New Maryland Men’s Golf Head Coach Named

A golf coach who brought Virginia teams to the last eight NCAA Championships will lead the Maryland men’s program, Damon Evans, Barry P. Gossett Director of Athletics, announced on Tuesday.

John Phillips has served as assistant coach at the University of Virginia for the last six seasons; the Cavaliers received a berth to the NCAA Championships in each of those campaigns. He was also instrumental in two golfers winning ACC individual titles. Phillips previously coached four seasons with Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), which won consecutive Atlantic 10 titles from 2014-16.

“John is a rising star in the golf world,” said Evans. “He knows the region as well as anyone having heavily recruited the DMV for more than a decade. John has a winning pedigree, having been to the NCAA Championships in each of his last eight seasons at Virginia and VCU. John is incredibly organized and has a plan to return Maryland men’s golf to the national stage. We are excited to welcome him to our One Maryland family.”

A native of Richmond, Virginia, Phillips has coached four All-Americans and 12 Academic All-Americans and has been a part of three conference champions.

“I want to thank Damon Evans, Cody Gambler and the search committee for their belief in me and their commitment to the program,” Phillips said. “It became clear throughout the process that the University of Maryland is a special place full of passionate individuals. I’m excited to begin working with our student-athletes to achieve success on the golf course and in the classroom.”

As a player, Phillips was a four-time All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference selection and guided Bridgewater College to the 2010 ODAC team title and an appearance in that year’s NCAA Division III Championship. He graduated from Bridgewater with a degree in business administration and received his master’s in sport leadership from the VCU Center for Sport Leadership.