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Buddy Alexander Head Coach (23rd Season) Georgia Southern, 1975

In 31 years of coaching, University of Florida men's golf head coach Buddy Alexander has made significant contributions to enhance not only the Gator program, but college golf as a whole. Alexander's experience and success are the main reason why top recruits throughout the nation come to Gainesville every year to play for Florida. Alexander’s accomplishments are so revered that he has already earned a spot in the Golf Coaches’ Association of America's Hall of Fame.

A two-time All-American as a collegiate golfer, Alexander graduated from Georgia Southern in 1975 and later collected several amateur titles. Two years after earning his bachelor's degree in recreation, he won the 1977 Eastern Amateur Championship. In 1986, he won the U.S. Amateur Championship and was a member of the World Cup Team. The following year, he represented the U.S. in the Walker Cup. Success continued for Alexander in the 1990s, as he captured medalist honors at the Florida State Amateur.

Alexander has taken his success on the golf course and implemented it in his coaching career. Since arriving in Gainesville in January 1988, he has guided the Gators to eight top-five finishes in NCAA Tournament play and seven Southeastern Conference team titles.  He has been the architect for two of Florida's four national titles, claiming the first in 1993 and the second in 2001, as well as NCAA runner-up finishes in 1990 and 2006. In his time at the University of Florida, Alexander has also coached an NCAA individual champion, a U.S. Amateur Champion, 30 All-Americans, five SEC individual champions (including four two-time winners) and seen Matt Every become the first Gator to win the prestigious Ben Hogan Award.

Florida advanced to the NCAA Championship for the 21st time in Alexander’s 22 years in the 2008-09 after winning the NCAA Southwest Regional. The Gators had eight top-five finishes on the season, including three tournament wins. They defended their title at the Gator Invitational for the sixth-straight year and also won the inaugural Golden Ocala Collegiate. Senior Billy Horschel earned first-team All-America honors for the third time, and joined Gary Koch as the only two Gators to earn first-team All-SEC honors four times. Horschel was also named the SEC Golfer of the Year for the second time after winning the individual medalist honors at the SEC Championship and leading the SEC with a 71.28 stroke average. Juniors Tyson Alexander and Tim McKenney were named to the All-Southeast Region team for 2009, and McKenney earned second-team All-SEC honors. The Gators also continued to succeed in the classroom, having eight players named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.

During the 2007-08 campaign, Alexander directed the Gators to an 11th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. UF had 10 top-five finishes out of the 14 tournaments they played last season. For the fifth year in a row, Florida won its home tournament, the SunTrust Gator Invitational, blowing away the field by 12 strokes. Horschel was named a first-team All-SEC performer, while seniors Tyler Brown and Manuel Villegas were named to the All-SEC second-team. Horschel was also named a second-team All-American and Villegas was given honorable mention All-American recognition.

The 2006-07 season saw Alexander lead a young Gator squad to a tie for ninth at the NCAA Championships, earning the 28th top-10 national finish in program history. UF won a pair of tournaments during the year, reaching the top spot in the polls at one point along the way, and Horschel and Villegas combined to earn three individual medals under Alexander’s guidance. Horschel, who won the PING/Golfweek Preview Invitational and tied for first at the NCAA East Regional, earned Florida’s fourth-ever SEC Player of the Year honor – all of which have come with Alexander at the helm. The fact that the Gators played Golfweek’s top-ranked schedule in 2006-07 makes Alexander’s coaching during the campaign all the more impressive.

A 2002 inductee into the GCAA Hall of Fame, Alexander directed one of the greatest seasons in Gator golf history in 2005-06. The St. Petersburg, Fla., native led a Florida team that finished first or second in 10 of 13 tournaments, including four wins, en route to a second-place showing at the NCAA Championships. The Gators also had four players – seniors Matt Every, Brett Stegmaier and James Vargas and then-freshman Horschel – earn PING All-America honors.

Under Alexander’s direction in 2003-04, the Gators were a major force on the national scene once again, winning seven times in 14 tournaments and never finishing outside the top-six in any event during the season. The squad tied a school record by placing in the top-five in 13 straight tournaments to begin the season, and later posted the 26th top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships in school history by tying for sixth. Florida was also ranked No.1 in the nation for almost the entire season in every poll and ranking.    

For all of the Gators’ success in ‘03-04, Alexander earned his fourth National Coach of the Year honor from the GCAA. In addition, he was honored as both the SEC Coach of the Year and as the GCAA Southeast Region Coach of the Year for the second-consecutive season.

Overall, Alexander has hauled in 19 Coach of the Year awards in his storied career, including an impressive 16 while at the helm of the Gators. He has received the GCAA Coach of the Year award three times, three NCAA District 3 Coach of the Year Awards, five NCAA District 3 South Coach of the Year awards and seven SEC Coach of the Year awards. 

Alexander has guided golf programs at Georgia Southern, LSU and Florida, producing 15 top-10 NCAA finishes in 29 years. He has totaled 78 tournament victories at LSU and Florida, with his players earning 57 All-America honors and 70 All-SEC selections.

