Matt Clarkin his sixth season on the coaching staff with the University of North Carolina men’s golf team, was named the associate head coach, head coach Andrew DiBitetto announced today.
”Coach Clark brings passion, competitiveness and joy to our program every day,” says DiBitetto, the 2022 ACC Coach of the Year. ”He’s incredible at building relationships, understanding people, holding everyone to an exceptionally high standard and inspiring them to be their very best. Clarkie is one of the best coaches in the entire country and we are grateful he’s a Tar Heel.”
Clark is one of five finalists for the 2022 Jan Strickland Outstanding Assistant Coach Award presented by TaylorMade Golf Company. The award is presented to the NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA, or NJCAA assistant coach who, among other things, has excelled in working with their student-athletes both on the course and in the classroom.
Clark has helped recruit and coach players that have re-established Carolina as a nationally-competitive program and re-written the Tar Heel record book. Carolina has posted four top-20 finishes at the NCAA Championships (and was ranked No. 13 by Golfweek when the pandemic curtailed the 2019-20 season), won 10 tournaments and excelled in the classroom.
The Tar Heels have earned 10 All-America and eight All-ACC honors, won nine individual titles, including an ACC championship, and established nine of the 11-best single-season and eight of the 10-lowest career stroke averages in UNC history. .
Carolina, Arizona State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt are the only teams to finish in the top 20 in each of the four NCAA Championships held during Clark’s tenure in Chapel Hill.
Clark came to Chapel Hill in 2017 after 14 seasons as a Division I head coach – from 2003-08 at Georgia State and 2008-17 at UNCW, where his teams won a combined five conference championships.