Lipscomb men’s golf hired a new coach, Will Brewer, a Lipscomb alum and NAIA Hall of Famer, to bring fresh leadership to the team this season.
Coach Brewer is a Lipscomb graduate and was a golfer during college. Brewer was a three-time NAIA All American, the NAIA National Champion in 1976 and is a member of the NAIA Hall of Fame.
The current golfers said they feel they’re benefitting from being coached by a Lipscomb legend.
“It’s beneficial for us because he knows what it is like to be in our situation,” said junior golfer Dustin Wilder. “He knows what it takes to succeed at the college level.”
Comparing last season to the current season, the golfers said they are excited and anxious for what a new coach with a new plan can bring to the table.
“It’ll take a little bit of time for Coach Brewer to really get his system implemented,” said junior golfer Ryan Terry. “As far as the ways a coach can help a team, this year we’ll definitely improve a lot more than last year just because we’ll have someone who can solely devote his time to our team.”
In past years, Buddy Harston was the head coach of both the women’s and men’s golf teams. One coach dividing his time equally between two teams can be challenging for the coach as well as the players, Terry said.
“It is difficult for one guy to coach two teams,” he said. “Things have been going a lot better just because we have had one coach that has been able to devote himself to just one team, and Coach Harston has been able to focus on the women’s team.”
According to team members, adding Brewer to the coaching staff has not only improved the amount of time the coaches can spend with their players, but it also alleviates some scheduling pains.
“In the past if the guys and the girls ever had a tournament the same week, coach would have to choose between what team to travel with,” said sophomore golfer Taylor Combs.
With a new coach, the men’s team is now able to make some changes with its schedule.
“There are a lot of tournaments that we wouldn’t have even had the chance to compete in last year just because we couldn’t play the same time the girls would be playing if we wanted coach to go,” Terry said. “The spring schedule looks like it is going to be quite a bit better, even though it is not finalized yet.”
The golfers said they feel that Brewer has the ability to make huge contributions to their future as golfers. The team said Brewer knows what it’s like to be a college athlete and also has a unique point of view on the coaching side.
“[Brewer] has had kids that played college golf, and then him playing college golf himself, he has a lot of good experience in that regard,” Wilder said. “He knows from his kids what type of coaching players do well under and what type of coaching he did best under.”
The players said Brewer is also able to help them further their athletic careers because of his connections within the golfing community.
“He has a lot of connections in Nashville because of being in the golf industry for so long, which is another thing that is beneficial to us as players,” Wilder said. “We have already gotten to play at different courses this year like for qualifying and practices, and that’s something that we’ve enjoyed.”