Alexander's coaching career began when he returned to his alma mater, Georgia Southern, in 1977, to accept the position of head men's golf coach. In his four years with the Eagles, he produced four NCAA Championships appearances, highlighted by a seventh-place finish in 1980. In 1979, he was named NCAA District 3 Co-Coach of the Year. While in Statesboro, Alexander coached three future PGA Tour members, including winners Mike Donald and Jodie Mudd. He also found the time to earn his master's degree in educational administration from GSU in 1980.

Alexander left the coaching ranks to compete on the professional tour that year, but returned in 1983 after he accepted the head coaching position at LSU. In only his second year, Alexander led the Tigers to a second-place finish at the SEC Championship and sixth place at the NCAA Championships. For his efforts, Alexander was named the 1984 NCAA District 3 Coach of the Year.

In 1986, he was voted SEC Co-Coach of the Year after the Tigers' first-place finish at the SEC Championships, a title the team successfully defended in 1987. While in Baton Rouge, Alexander coached four All-Americans and 11 future members of the professional tour, including PGA Tour champion David Toms.

Alexander regained his amateur status in 1986, and won the U.S. Amateur Championship that year, the third-oldest golf title in the world. He is still the only active coach to have won the most esteemed tournament in amateur golf. Following the 1987 season at LSU, Alexander briefly left coaching to work for a Cleveland-based sports management firm before arriving at Florida.

Alexander returned to his home state in January 1988 to accept the position of head men's golf coach at UF. Since then, he has established the Gator golf program as a top contender in both the SEC and the nation. Florida captured the SEC Championship in just his second season, leading to his attaining the 1989 NCAA District 3 South Coach of the Year award. The following year, he led the Gators to runner-up finishes at both the SEC Championships and the NCAA Championships.

From 1991-94, Alexander's Gators dominated the SEC, winning four-consecutive conference championships. In 1991, he was named SEC Coach of the Year, and later guided UF to the 1993 NCAA Championship, the program's first crown since 1973. For his efforts, he achieved the double of taking home the SEC and GCAA Coach of the Year. In 2001, Alexander claimed his second NCAA title while guiding senior Nick Gilliam to Florida's second individual national golf championship.

At Florida, Alexander has coached 14 members of the professional tour, including tournament winners Chris DiMarco and Dudley Hart. During his career, he has mentored 29 professional tour members, and eight have been winners on the tour.

Alexander's wife, Joan, is no stranger to the pro circuit; she is the Media Official for the PGA Tour. Alexander also has a daughter, Cortnee, 24, and a son, Tyson, 20, who is a junior on the UF golf team this season.

THE ALEXANDER FILE
Full Name: Stewart Murray Alexander
Date of Birth: Feb. 20, 1953
Hometown: St. Petersburg, Fla.
Began at Florida: January of 1988 (22nd season)
College: Georgia Southern University (1975, B.S., Recreation), Georgia Southern University (1980, M.A., Educa­tional Administration)
Playing Experience: 1974 and 1975 All‑American, 1977 Eastern Amateur Champion, 1986 U.S. Amateur Champion, 1986 World Cup Team, 1987 United States Walker Cup Team
Coaching Experience: Head Coach, Georgia Southern 1977‑80; Head Coach, LSU 1983‑87; Head Coach, Florida January 1988‑Present
Coaching Honors: 1979 NCAA District 3 Co‑Coach of the Year…1984 NCAA District 3 Coach of the Year…1986 SEC Co‑Coach of the Year…1989 NCAA District 3 South Coach of the Year…1991 SEC Coach of the Year…1992 NCAA District 3 South Coach of the Year…1993 Golfweek National Coach of the Year…1993 GCAA Coach of the Year…1993 SEC Coach of the Year…1994 SEC Coach of the Year…1999 SEC Coach of the Year…1999 District 3 South Coach of the Year…2001 GCAA National Coach of the Year and inductee into the GCAA Coaches' Hall of Fame…2001 GCAA District 3 South Coach of the Year…2003 SEC Coach of the Year…2003 GCAA Southeast Region Coach of the Year…2004 GCAA National Coach of the Year…2004 GCAA Southeast Region Coach of the Year…2004 SEC Coach of the Year…2005 United States Palmer Cup Coach

Inside Alexander’s Numbers at UF:
31 Professional players
31 All-Americans
49 Tournament medalists
58 All-America honors
72 Academic All-Conference honors
72 All-Conference honors

Academic Honors Under Alexander
CoSIDA Academic All-American
Kevin Mihailoff – 1998, District Second Team
Nick Gilliam – 2001, Second Team
Camilo Villegas – 2003, District Second Team
Camilo Villegas – 2004, First Team

Golf Coaches’ Association All-Academic/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar
Brian Craig - 1992
Kevin Mihailoff - 1998
Jordan Code - 2003
Camilo Villegas – 2003
Camilo Villegas - 2004
Richard Treis – 2005
Manuel Villegas – 2007
Tyler Brown – 2008
Manuel Villegas – 2008