Coming from a lineage of Bobcats and growing up just 30 minutes away from campus, Texas State golfer Brannan Cox always knew he was meant to be a Bobcat.

When Cox eventually entered the transfer portal from Dallas Baptist, his Bobcat lineage played a major role in his decision.

“My dad played football [at Texas State], my grandpa owns stores in San Marcos and went here, my grandma went here and my great grandma got her masters here,” Cox said. “That was one of the big things when entering the [transfer] portal. I wanted to come to Texas State.”

However, Cox wasn’t a golfer before high school and didn’t initially aspire to be one. Rather, he was drawn to baseball.

“I [initally] transferred to Hyde Park to play baseball because they had a good baseball program.” Cox said. “It reached a point, I was in a slump in baseball. I kind of stopped enjoying it, when you’re not doing the thing you love well, it gets frustrating.”

While attending Hyde Park High School in Austin, he received a golf lesson from John Sosa, who was the school’s golf coach at the time. Sosa was a former professional golfer who initially played collegiate golf at Texas as a top-five recruit in the nation alongside PGA Tour greats Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk.

After the lesson, Sosa told Cox’s parents that he wasn’t going to play baseball anymore, rather he was going to golf collegiately.

Since then, Cox has been a golfer. He lettered all four years at Hyde Park while learning everything he knows about golf from Sosa in the process.

Cox’s little brother, Harrison Cox, is a collegiate golfer at Hardin-Simmons University. Harrison said Cox’s competitive drive has been a major factor in his success at the collegiate level.

“All he ever wanted to do was compete and beat everyone that was playing with him,” Harrison said. “He brought this intensity throughout college. One thing that is very noticeable about his game that developed over time is his ability to adapt and adjust. Golf is a very mental game for everyone and [Cox’s] ability to ignore the stakes and shoot for the top of the leaderboard is truly impressive.”

During the opening week of his freshman year at DBU, Cox suffered an injury and was out until May. However, during this time, he said he was yearning to play golf again. Cox said he learned a lot about himself as a golfer from a strengths and weaknesses standpoint, which helped him find a different kind of love for the game.

“I was tired of not being able to swing a club,” Cox said. “I was tired of being a student … I wanted to be a student athlete.”

In his sophomore year, Cox competed in just three tournaments as a patriot, the same as his freshman season. However, he said he treated it as a learning opportunity to better manage expectations.

Cox’s junior year was statically his best so far. He started putting together everything he had learned from the mistakes made in previous seasons, while also learning how to better manage his expectations better which led to more under-par performances.

As a result, he played in all 11 events with DBU, where they won three regular-season events, ultimately culminating in a Lone Star Conference Championship and an appearance in the NCAA DII Super Regionals.

Before committing to Texas State, Cox won the prestigious Firecracker Open at Lions Municipal in his hometown of Austin, shooting 13-under for the tournament across three days. After the final round, he went into a playoff on hole 10 and won the hole

After the performance, Texas State came calling. Cox answered, landing in San Marcos and continuing the long legacy of Bobcats in his family.

Texas State golf head coach Shane Howell said Cox is a pivotal piece in the locker room because of the way he carries himself.

“Cox has brought an extremely hard work ethic and a lot of talent,” Howell said. “On top of that, he’s a lifelong Bobcat … He grew up in Maroon and Gold and bleeds it.”

Cox said he has enjoyed his time at Texas State, and having a lifelong friend in teammate Harrison Jaeger helped him adapt to the environment, along with teammate Bryce Womack, who he also played with at DBU in the 2023-24 season.

So far, Cox has competed in nine Texas State events.

Cox has some goals for this semester: playing in all events, contributing consistently to the team and having the team win at least twice this semester, win the Sun Belt Conference, and go on to compete in regionals, as he did at DBU.

While his time at Texas State is coming to an end, Cox gave his all to his team and his school, defining what it means to be a Bobcat for life.