The Tennessee Volunteers men's golf team represents the University of Tennessee located in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Vols compete at the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Vols currently rotate between 16 different golf courses located in the state of Tennessee, with their main headquarters at the Blackburn-Furrow Golf Clubhouse at Day Golf Practice Facility, less than a mile from campus. The current coach for the Volunteer men is Brennan Webb who is in his 7th season as Tennessee's head coach. Since the Vol's inaugural season in 1934 they have won three SEC championships, competed in 18 NCAA Championships, and participated in 29 NCAA Regionals.
History The Volunteers men's golf team began play in 1934 under coach James Walls. It would take forty-five years before the Vols would win their first conference title mainly under the terrific play of Jim Gallagher Jr. and Stuart Smith, who both finished in the top five of the tournament. That same year, the Vols reached their highest finish in the NCAA Championships, finishing in 6th place. In 1988, Tennessee had its deepest run in the NCAA singles competition when Tom Carr finished runner-up among the other individuals.
Jim Kelson era When Jim Kelson was hired in 1998, the Vols were just coming off a losing season that ended the three-year streak of NCAA Tournament appearances. In his first year, he led his team to 101 wins and a 5th-place finish in the SEC Tournament.
Kelson guided Tennessee to three straight NCAA Championship berths from 2009–2011. It was Tennessee's fifth NCAA Championship berth under Kelson since the 2003 season. He also guided the Vols to regional play for a school-record 15 consecutive seasons from 2000–2014. The 2007 season became a very memorable season for coach Kelson as he helped end a 17-year drought for the Vols in the SEC tournament by beating Alabama by two strokes to claim the SEC title. In the 2010 season, Kelson helped the Volunteers capture the Carpet Capital Collegiate Golf Tournament for the first time in school history. During his tenure, the Vols won 25 tournament championships, as well as several team individual accolades, and made 7 NCAA Championship appearances.
On June 12, 2018, Kelson announced he was retiring and stepped down from his position as head coach. Sean Pacetti served as the interim head coach until Brennan Webb, the former head golf coach at Middle Tennessee University, was hired on June 28, 2018 as the next head golf coach at Tennessee.
Brennan Webb era Under current head coach Brennan Webb, the Vols have posted four consecutive seasons with a win percentage above .600. Additionally, under the new SEC Championship match-play structure (which began in 2018), Webb has led the Vols to top 8 SEC finishes and the SEC Quarterfinals each year. The Vols have also made six NCAA Regionals in Webb's seven years (the 2020 regionals were cancelled), and qualified for the 2021 NCAA Championships, ending a 7 year program drought, then returned to the NCAA Championships in 2024. Webb is the all time program leader in terms of winning percentage.
Head coaches Source
# Coach Years Seasons Record SECTitles NCAARegionals NCAAChampionshipAppearances Won LostTie %1James Walls1934–19531637531.412 –––2Lloyd Foree1954–19671464554.537––23Sid Hatfield1968–19769.55873323.638––14Mike Malarkey1977–199822.52273181156.5562665Jim Kelson1998-2018202024142256.58611776Brennan Webb2018-present763213710.818–52 Total895555 3909 138 .587 3 29 18 Note: Records for coaches James Walls and Lloyd Foree are incomplete for certain seasons.
Yearly record Sources Season Coach OverallConference ConferenceChampionship NCAARegional NCAAChampionship Won Lost Tie % Won Lost Tie % Southeastern Conference1934James Walls04–.000–––––––1935James Walls125–.706–––––––1936James Walls33–.500–––––––1937James Walls351.333–––––––1938James Walls18–.111–––––––1939James Walls35–.375––––––1940James Walls36–.333–––––––1941James Walls65–.545–––––––1942James Walls25–.286–––––––1943–1946James WallsNo team (WWII)1947James Walls47–.364–––––––1948–1953James WallsRecords unavailable 1954Lloyd ForeeRecords unavailable 1955Lloyd ForeeRecords unavailable––30th (639)1956–1962Lloyd ForeeRecords unavailable 1963Lloyd Foree 38–.27315–.167–––1964Lloyd Foree1141.68842–.667––– 1965Lloyd Foree27281.48287–.5335th (605)–T–15th (607)1966Lloyd Foree7102.368571.423T–7th (913)––1967Lloyd Foree165–.762104–.7144th (914)––1968Sid Hatfield2241.815112–.8462nd (850)––1969Sid Hatfield287–.80074–.6364th (1117)––1969–70Sid Hatfield6131–.66363–.6674th (1138)––1970–71Sid Hatfield6936–.65754–.5565th (1158)––1971–72Sid Hatfield6428–.69682–.8003rd (1128)–13th (1217)1972–73Sid Hatfield8328–.74864–.6005th (1151)––1973–74Sid Hatfield4757–.452726–.2126th (1161)––1974–75Sid Hatfield76581.5631022–.3136th (1149)––1975–76Sid Hatfield127611.6721227–.3086th (1121)––1976–77Hatfield/ Malarkey601151.341327–.1008th (1121)––1977–78Mike Malarkey83116–.417525–.1677th (1197)––1978–79Mike Malarkey104135–.4251236–.2507th (915)––1979–80Mike