Sun Devil Men's Golf's Thurmond Inducted into Golf Coaches Association of America's Hall of Fame

Norman, Okla. – Sun Devil men's golf head coach Matt Thurmond has been inducted into the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame as one of two members in the class of 2024.

Thurmond, now in his ninth season at the helm of the Sun Devils, will be officially inducted at the GCAA Hall of Fame Reception & Awards Dinner on Tuesday, Dec. 10 at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Hired as Arizona State’s head coach in July 2016, Thurmond has enjoyed continued regional and national success. He has led the Sun Devils to 24 tournament wins, including the 2024 Pac-12 Championship and consecutive NCAA Regional titles in 2022 and 2023. Arizona State made NCAA Championship Match Play three times in their six NCAA Championship appearances since Thurmond arrived, highlighted by their runner-up finish in 2022, the program’s highest finish at the NCAA Championship since winning it all in 1996. In becoming a four-time West Region Coach of the Year (2018, 2022-2024), two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year (2019, 2024), a 2024 Arnold Palmer Cup Team USA Head Coach, and the 2021-22 Arizona State Athletics Frank Kush Award recipient, Thurmond has coached 11 different Sun Devils to 18 All-America honors. Three-time PING All-American Josele Ballester became the first player from Spain to win the U.S. Amateur Championship in August, and the 2019 Jan Strickland Outstanding Assistant Coach Award recipient (Armen Kirakossian) was on Thurmond’s staff.

Thurmond’s coaching career started as an assistant coach at BYU, his alma mater, for the 1999-2000 season. The Cougars won seven tournaments while being ranked inside the top 10 throughout that season. He then joined 2014 GCAA Hall of Famer O.D. Vincent’s staff at Washington the next season before being named head coach in June 2001 after Vincent departed to pursue professional golf opportunities. The Huskies made the NCAA Championship in each of Thurmond’s first five years at the helm, highlighted by a program-best third-place finish in 2005, the same year James Lepp won the individual national championship. Washington qualified for the NCAA Championship in seven of his final 10 years in Seattle, making appearances in NCAA Championship Match Play three times. While winning a program-record 34 tournaments, which included three Pac-10 Championships (2005, 2009, 2010) and three NCAA Regional titles (2002, 2010, 2012), Thurmond was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year twice (2005 and 2009), the 2009 Arnold Palmer Cup Team USA Head Coach, and the 2009 Golfweek National Coach of the Year. 

The Huskies earned 25 All-America selections under Thurmond, containing Ben Hogan Award recipients and Mark H. McCormack Medalists Nick Taylor and Chris Williams. Brock Mackenzie and Cheng-Tsung (C. T.) Pan were four-time PING All-Americans, and Pan joined Taylor and Williams in 2013 as Huskies under Thurmond to become the No. 1-ranked world amateur via the World Amateur Golf Rankings® (WAGR®).

Thurmond earned his bachelor’s degree in English from BYU in 1999 and later added a master's degree at ASU at the Thunderbird School of Global Management in 2022. A four-year letterwinner for the Cougars, the Burlington, Wash., native was the 1994 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Freshman of the Year, a team captain, and a 1998 GCAA All-America Scholar while playing for 2015 GCAA Hall of Famer Bruce Brockbank.

About GCAA Hall of Fame
In 1980, the GCAA began inducting outstanding men’s college golf coaches into the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame. Since then, the hall has grown to include more than 160 members. To be selected to the Hall of Fame, a coach must be nominated by their peers and then selected by the GCAA Hall of Fame Committee. Selection criteria not only include a coach's record on the golf course, but also their contributions to the game, student-athletes, and school. For more information, please visit www.collegiategolf.com/awards/hall-of-fame.