Buddy Alexander
Buddy Alexander | |
---|---|
Personal information | |
Born | (1953-02-20) February 20, 1953 (age 71) St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S. |
Sporting nationality | ![]() |
Career | |
College | Georgia Southern |
Best results in major championships | |
Masters Tournament | CUT: 1987, 1988 |
PGA Championship | DNP |
U.S. Open | CUT: 1987, 1994 |
The Open Championship | DNP |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
---|---|
1977–1980 | Georgia Southern |
1983–1987 | LSU |
1988–2014 | Florida |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
NCAA (1993, 2001) Southeastern Conference (1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2003, 2011) | |
Awards | |
All-American (1974, 1975) Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year (1986, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2003, 2004) Golfweek National Coach of the Year (1993) GCAA National Coach of the Year (1993, 2001, 2004) GCAA Coaches Hall of Fame (2001) | |
Stewart Murray Alexander (born February 20, 1953), nicknamed Buddy Alexander, is an American former college golf coach and amateur golfer. Alexander is the former head coach of the Florida Gators men's golf team. He is best known for coaching the Gators to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I tournament championships in 1993 and 2001.
Playing career
During his collegiate playing career at Georgia Southern University, Alexander was recognized as an All-American in 1974 and 1975.[1] After his graduation from Georgia Southern, he continued to play competitive golf as an amateur, and notably won the 1976 Azalea Invitational, the 1977 Eastern Amateur, and the 1986 U.S. Amateur.[2] He was a member of the 1986 Eisenhower Trophy team[3] and the 1987 Walker Cup team.[1]
Results in major championships
Tournament | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | CUT | CUT | ||||||
U.S. Open | CUT | CUT |
- Note: Alexander only played in the Masters and the U.S. Open.
- Did not play
- CUT = missed the half-way cut
U.S. national team appearances
Amateur
- Eisenhower Trophy: 1986
- Walker Cup: 1987 (winners)
Coaching career
Alexander served as the Florida Gators men's golf head coach from January 1988 to April 2014.[1] Alexander's Gators teams have won two National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament championships in 1993[4] and 2001.[5] During the 2001 NCAA tournament, Alexander also coached team captain Nick Gilliam to an individual NCAA golf championship, only the second in the history of the Gators golf program.[6] His teams have also won 10 Southeastern Conference (SEC) team championships (1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2003, 2011), and his players have won eight SEC individual titles, in his twenty-two seasons as the Gators' coach.[7]
Alexander previously coached the men's and women's golf teams at Louisiana State University (LSU) from 1983 to 1987, and the men's golf team at Georgia Southern University from 1977 to 1980.[1] Alexander became the head golf coach at his alma mater, Georgia Southern, in 1977, only two years after his graduation.[1] As the LSU men's and women's golf head coach, Alexander's teams won two SEC team titles (1986, 1987),[7] and his LSU players won two SEC individual titles.[7]
In thirty-seven years as a head coach, Alexander's teams finished among the top ten in the NCAA tournament fifteen times.[1] His teams amassed seventy-two tournament victories, and thirty-one of his players earned All-American honors.[1] The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) honored him as its National Coach of the Year three times (1993, 2001 and 2004),[1] and the GCAA inducted him into its Coaches Hall of Fame in 2001, joining former Gators coach Buster Bishop.[8] The SEC recognized him seven times as its Coach of the Year (1986, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2003, 2004).[1] As of 2010, Alexander had coached thirty-three future professional golfers as collegians, including eighteen at Florida.
In 2005, Alexander was selected to coach the U.S. national amateur team in Palmer Cup competition.[1]
In 2013, Alexander's Gator golfers finished fourth of fourteen teams in the SEC championship tournament in Sea Island, Georgia, and twenty-fifth of thirty invited teams at the NCAA Tournament in Woodstock, Georgia.
Personal life
Alexander was born in St. Petersburg, Florida.[1] He graduated from Georgia Southern University with bachelor's degree in recreation in 1975, and again with a master's degree in educational administration in 1980.[1] His father, Skip Alexander, was a former Duke University golf stand-out and PGA Tour player.[1] Alexander's wife, Joan, previously worked as a PGA Tour media official.[1] Alexander has a daughter, Cortnee, and a son, Tyson.[1] Tyson played for his father's Gators golf from 2006 to 2010,[1] and qualified for the U.S. Open, like his father and grandfather before him, in 2009.[9] Tyson turned pro in 2010.
See also
- Florida Gators
- History of the University of Florida
- List of American Walker Cup golfers
- List of Georgia Southern University alumni
- Mimi Ryan
- University Athletic Association
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p GatorZone.com, Men's Golf, Coaching & Support Staff, Buddy Alexander Archived April 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
- ^ Jaime Diaz, "He's All Right, Jack: An ex-pro won the Amateur, but it was a lousy week for Nicklauses," Sports Illustrated (September 8, 1986). Retrieved August 4, 2009.