Malarkey184611.74845191.7001st (884)–6th (1188) 1980–81Mike Malarkey189761.7112616–.6192nd (885)–T–7th (1180) 1981–82Mike Malarkey156522.7434416–.7335th (887)–22nd (893) 1982–83Mike Malarkey137651.67534241.5855th (896)––1983–84Mike Malarkey100932.51317251.4075th (893)––1984–85Mike Malarkey109913.53715141.5177th (899)––1985–86Mike Malarkey901114.43910151.404T–7th (907)––1986–87Mike Malarkey15254–.7381814–.5634th (878)––1987–88Mike Malarkey96353.7161512–.5566th (891)––1988–89Mike Malarkey87745.52421201.5124th (897)––1989–90Mike Malarkey9486–.5222225–.4681st (866)12th (876)–1990–91Mike Malarkey45835.338722–.2418th (890)––1991–92Mike Malarkey76918.43426314.459T–8th (911)18th (925)–1992–93Mike Malarkey122633.64938222.629T–6th (890)13th (883)–1993–94Mike Malarkey71681.50727261.509T–2nd (875)––1994–95Mike Malarkey111667.60332151.6775th (871)T–7th (886)T–16th (592) 1995–96Mike Malarkey101885.52129342.46210th (894)T–9th (910)23rd (617)1996–97Mike Malarkey95973.48727411.3999th (915)7th (888)28th (599)1997–98Mike Malarkey311131.21411421.213T–4th (579)––1998–99Jim Kelson101687.57426252.5095th (929)––1999–00Jim Kelson94991.4852338–.37710th (905)T–13th (900)–2000–01Jim Kelson84965.45417322.3536th (879)21st (921)–2001–02Jim Kelson124521.7013623–.6107th (881)T–13th (904)–2002–03Jim Kelson126981.5603123–.5744th (870)4th (863)23rd (925)2003–04Jim Kelson99872.52720281.7076th (868)18th (891)–2004–05Jim Kelson121594.65827192.5835th (889)2nd (837)11th (1177)2005–06Jim Kelson77831.4781928–.4049th (875)18th (901)–2006–07Jim Kelson142583.7002820–.5831st (869)5th (904)T–14th (851)2007–08Jim Kelson121473.7081916–.5436th (881)11th (902)–2008–09Jim Kelson134502.7202316–.59011th (888)2nd (878)12th (875)2009–10Jim Kelson98727.5541915–.5598th (861)T–3rd (886)T–25th (884)2010–11Jim Kelson89844.50321211.5003rd (846)T–4th (865)24th (910)2011–12Jim Kelson79601.5641211–.5228th (868)6th (837)–2012–13Jim Kelson116624.6377301.19714th (895)4th (892)T–19th (850)2013–14Jim Kelson71754.4736231.217T–12th (859)11th (894)–2014–15Jim Kelson74811.474423–.14812th (860)––2015–16Jim Kelson87661.565824–.2509th (875)11th (926)–2016–17Jim Kelson76681.524321–.12513th (874)––2017–18Jim Kelson111573.6499151.3809th (854)T–10th (900)–2018–19Brennan Webb95463.66017123.578T–5th (846)Match-Play QF6th (873)–2019–20Brennan Webb71293.68987–.533N/AN/AN/A2020–21Brennan Webb110508.65567315.675T–2nd (850)Match-Play QFT–2nd (849)T–17th (873)2021–22Brennan Webb85402.6691519–.4417th (843)Match-Play QF7th (880)–2022–23Brennan Webb123353.76439121.7601st (826) Match-Play SF8th (889)–2023–24Brennan Webb1433333.80731141.6851st (826) Match-Play SF2nd (841)10th (1180) Total 55553909138 .587 1113 1241 39 .473 329 RegionalAppearances18 ChampionshipAppearances *Note: The 2019–20 season was suspended in mid-March 2020 and later canceled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) global health crisis.
Individual honors In the past 76 years of the Vols men's golf program four UT golfers have won SEC individual titles and 38 UT golfers have earned 58 All-SEC honors, in-addition to 20 Vols earning All-American honors.
All-Americans
George Cadle – 1971 Tom Carr – 1988 Spencer Cross – 2020 Charlie Ford – 2006 Jim Gallagher Jr. – 1980, 1982 Oliver Goss – 2013 Bert Greene – 1964, 1965 John Hamarik – 1981 David Holmes – 2009 Kevin Janiga – 1980 Rick Lamb – 2013 Rhys Nevin – 2020 Mickey Mabry – 1972 Ross McGowan – 2005 Chris Paisley – 2009 Lorenzo Scalise – 2018 David Skinns – 2002, 2003, 2005 Stuart Smith – 1982, 1983 Mike Sposa – 1990, 1991 Robin Wingardh – 2011
Tour professionals Several former University of Tennessee golf players have played on major golf tours.
PGA Tour George Cadle Mike Emery, Jr. Jim Estes Jim Gallagher Jr. Randy Glover Bert Greene John Hamarik Rick Lamb Tom McGinnis Tad Rhyan Mason Rudolph Stuart Smith Mike Sposa Harry Taylor European Tour Ross McGowan Chris Paisley Web.com Tour Tom Carr Gibby Gilbert III Andrew Pratt Jake Reeves Challenge Tour Charlie Ford
Notable amateur victories Garrick Porteous, who played for the Volunteers from 2008–2012, won The Amateur Championship in 2013.
Mack and Jonnie Day Golf Facility
Although the Vols men’s and women’s golf teams host their home matches at a variety of different courses in the state of Tennessee they have recently welcomed a new state of the art practice facility on campus where the team can practice all year round. The practice facility resides on a 28-acre lot across from the University's Medical Center and contains a 3-hole course plus putting green. The new facility opened in 2010 and was finished in 2019 with the Blackburn-Furrow Golf Clubhouse. The 8,300 square foot clubhouse features offices for both the men and women's teams, heated hitting bays for year-round practice, video training space, locker rooms, team lounges, over 1,200 square feet of outdoor deck spaces, and a virtual-putting green.
See also Tennessee Volunteers Tennessee Volunteers women's golf
References
External links SECSports.com – Official website of the Southeastern Conference.