University of North Alabama director of athletics Dr. Josh Looney announced the hiring of Austin Phillips as the Lions men’s golf head coach on July 20, 2023. He enters his third season in 2025-26.
In his first season at UNA, Phillips led the Lions to an 88-48-2 record in the fall and spring, including two tournament wins at the MartinFed Invitational at Turtle Point in Killen, Ala. and the Savannah Intercollegiate in Savannah, Ga. The Lions finished in the top half of the field in eight of 11 tournaments.
In his second season at UNA, Phillips led the Lions to a 93-39-3 record in the fall and the spring, including two tournament wins at the Cullan Brown Collegiate in Lexington, Ky. and the Turtle Point Invite in Killen, Ala. As both wins came in the fall, the Lions also rose to the highest ranking in school history according to available records at 78th in the nation. UNA found their highest finish in school history at the ASUN Championship in fourth place.
Not only did Phillips get the most of his team on the course, he got the most of each individual player as well. He oversaw Xing Luo, who won four ASUN Golfer of the Week awards, an individual crown, was the highest ranked golfer in the ASUN, named to the All-ASUN Second Team and awarded an individual participant spot at the NCAA Regionals in Auburn -- the first Lion to ever do so at the Division I level. Alongside Luo, Phillips led Andrew Ferworn to two individual crowns with two ASUN Golfer of the Week awards and saw him named to the All-ASUN Third Team. Phillips also helped Sebastian Bengtsson earn his first career ASUN Golfer of the Week award as well.
Phillips joined North Alabama after leading Cameron University’s men’s golf program to two of its best seasons in program history.
Phillips led the 2022-23 Cameron team to a top 15 national ranking in NCAA Division II and a top-100 ranking among all Division I and Division II programs, according to GolfStat. The standout campaign followed a stellar head coaching debut where Phillips was named the 2021-22 Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year after raising the Aggies in the national rankings and establishing multiple program records.
At Cameron, Phillips recruited and coached four all-conference players, including the 2022 & 2023 Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year (Hamish Murray & Chris Somerfield) and the 2022 & 2023 Academic Players of the Year. During his two years leading the Aggies, Phillips oversaw four tournament wins and produced two individual champions, along with back-to-back NCAA regional appearances. Phillips helped place four of his all-conference players at Division I institutions this summer and, under his guidance, Cameron’s team scoring average improved by six shots per round in 2022 and another 2.5 shots per round in 2023.
Phillips also placed emphasis in the classroom by helping improve the team’s GPA from 2.95 to 3.48 in his first year as head coach, followed by another increase to a 3.59 team GPA last season. His teams produced six Academic All-Americans alongside the program’s record-setting competitive success.
Prior to Cameron, Phillips spent time as the Tournament Administrator at the Carolinas PGA Section, where he had a variety of duties. Prior to that, he worked for the Golf Coaches Association of America, working tournament operations for the GCAA Amateur Golf Series. Phillips is also a PGA Associate and has a USGA Expert Rules Certification.
Phillips gained his initial Division I coaching experience as an assistant coach at Ohio University. He assisted the head coach in all aspects of running the program, including helping in the success and development of second-team All-MAC performer Zach Crawford. He also served as the Assistant to the Associate Athletic Director for Facilities and Event Operations while in Athens.
Phillips earned his undergrad from East Carolina University and then earned two master’s degrees from Ohio University. He grew up in Greenville, N.C., and now resides in the Shoals with his wife, Risa.
