since 2004 and just the third time in Furman Intercollegiate history. Furman recorded four top-3 team finishes and notched a 271 in the second round of the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate, tying the best round in Paladin men's golf history.
Keller Harper concluded his career in 2021 as one of only two players in SoCon history to be named SoCon Player of the Year three times and became one of only two players in program history, along with Brad Faxon, to compete as an individual in multiple NCAA regionals. After tying for 14th at the NCAA Tallahassee Regional, Harper was honored as a member of the PING East All-Region Team. He finished the 2020-21 season with a conference best 70.7 stroke average, which ranks third in Paladin history. Mac Scott represented the Paladins on the SoCon All-Freshman Team after putting together a 72.8 stroke average in the spring of 2021.
Prior to his time at Furman, Bartlett served as the assistant men's and women's golf coach at Lander. During the 2019-20 campaign, both the men's and women's teams earned tournament victories, with the women tallying three top-five finishes and the men notching two. In Bartlett's first season as assistant coach, the women's team secured three top-five finishes and the men placed among the top five on four occasions. On the men's side, Jon Parker qualified as an individual for the 2019 NCAA South/Southeast Regional. Bartlett also has prior experience as an assistant golf professional at Greenwood Country Club.
A four-year letter winner on the Lander men's golf team from 2014-18, Bartlett won individual medalist honors at the 2015 Pfeiffer Invitational with rounds of 68 and 73 and led the Bearcats to three team victories. He helped Lander to a national ranking of sixth in 2016-17, the highest in program history.
Bartlett, a native of Brockenhurst, England, earned a bachelor's degree in exercise physiology from Lander in 2018. He is married to the former Rachel Hollis of Charleston, S.C.
