SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Wofford College has named Alex Hamilton as head coach of the men's golf program. Hamilton spent last season as head coach at South Alabama. He replaces Vic Lipscomb, who is retiring after 13 seasons as the head coach.
Prior to South Alabama, Hamilton spent three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of South Carolina. He helped the Gamecocks to three straight NCAA Championship appearances.
In 2016-17, he led the Jaguars to a sixth-place finish at the Sun Belt Conference Championship. On the season, South Alabama had five top-five performances while placing among the top 10 in all but the opening event of the year. Freshman Rasmus Karlsson earned second-team All-Sun Belt honors.
“We are pleased to introduce Alex Hamilton as head coach of the men's golf team,” said Richard Johnson, Wofford College Director of Athletics. “During our search, one of the names that kept coming up was Alex's. He has strong connections in the South Carolina golf community and has all the attributes we were looking for in a leader for this program. We look forward to working with coach Hamilton.”
“I am extremely excited for the opportunity to coach the men's golf team at Wofford,” said Hamilton. “The Terriers have a strong tradition and the chance to lead such a great program is something that I am looking forward to. Wofford has a track history of producing professional players such as William McGirt and the recruiting base in the Carolinas is one of the best in the country.”
During his three seasons as an assistant on the Gamecock staff, he helped coach three individuals who earned All-America accolades and a trio of all-Southeastern Conference selections as USC won 12 tournaments with nine players picking up medalist honors. The program finished among the top five at an NCAA Regional each of those seasons to advance to the national championship, where they would move on to the final day of stroke play and end up among the top 15 on each occasion. In 2016, the Gamecocks advanced to match play for the first time since the format was adopted in 2009.
South Carolina had a 286.58 scoring average in 2015-16 and placed among the top five nine times, which both stand second in the program's record book. South Carolina won four tournaments on the season — including three events in the spring — before going on to record a second-place finish at the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional. Matt NeSmith was a first-team All-America selection, also receiving PING All-Southeast Region and first-team all-conference recognition. Keenan Huskey was also named all-region, while the team would end up 10th in the final Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.
USC's 2014-15 squad had 10 top-five finishes, surpassing the mark recorded in Hamilton's first year on the staff. That included earning five tournament titles as South Carolina would go on to end the campaign ranked sixth in the final Golfweek/Sagarin ratings. NeSmith became just the second Gamecock to claim medalist honors at the SEC Championship, winning by a six-stroke margin with a school-record 14-under-par 196 total, as both he and Will Starke were chosen first-team all-league while adding PING all-Southeast Region recognition; the duo were named All-Americans by both Golfweek and PING.
During his first season on the staff, Hamilton helped the Gamecocks earn three tournament championships and tie a then-school record with nine top-five performances. Will Murphy earned All-America honors after tying for 15th place at the tournament and NeSmith collected first-team all-region and second-team All-SEC accolades.
His efforts in recruiting helped the Gamecocks secure commitments from eight top-100 players, while off the course, USC had 29 individuals named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll and eight recognized as Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholars by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
In addition to coaching duties both in competition and at practice, Hamilton was responsible for assisting with recruiting, helped oversee team workouts, handled NCAA compliance paperwork, and aided with oversight of the program's budget. He also served as tournament director for the Camden Collegiate Invitational.
Hamilton joined the coaching ranks as an assistant at Mercer during the spring 2013 semester, where he helped the program have two individuals earn an invitation to an NCAA Regional for the first time in school history.
He received his degree in economics and real estate from South Carolina in 2005 after earning four letters as a member of the golf team. In addition to collecting second-team All-SEC honors as a junior, he was twice selected a GCAA All-America Scholar-Athlete and made the SEC Academic Honor Roll three times. The Gamecocks earned an invitation to an NCAA Regional all four of his years, including advancing to the NCAA Championship when he was a sophomore.
Upon graduation, Hamilton competed on several professional tours including playing in a pair of PGA Tour events during the 2010 season. In six and a half years, he participated in more than 100 tournaments, picking up 31 top-10 finishes, highlighted by a pair of victories on the eGolf Tour.
Hamilton, a native of Aiken, S.C., and his wife Kristin, have one daughter, Hope.