University of North Carolina Athletics
Men's Golf Associate HC Matt Clark Retires
June 21, 2023 | Men's Golf
Spent 26 Seasons As Collegiate Coach, Last Six At UNC
Matt Clark, associate head coach of the Carolina men's golf program and the 2022 Jan Strickland Award winner as the top assistant coach in the country, is retiring from college golf coaching to spend more time with his wife, Erica, and two young children.
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Clark came to Chapel Hill six years ago after nine seasons as head coach at UNCW and teamed with head coach Andrew DiBitetto to lead the Tar Heels to an unprecedented run in the NCAA Championships and a thorough re-write of the UNC record book.
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Under their direction Carolina has won 15 tournament titles, finished first in stroke play in two NCAA Championships and two Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, finished in the top five in each of the last three NCAA Championships and recruited and developed some of the top players in UNC men's golf history. Carolina, Arizona State, Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt are the only teams to finish in the top 20 in each NCAA Championship held during his tenure in Chapel Hill.
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"Coach Clark is an amazing coach and, more importantly, an incredible person, mentor and friend," says DiBitetto. "For six years he helped our guys develop on and off the course, with the latter being more significant. As coaches, we are expected to win tournaments but it's also our responsibility to develop young men. Coach Clark was a champion at this. He had countless impactful conversations with our student-athletes about life and he's phenomenal at knowing when to push someone and when to put an arm around them. Our successes would not have been the same without Clarkie. He and I talk often about leaving Carolina Golf better than we found it and, without a doubt, he has made Carolina Golf so much better. We thank him for his impact, passion, fire and love. We'll miss interacting and competing with him on a daily basis."
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When Clark came to UNC the Tar Heels had advanced to the NCAA Championships just one time since 2007. In his six seasons Carolina finished 15th, 19th, tied for fifth, tied for fifth and third (there was no NCAA Championship in 2020 due to the pandemic). UNC was ranked No. 1 in the nation in the 2021-22 season and finished this past season ranked No. 2.
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"It has been a tremendous privilege to work with young men chasing their dreams the past 26 years," says Clark, who also was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Alabama, for six seasons, and head coach at Georgia State for five. "I've been blessed to share so many amazing experiences along the way, and the last six years here at UNC have truly been special to my family. I will be forever grateful to Coach DiBitetto for giving us this opportunity."
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Clark, who was an assistant coach for Team USA in the recently contested 2023 Palmer Cup, has coached Tar Heel players who earned 14 All-America and 12 All-ACC honors, won 12 individual titles, including an ACC championship and two NCAA regionals, and established nine of the 10-best single-season and nine of the 10-best career stroke averages in UNC history. The Tar Heels also earned 12 Academic All-ACC honors and six Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar awards.
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He coached an ACC Player of the Year (David Ford), two first-team All-Americas (Ford and Peter Fountain, the only Tar Heel to ever earn first-team All-America honors as a freshman), an ACC champion (Fountain), three Tar Heels who finished in the top five in the NCAA Championships (Ryan Burnett, Ford and Dylan Menante), two NCAA regional champions (Burnett and Austin Greaser), one Walker Cup player (Ford) and two Palmer Cup players (Ford and Greaser).
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In addition, Ben Griffin and Ryan Gerard are playing on the PGA Tour and Austin Hitt is competing on PGA Latin America.
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Clark won four conference coach-of-the-year awards as a head coach (twice each at Georgia State and UNCW) and played a key role as DiBitetto earned ACC Coach-of-the-Year honors in 2022 and 2023. His teams won five conference championships and competed in nine NCAA regionals during his 14-year tenure as a head coach.
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Clark came to Chapel Hill six years ago after nine seasons as head coach at UNCW and teamed with head coach Andrew DiBitetto to lead the Tar Heels to an unprecedented run in the NCAA Championships and a thorough re-write of the UNC record book.
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Under their direction Carolina has won 15 tournament titles, finished first in stroke play in two NCAA Championships and two Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, finished in the top five in each of the last three NCAA Championships and recruited and developed some of the top players in UNC men's golf history. Carolina, Arizona State, Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt are the only teams to finish in the top 20 in each NCAA Championship held during his tenure in Chapel Hill.
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"Coach Clark is an amazing coach and, more importantly, an incredible person, mentor and friend," says DiBitetto. "For six years he helped our guys develop on and off the course, with the latter being more significant. As coaches, we are expected to win tournaments but it's also our responsibility to develop young men. Coach Clark was a champion at this. He had countless impactful conversations with our student-athletes about life and he's phenomenal at knowing when to push someone and when to put an arm around them. Our successes would not have been the same without Clarkie. He and I talk often about leaving Carolina Golf better than we found it and, without a doubt, he has made Carolina Golf so much better. We thank him for his impact, passion, fire and love. We'll miss interacting and competing with him on a daily basis."
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When Clark came to UNC the Tar Heels had advanced to the NCAA Championships just one time since 2007. In his six seasons Carolina finished 15th, 19th, tied for fifth, tied for fifth and third (there was no NCAA Championship in 2020 due to the pandemic). UNC was ranked No. 1 in the nation in the 2021-22 season and finished this past season ranked No. 2.
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"It has been a tremendous privilege to work with young men chasing their dreams the past 26 years," says Clark, who also was an assistant coach at his alma mater, Alabama, for six seasons, and head coach at Georgia State for five. "I've been blessed to share so many amazing experiences along the way, and the last six years here at UNC have truly been special to my family. I will be forever grateful to Coach DiBitetto for giving us this opportunity."
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Clark, who was an assistant coach for Team USA in the recently contested 2023 Palmer Cup, has coached Tar Heel players who earned 14 All-America and 12 All-ACC honors, won 12 individual titles, including an ACC championship and two NCAA regionals, and established nine of the 10-best single-season and nine of the 10-best career stroke averages in UNC history. The Tar Heels also earned 12 Academic All-ACC honors and six Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar awards.
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He coached an ACC Player of the Year (David Ford), two first-team All-Americas (Ford and Peter Fountain, the only Tar Heel to ever earn first-team All-America honors as a freshman), an ACC champion (Fountain), three Tar Heels who finished in the top five in the NCAA Championships (Ryan Burnett, Ford and Dylan Menante), two NCAA regional champions (Burnett and Austin Greaser), one Walker Cup player (Ford) and two Palmer Cup players (Ford and Greaser).
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In addition, Ben Griffin and Ryan Gerard are playing on the PGA Tour and Austin Hitt is competing on PGA Latin America.
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Clark won four conference coach-of-the-year awards as a head coach (twice each at Georgia State and UNCW) and played a key role as DiBitetto earned ACC Coach-of-the-Year honors in 2022 and 2023. His teams won five conference championships and competed in nine NCAA regionals during his 14-year tenure as a head coach.
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Players Mentioned
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