After helping South Carolina to three straight NCAA Championship appearances, including advancing to match play at last year’s event, Alex Hamilton was named head men’s golf coach at the University of South Alabama in June.
During his three seasons as an assistant on the Gamecock staff, he helped coach three individuals who earned All-America accolades and a trio of all-Southeastern Conference selections as USC won 12 tournaments with nine players picking up medalist honors. The program finished among the top five at an NCAA Regional each of those seasons to advance to the national championship, where they would move on to the final day of stroke play and end up among the top 15 on each occasion. This spring, the Gamecocks posted a 3-under-par 277 in the fourth round to climb into seventh place and advance to match play for the first time since the format was adopted in 2009.
Last year the team had a 286.58 scoring average and placed among the top five nine times, which both stand second in the program’s record book. Carolina won four tournaments on the season — including three events in the spring — before going on to record a second-place finish at the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional. Matt NeSmith was a first-team All-America selection, also receiving PING all-Southeast Region and first-team all-conference recognition, after collecting medalist honors twice, finishing among the top five on five occasions and shooting par of better in 24 of 37 rounds. Keenan Huskey was also named all-region, while the team would end up 10th in the final Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.
USC’s 2014-15 squad set school records with a 282.85 stroke average and 10 top-five finishes, surpassing marks recorded in Hamilton’s first year on the staff. That included earning five tournament titles — also a new program standard — as Carolina would go on to end the campaign ranked sixth in the final Golfweek/Sagarin ratings. NeSmith became just the second Gamecock to claim medalist honors at the SEC Championship, winning by a six-stroke margin with a school-record 14-under-par 196 total, as both he and Will Starke were chosen first-team all-league while adding PING all-Southeast Region recognition; the duo were named All-Americans by both Golfweek and PING.
During his first season on the staff, Hamilton helped the Gamecocks earn three tournament championships, tie a then school record with nine top-five performances and record a 287.46 stroke average that now stands third on the school’s all-time list. In falling one shot shy of being in a three-team playoff for the eighth and final spot in match play, the Gamecocks recorded their second-highest finish at the NCAA Championship, with Will Murphy earning All-America honors after tying for 15th place at the tournament and NeSmith collecting first-team all-region and second-team all-SEC accolades.
His efforts in recruiting helped the Gamecocks secure commitments from eight top-100 players, while off the course USC had 29 individuals named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll and eight recognized as Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholars by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
In addition to coaching duties both in competition and at practice, Hamilton was responsible for assisting with recruiting, helped oversee team workouts, handled NCAA compliance paperwork, and aided with oversight of the program’s budget. He also served as tournament director for the Camden Collegiate Invitational.
Hamilton joined the coaching ranks as an assistant at Mercer during the spring 2013 semester, where helped the program have two individuals earn an invitation to an NCAA Regional for the first time in school history.
He received his degree in economics and real estate from South Carolina in 2005 after earning four letters as a member of the golf team. In addition to collecting second-team all-SEC honors as a junior, he was twice selected a GCAA All-America Scholar-Athlete and made the SEC Academic Honor Roll three times. The Gamecocks earned an invitation to an NCAA Regional all four of his years, including advancing to the NCAA Championship when he was a sophomore.
Upon graduation, Hamilton competed on several professional tours including playing in a pair of PGA Tour events during the 2010 season. In six-and-a-half years, he participated in more than 100 tournaments, picking up 31 top-10 finishes highlighted by a pair of victories on the eGolf Tour.
Hamilton — who is originally from Aiken, S.C. — and his wife Kristin, have one daughter, Hope. His father, Jim, was a two-year captain and four-year letterwinner for the Gamecock golf program as well.
