Aug. 26, 2011
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech’s Christian Newton, recipient of the 2011 Jan Strickland Award as the nation’s top assistant golf coach, has been promoted to associate head coach, Yellow Jackets’ head coach Bruce Heppler announced Friday.
“I’m very pleased with Christian’s promotion,” said Heppler. “It is very well deserved as demonstrated by him being named assistant coach of the year by his peers. He has had a tremendous impact on our program, and his desire to develop new concepts in practice routines and recruiting have proven invaluable. Our players are very fortunate to have him on the coaching staff. He has certainly earned this reward.”
Newton, 32, who won the Strickland Award after being a finalist three times, has helped lead the Yellow Jackets to the NCAA Tournament four straight years and to the ACC Championship each of the last three years. Last year’s Tech team finished the spring ranked No. 2 in the nation and advanced to the match play portion of the NCAA Championship for the second straight year. Four of Tech’s five players were ranked among the nation’s top 55 individuals.
In addition to coaching and the strength and conditioning programs for Tech’s players, Newton also is very involved in recruiting, fund-raising, operations and social media efforts for the Yellow Jackets’ program.
“I’m very thankful to Coach Heppler and the Georgia Tech Athletic Association for this opportunity,” said Newton, beginning his fifth year at Tech. “It’s an honor to continue to represent Georgia Tech golf in this capacity. This is fantastic program to be a part of and has great support from our administration and donors. We have an amazing group of young men to work with that exemplify the true meaning of student-athlete. The last four seasons have been a dream come true, and I look forward to building upon the success of the best collegiate golf program in the country.”
A native of Lyons, Ga., Newton spent two years as the assistant coach at Alabama and two years as the assistant coach at his alma mater, Georgia Southern, before coming to Tech. He was a four-year letterwinner at Georgia Southern and a 2001 All-Southern Conference player for the Eagles before receiving his bachelor’s degree in sports management in 2002. He also earned a master’s degree in sports management from Georgia Southern in 2004.
