Marshall University Athletics
Men's Golf
- Title:
- Men's Golf Head Men's Golf Coach
- Email:
- grobe1@marshall.edu
- Phone:
- 5401
Matt Grobe enters his eleventh season in 2022-23 leading the Marshall men’s golf team after being named the head coach in June 2012.
During his tenure, Marshall has 18 top three finishes along with four tournament victories. The Herd has tallied 78 individual top 10 finishes and eight individual tournament wins. Seven of his players have played in the U.S. Amateur and Brian Anania was the West Virginia Amateur Champion in 2014. He also coached the 2012 Ohio Amateur Champion Nathan Kearns as a senior at Marshall. Alex Weiss (2018) along with Kearns (2013) advanced to play in the NCAA Regionals. Weiss also won the 99th Ohio Open in July of 2020.
Ten times his players have been honored as All-Conference USA. Weiss, Anania and Tyler Jones have been named to the Conference USA All-Academic team twice. Grobe has had players named C-USA Golfer of the Week 12 times as well. Weiss finished his time with the Green & White being named Marshall Male Student Athlete of the Year in 2018 after winning two individual tournament, second team All-Conference USA, Conference USA All-Academic Team and played as an individual in the NCAA Regionals in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Over Grobe’s ten seasons players have been named to the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll 66 times for maintaining an overall grade point average of 3.00 or better and 18 times his players have received the C-USA Academic Medal for sporting an overall GPA of 3.75 or better. Grobe has had four players named to the five-member, Conference USA All-Academic Team a total of six times. Brian Anania was named in 2013 and 2014, Alex Weiss was honored in 2017 and 2018, and Tyler Jones was named in 2021 and 2022.
Grobe has continued on the tradition of running and hosting the Marshall Invitational, which was renamed the Joe Feaganes Marshall Invitational in 2013. Feaganes served as Marshall’s head coach from 1972-2012. The tournament is played at the Guyan Golf and Country Club.
In 2021-22, the Herd had some great tournaments beginning the year at the EKU Fall Intercollegiate (Sept. 3-4) as graduate student Noah Mullens was named C-USA Men’s Golfer of the Week after a stellar performance including shooting a 2-under par 68 in the second and third rounds. Marshall’s momentum continued right into the Joe Feaganes Marshall Invitational (Sept. 13-14). The Herd had three players finish in the top five with Tyler Jones tied for second, Mullens and redshirt freshman Joseph Kalaskey tied for fourth. Marshall won its home tournament for the first time since 1977. The Herd’s five competing team members recorded 54 total birdies in the win. Following the home event, Grobe saw Mullens play to another top five finish (third) as the team came in second at River Run Collegiate (Sept. 20-21) to bring home the runner-up trophy. Grobe’s team fought back in the final round of the Mountaineer Intercollegiate (Oct. 4-5) to go from 10th overall to fifth, improving the team score by 29 strokes. Grobe coached graduate student Brad Plaziak through a great run at the Thomas Sharkey Individual (Feb. 6-7), as Plaziak was named C-USA Men’s Golfer of the Week. Marshall came in third at the Sea Palms Invitational (March 4-5) which saw the beginning of a great run to end the year from Jones.
The junior led the team as the top finisher in the final five events in the spring of 2022. He came in second at Sea Palms, tied for third at Bobby Nichols (March 14-15) and then pulled off a record-breaking performance at Golfweek Any Given Tuesday (March 28-30) to earn his first collegiate victory. Jones dominated the third round scoring a 10-under 62 to jump to the top spot. He did not bogey a single hole and broke the program’s record for the lowest single-round score of 63 set by Marshall Hall of Famer Linden Meade back in 1958. "That was one of the best experiences I have had as a coach," Grobe said of Jones’s third round. "That was the best round I have ever watched. Tyler played flawless today and was in complete control. It was his first collegiate win and his first bogey free round as well.” Jones was named C-USA Men’s Golfer of the Week after the incredible day. He went on to finish the season tied for fifth at the Conference USA Championships (April 25-27) to be named to the All-Tournament Team. Jones also garnered All-Academic and All-Conference USA honors.
He carried his team through the difficult stretch of 2020-21, with the fall season canceled and playing in just seven events in the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His players saw improvement throughout events during the abbreviated campaign. Sophomore Tyler Jones had two top 10 finishes and was named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team. Redshirt senior Matt Hoffman was honored as the league Men’s Golfer of the Week on April 22. This last year, 13 of his players were named to the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll and five received the Academic Medal with cumulative GPAs of 3.75 or better.
Grobe returned to Huntington after six years as the head golf professional at DragonRidge Country Club in Henderson, Nev. In that capacity, Grobe served in various Board roles for the Southern Nevada Chapter of the Southwest Section of the PGA of America since 2001, including President, from 2004-07.
In 2004, he was named the Southern Nevada Chapter Golf Professional of the Year and in 2007, he received the Bill Strausbaugh Award. He also served as the club's tournament director in 2004 before leaving for a year to serve as the director of sales at Lake Las Vegas Resort.
From 1998-2004, Grobe served as the head golf professional at Rhodes Ranch Golf Club in Las Vegas after a three-year stint as the assistant golf professional at Primm Valley Golf Club in Primm, Nevada.
With the Herd, Grobe replaces his former MU coach, Joe Feaganes, who retired in 2012 after 40 years with the program.
Grobe played for the Herd for three years (1993-95, a three-time letterman) after attending the Air Force Academy from 1989-92. Upon his 1995 Marshall graduation with a degree in business administration, he began his golf career at Sleepy Hollow Golf Club in Hurricane, before relocating to the Las Vegas area.
Grobe has a daughter, Mackenzie, and a son Cameron. Matt is also a son of Huntington native and former Marshall assistant football coach (1979-83) Jim Grobe, who was Wake Forest's head coach from 2001-2013.
