LSU men’s golf coach Chuck Winstead was worried the golf program was not where it should be when he was hired in 2005 to coach his alma mater.Now entering his fifth season in Baton Rouge, he managed to transform LSU — which won four NCAA and 15 Southeastern Conference championships in its history — back into a national powerhouse. Winstead, entering his fourth season as LSU’s coach, said when he first arrived at LSU, the Tigers were ranked in the 80s nationally, something he deemed unacceptable.”There’s no good reason that anything we do at LSU, whether it be athletics or anything else, should rank that low,” he said. “We have too much to offer to have a program that far off course.” The Ruston native led LSU in 2009 to one of its most successful season in several years. The Tigers finished No. 6 in the NCAA regional tournament, which was the second year in a row they made the NCAA tournament. The Tigers also cracked the top 25 in early October for the first time since 2004.Winstead’s passion for LSU and the state of Louisiana helped him turn over a new leaf. He was a member of the LSU golf team from 1989-91 and considers Baton Rouge to be a very special place.”Having played here and gone to school at LSU, I can relate with the young men and tell them the story of what LSU has done for me and my life, and I think for me that’s a powerful story,” he said.Winstead became a golf instructor following his collegiate career, spending most of his time traveling around the world in the ’90s running legendary PGA golfer Jack Nicklaus’ golf school.Winstead returned to his roots in 2000 when he opened the Chuck Winstead Golf Academy in Baton Rouge. Winstead quietly became one of the nation’s best golf coaches, which benefitted him during the recruiting process. He has been recognized as a Golf Magazine Top 100 teacher since 2005 and by Golf Digest as the top teacher in Louisiana. “You can go far and wide against any other teacher in the world — you won’t find a better one than him,” said LSU assistant coach Shane Warren. “I don’t know if you’ll find a more competitive person than Chuck Winstead in any realm of sport.” Since taking the reins at LSU, Winstead has raised more than $200,000 to expand the golf facilities. He renovated the clubhouse, had an 11,000 square-foot putting green built and had former Tiger and PGA champion David Toms design wedge greens. “They needed better facilities at the University Club, so that was one of our primary goals,” Winstead said. Winstead used the new state-of-the art facilities and familiarity with professional golfers to lure the nation’s top recruits to Baton Rouge. “What we do is analyze their game relative to [PGA] Tour averages, and then we try to help them reach those goals,” Winstead said. Warren said LSU is a perfect fit for high school golfers who are looking for a place to prepare for the PGA Tour.  ”They won’t find another program where they can come and on a daily basis get the direction and the tutelage … so when they walk out of here in four years, they can immediately be prepared to step out into the professional golf world,” he said. Junior Clayton Rotz said the choice to come to LSU was easy because of Winstead’s personality.”He’s so competitive, and he cares so much about us and us doing well,” he said. That’s really what separates him.”  Warren, who jumped on board as Winstead’s assistant in 2005, said Winstead brings more to the table than just an average golf coach. “When we’re away from the golf course, he’s their coach, but he’s also their friend,” Warren said.Rotz and junior teammate John Peterson agreed they have built enough respect to treat Winstead as “one of the guys.” “He’s a cool guy,” Peterson said. “You don’t find that with coaches.”During the recruiting process, Winstead and Warren said they not only look for talent but for players with personality. “We spend more time in season around these guys than we do our own families because we travel so much …We want to recruit guys and bring guys into the program that we like to be around and spend time with,” Warren said.Winstead refers to his recruiting philosophy as “in-to-out,” meaning he looks for in-state talent then works his way out. Winstead did not sign any prospects for this season because of limited scholarship funds, but he is not worried.”LSU golf is relevant again, and I’m happy that’s taken place,” Winstead said.—-Contact Sean Isabella at [email protected]