The Guilford College golf team faces a new adversity with the resignation of head coach Corey Maggard, who recently took a job as the assistant men’s golf coach at Auburn University.
Guilford Golf enjoyed much success while under the leadership of coach Maggard.
“My favorite memory about my time at Guilford would be the collective time spent with the team,” said coach Maggard to the Guilfordian via email interview.
“Those (players) worked very hard, won many tournaments, overcame struggles and shared laughs. They created an awesome atmosphere to coach each and every day.”
Coach Maggard is also another Guilford College success story, parlaying his time at Guilford into a springboard for pursuing his personal goals.
“I am very excited to join the Auburn Men’s Golf Program,” said Maggard. “Auburn is a Top 20 program, part of the SEC the toughest conference in the country with 8 teams ranked preseason Top 25.”
The hope for Corey Maggard is that the skills he developed at Guilford will translate to success at Auburn University.
“It is a great opportunity for me to work with some of the top players in the country,” said Maggard.
The golf program has grown into a very strong organization, winning the Old Dominion Athletic Conference the past three years, and is consistently in contention for the Division-III National Championship.
In the preseason coach’s poll Guilford is ranked 11th in the country.
There are five seniors on the team, which provides leadership to help the team during this transition.
However, the next move for the Athletic Department is to engage in the process of finding a new head coach of the Guilford golf team.
This upcoming week will be a busy one for the Quakers and for Athletic Director Tom Palombo as he will be meeting and interviewing candidates for the vacant position.
“We are going to have the candidates hold practice with the team,” said Palombo. “I want to hear the reactions of the players to each candidate as a potential coach.”
A candidate’s success does not necessarily mean that they would understand the culture of Guilford College.
“The new golf coach should be somebody who understands how important it is that our player’s grow both in their sport and as a person,” said Palombo.
Tom Palombo has been a very busy man over the past few weeks balancing duties as Athletic Director, men’s basketball coach and interim golf coach.
“Things have certainly been busy for me this time of year, but I’m confident that everything is going to work out just fine,” said Palombo. “It is just going to take time to do this right.”
The golf team has a group of seniors who have stepped up and taken the wheel at times.
“I personally believe that, coach or no coach, we are the best we have been since I have been at Guilford and this is the year that we are going to hold up a National Championship trophy,” said senior golfer Mitch Robinette.
This sentiment was buoyed by other members of the golf team.
“I am looking forward to this season regardless of our situation regarding a coach,” said Senior golfer Travis Tolbert.
“We want to win a National Championship more than anything and we aren’t going to let anything, or anyone, get in the way of that.”
The Quakers golf team is set to begin their season Sept. 21 at Grandover Resort in Greensboro for the Tournament Town Fall Preview.
