Thirty-nine years after reporting to work for the Arizona Wildcats, Rick LaRose announced his retirement Tuesday.
LaRose - who coached the men's golf team for the past 34 years after mentoring in swimming and men's water polo - will retire July 1 and then work part-time to raise money for a new golf facility.
He won the 1992 national title as the men's coach and the 1996 title overseeing the women's team.
He ran both programs from 1996 to 1998 and in 2010. LaRose, 65, is the only coach in NCAA history to coach both genders to a golf national title. His teams were ranked No. 1 13 times, and he won more than 6,000 head-to-head matches.
"It was a really hard decision," LaRose said. "I've been here a long time. You get to the point where you need to move on and do something else."
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LaRose, whose contract expired after this season, spoke with athletic director Greg Byrne and said he decided last week to retire.
"He felt, after the great run that he's had, that it was time to transition," Byrne said. "We have a need for a lot of facility improvements, and one of them is a golf practice facility."
Byrne hopes to complete a national search by July.
The Wildcats will play in the Pac-12 Championships starting Friday in Corvallis, Ore.