- ^ Buddy Alexander Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, World Amateur Team Championship, Eisenhower Trophy record. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
- ^ Robbie Andreu, "Top 25 Gator teams: #23 1993 Men's Golf," Gainesville Sun (June 2, 2009). Retrieved August 1, 2009.
- ^ Kevin Brockaway, "Top 25 Gator teams: #12 2001 Men's golf," Gainesville Sun (June 13, 2009). Retrieved August 1, 2009.
- ^ NCAA, NCAA History, Division I Men's Golf History, Division I Champions. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
- ^ a b c SECSports.com, SEC Record Book, Men's Golf[permanent dead link]. Retrieved August 1, 2009
- ^ Golf Coaches Association of America, GCAA Coaches Hall of Fame. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
- ^ "Another Alexander gets his Open shot," GatorCountry.com (June 11, 2009). Retrieved August 1, 2009.
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- 1895 Charles B. Macdonald
- 1896 H. J. Whigham
- 1897 H. J. Whigham
- 1898 Findlay S. Douglas
- 1899 Herbert M. Harriman
- 1900 Walter Travis
- 1901 Walter Travis
- 1902 Louis N. James
- 1903 Walter Travis
- 1904 Chandler Egan
- 1905 Chandler Egan
- 1906 Eben Byers
- 1907 Jerome Travers
- 1908 Jerome Travers
- 1909 Robert Gardner
- 1910 William C. Fownes Jr.
- 1911 Harold Hilton†
- 1912 Jerome Travers
- 1913 Jerome Travers
- 1914 Francis Ouimet
- 1915 Robert Gardner
- 1916 Chick Evans
- 1917–18 Cancelled due to World War I
- 1919 Davidson Herron
- 1920 Chick Evans
- 1921 Jesse Guilford
- 1922 Jess Sweetser
- 1923 Max Marston†
- 1924 Bobby Jones
- 1925 Bobby Jones
- 1926 George Von Elm
- 1927 Bobby Jones
- 1928 Bobby Jones
- 1929 Jimmy Johnston
- 1930 Bobby Jones
- 1931 Francis Ouimet
- 1932 Ross Somerville
- 1933 George Dunlap
- 1934 Lawson Little
- 1935 Lawson Little
- 1936 Johnny Fischer†
- 1937 Johnny Goodman
- 1938 Willie Turnesa
- 1939 Bud Ward
- 1940 Dick Chapman
- 1941 Bud Ward
- 1942–1945 Cancelled due to World War II
- 1946 Ted Bishop†
- 1947 Skee Riegel
- 1948 Willie Turnesa
- 1949 Charles Coe
- 1950 Sam Urzetta†
- 1951 Billy Maxwell
- 1952 Jack Westland
- 1953 Gene Littler
- 1954 Arnold Palmer
- 1955 Harvie Ward
- 1956 Harvie Ward
- 1957 Hillman Robbins
- 1958 Charles Coe
- 1959 Jack Nicklaus
- 1960 Deane Beman
- 1961 Jack Nicklaus
- 1962 Labron Harris Jr.
- 1963 Deane Beman
- 1964 William C. Campbell
- 1965 Bob Murphy
- 1966 Gary Cowan†
- 1967 Bob Dickson
- 1968 Bruce Fleisher
- 1969 Steve Melnyk
- 1970 Lanny Wadkins
- 1971 Gary Cowan
- 1972 Vinny Giles
- 1973 Craig Stadler
- 1974 Jerry Pate
- 1975 Fred Ridley
- 1976 Bill Sander
- 1977 John Fought
- 1978 John Cook
- 1979 Mark O'Meara
- 1980 Hal Sutton
- 1981 Nathaniel Crosby
- 1982 Jay Sigel
- 1983 Jay Sigel
- 1984 Scott Verplank
- 1985 Sam Randolph
- 1986 Buddy Alexander
- 1987 Billy Mayfair
- 1988 Eric Meeks
- 1989 Chris Patton
- 1990 Phil Mickelson
- 1991 Mitch Voges
- 1992 Justin Leonard
- 1993 John Harris
- 1994 Tiger Woods
- 1995 Tiger Woods
- 1996 Tiger Woods†
- 1997 Matt Kuchar
- 1998 Hank Kuehne
- 1999 David Gossett
- 2000 Jeff Quinney†
- 2001 Bubba Dickerson
- 2002 Ricky Barnes
- 2003 Nick Flanagan†
- 2004 Ryan Moore
- 2005 Edoardo Molinari
- 2006 Richie Ramsay
- 2007 Colt Knost
- 2008 Danny Lee
- 2009 An Byeong-hun
- 2010 Peter Uihlein
- 2011 Kelly Kraft
- 2012 Steven Fox†
- 2013 Matt Fitzpatrick
- 2014 Gunn Yang
- 2015 Bryson DeChambeau
- 2016 Curtis Luck
- 2017 Doc Redman
- 2018 Viktor Hovland
- 2019 Andy Ogletree
- 2020 Tyler Strafaci
- 2021 James Piot
- 2022 Sam Bennett
- 2023 Nick Dunlap
- † indicates the event was won in extra holes.