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Hiroshi Tai is an Individual Champion!🏆
He speaks on what the accomplishment means to him.@GTGolf | #NCAAGolf pic.twitter.com/mcsSvrGnhW
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) May 28, 2024
Georgia Tech’s recent run of Atlantic Coast Conference championships and NCAA Championship finals performances are unprecedented in school history – 11 Atlantic Coast Conference titles in the last 19 years and five trips to match play at the NCAA Championship.
Bruce Heppler has guided the Yellow Jackets to an NCAA regional every year since 1998, while 18 of those teams advanced to the NCAA Finals, and 12 finished in the top eight, including four runner-up showings. During his tenure, Tech has won or shared 14 Atlantic Coast Conference titles. Only two ACC coaches have led their teams to more ACC titles than has Heppler. The Yellow Jackets have captured or shared 72 team titles overall.
He was named ACC Coach of the Year in 2019 for the 10th time, more than any ACC coach in conference history.
Since 2000, Tech has finished outside the top 10 in both polls only three times.
A veteran golf professional and instructor for nearly 40 years, Jeff Paton was elevated to full-time assistant coach for the Georgia Tech golf program in August of 2024. Paton had served as a volunteer coach for the team since August of 2021, along with his work coaching top-level amateur players and touring pros at all levels.
Paton has worked as a self-employed PGA Tour coach since 2015, following a 32-year career as a golf professional at various clubs in the area, including two stints as director of golf at the Golf Club of Georgia in Alpharetta, Ga., the Yellow Jackets’ home golf course.
With a decade of experience in the golf industry, including three years as a college golf coach under his belt, and a background in both business and military leadership, Evan Smith joined the staff of head golf coach Bruce Heppler as an assistant coach in August 2024.
Smith served as the head men’s and women’s golf coach at St. Andrews University in Laurinburg, N.C., in 2018-19, following a two-year stint (2016-18) as an assistant coach at Point University in West Point, Ga., and a two-year term (2016-18) as director of golf at Point University Golf Club. At Tech, he is involved in coaching and recruiting, fitness development during competitions, assisting with practice design and setup, supervising technology at Tech’s Noonan Practice Facility, and assisting with fundraising and all other daily compliance and reporting responsibilities.
An assistant player development coach at Georgia Tech for more than 20 years, Steve Tamborra oversees the highly-touted strength and conditioning program for the Georgia Tech baseball team.
Since his arrival on The Flats, Tamborra has been responsible for the development and implementation of strength training regimes of many student-athletes that have gone on to play professional baseball, with several of those athletes returning to Georgia Tech during their offseason to continue training with him.
In 2013, Tamborra was named a Master Strength and Conditioning Coach (MSCC) by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa). This honor is the highest given in the strength and conditioning profession.
2002 National Champion and PGA Tour Professional, Troy Matteson, details the Noonan Golf Facility’s elite features. The Noonan Golf Facility is a 13-acre complex on the edge of the Tech campus in midtown Atlanta where the Yellow Jackets can practice and work on every part of their games on a daily basis. There are seven greens, shaped bunkers and approaches, all built with golf architect Tom Fazio’s firm at the helm and former players like Matt Kuchar, Roberto Castro, Kris Mikkelsen and Carlton Forrester and others advising. The East end of the property, named for alumnus David Dorman, is designed for work on every short-game situation imaginable. Routing has been designed into the entire property for a par-3 competition course, named for alumni Linda and Ray Helton.
2002 National Champion and PGA Tour Professional, Troy Matteson, explains how Georgia Tech Golf’s local club memberships elevated him to the highest level. For nearly 30 years, The Golf Club of Georgia has established a reputation as one of the finest private golf clubs in North Atlanta. This secluded, yet desirable enclave for the true golf enthusiast features 36 holes of award-winning golf and provides the ultimate test for players.
PGA Tour Professional and Olympic Medalist, Matt Kuchar, shares what playing at East Lake meant to him while in college at Georgia Tech. Located in Atlanta, Georgia, East Lake Golf Club is the home course of legendary golfer Bobby Jones and is the oldest golf course in the city of Atlanta. The Club is not only historic, but philanthropic as well. Proceeds from operations – more than $20 million to date – support the East Lake Foundation, which has helped transform one of the nation’s worst public housing projects into a thriving community. Since 2005, East Lake has been the permanent home of the TOUR Championship, the culminating event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedEx Cup, with only the top 30 players on the points list qualifying each year.
Head Coach Bruce Heppler describes the advantages Georgia Tech golfers have by living in Atlanta
Head Coach Bruce Heppler details the rich and storied tradition of Georgia Tech golf
PGA Tour Professional and Ryder Cup Champion Matt Kuchar recounts his first Masters experience as a Yellow Jacket
Head Coach Bruce Heppler explains why there’s no better place to prepare for professional golf than Georgia Tech
2009 Open Champion Stewart Cink demonstrates the importance of giving back
Noah Norton explains why he left his hometown of Chico, Calif. to come to Georgia Tech
U.S. Amateur champion Tyler Strafaci describes why he is a perfect fit for Georgia Tech Golf’s culture
