Staff Directory
Cortes-Ortiz, Paola
Paola Cortes-Ortiz
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Paola Cortes-Ortiz joined Rice as its inaugural Women's Golf Assistant Coach on July 9, 2025.
Cortes-Ortiz comes to South Main after serving last season as Assistant Coach for both the Men’s and Women’s Golf programs at Missouri. Cortes-Ortiz helped Mizzou’s women’s squad to three, top-three finishes, including a pair of runner-ups at the Johnie Imes Invitational and the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Showdown. She also coached Ffion Tynan to an NCAA Regional berth, the Tigers first individual appearance since 2021. The men’s team earned three top five finishes on the year, including a victory at the Tiger Intercollegiate.
Prior to Missouri, Cortes-Ortiz spent three record-breaking years at UTRGV from 2021-24, helping both the men’s and women’s programs to multiple records. With the women's team in 2022-23, UTRGV posted the lowest team scoring average in school history, improving its average by 5.62 strokes from the previous season. The Vaqueros started the spring season with three top-three finishes, and set
36-hole and 54-hole records at their home tournament.
Cortes-Ortiz also helped the men's team claim the program’s best conference finish when it placed second at the 2024 WAC Championship, while capturing the Big Texan Championship in 2023 and 2024. In addition, Cortes-Ortiz served as interim head coach during the 2022 spring season, improving the squad’s Golfstat ranking by 56 points. She helped mentor Javier Neira to first-team All-WAC honors in 2024 with one individual title at the Big Texan Championship. Following the 2024 season, the men’s golf program earned the department’s Team Performance of the Year award.
UTRGV also excelled off the course. The women's team was named the school's Academic Team of the Year and the Community Service Team of the Year for the 2021-22 campaign, while the men's team followed with Academic Team of the Year the next season, finishing with the highest GPA in 2022-23 with a 3.87 grade point average.
A native of Allen, Texas, Cortes-Ortiz played four seasons at Stephen F. Austin, where she competed in 96 rounds with two top-20 and one top-10 finishes. She is also a member of the Puerto Rico women's program and represented the national team at the Puerto Rico Island Championship and Caribbean Amateur Golf Championship.
Cortes-Ortiz earned her bachelor’s degree in sports business from Stephen F. Austin in 2020.
Cortes-Ortiz comes to South Main after serving last season as Assistant Coach for both the Men’s and Women’s Golf programs at Missouri. Cortes-Ortiz helped Mizzou’s women’s squad to three, top-three finishes, including a pair of runner-ups at the Johnie Imes Invitational and the Marilynn Smith Sunflower Showdown. She also coached Ffion Tynan to an NCAA Regional berth, the Tigers first individual appearance since 2021. The men’s team earned three top five finishes on the year, including a victory at the Tiger Intercollegiate.
Prior to Missouri, Cortes-Ortiz spent three record-breaking years at UTRGV from 2021-24, helping both the men’s and women’s programs to multiple records. With the women's team in 2022-23, UTRGV posted the lowest team scoring average in school history, improving its average by 5.62 strokes from the previous season. The Vaqueros started the spring season with three top-three finishes, and set
36-hole and 54-hole records at their home tournament.
Cortes-Ortiz also helped the men's team claim the program’s best conference finish when it placed second at the 2024 WAC Championship, while capturing the Big Texan Championship in 2023 and 2024. In addition, Cortes-Ortiz served as interim head coach during the 2022 spring season, improving the squad’s Golfstat ranking by 56 points. She helped mentor Javier Neira to first-team All-WAC honors in 2024 with one individual title at the Big Texan Championship. Following the 2024 season, the men’s golf program earned the department’s Team Performance of the Year award.
UTRGV also excelled off the course. The women's team was named the school's Academic Team of the Year and the Community Service Team of the Year for the 2021-22 campaign, while the men's team followed with Academic Team of the Year the next season, finishing with the highest GPA in 2022-23 with a 3.87 grade point average.
A native of Allen, Texas, Cortes-Ortiz played four seasons at Stephen F. Austin, where she competed in 96 rounds with two top-20 and one top-10 finishes. She is also a member of the Puerto Rico women's program and represented the national team at the Puerto Rico Island Championship and Caribbean Amateur Golf Championship.
Cortes-Ortiz earned her bachelor’s degree in sports business from Stephen F. Austin in 2020.
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