After serving as assistant coach under Mike Clary in 2020-21, long-time golf veteran Tom Campbell has been named as Rhodes' next head men's golf coach.
"I am pleased to announce that Tom Campbell has accepted our offer to become the next head men’s golf coach," said Matt Dean, Director of Athletics. "Tom is a proven winner at the collegiate level and has coached a NCAA Division III Individual National Champion during his coaching tenure at Centre College. Our young roster will benefit immediately from nearly three decades of his experience. Tom is an incredible teacher of the game of golf and has a deep understanding of the Division III philosophy and the Southern Athletic Association."
Campbell, who has over 16 years of golf coaching experience, has been coaching golf and women's basketball at both the collegiate and high school levels since graduating college. In 2017 he started Pyramid Golf Management, where he runs all aspects of golf tournaments for colleges and conferences in Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Indiana.
Campbell's collegiate golf experience includes stints at Rhodes (one year), Centre (six years), Sewanee (two years) and Kentucky Wesleyan (five years). He entered the college ranks at Kentucky Wesleyan in 1993 as head men's golf coach and associate head women's basketball coach. He also served as their head women's coach for a year.
In 2008 he joined Centre's staff as assistant men's and women's golf coach. In his third season he took over as head coach for the men's program, a position he held for four years. During his time with the Colonels, Campbell helped guide the 2010 squad to the program's first ever Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship. That season Centre place 13th at the NCAA Division III Championship where Chris Morris placed third individually after being named medalist of the SCAC Championship. During the 2011 season, the Colonels placed seventh at the NCAA Championships where Morris was named NCAA Division III Individual Champion and the Jack Nicklaus Award Winner. Morris was a two-time All-American. Campbell also coached Grant Hinton to an individual birth to the NCAA Championships in 2012. During his final season with the Colonels, Centre won the SAA Championship.
Campbell has also had much success coaching women's basketball at varying levels for 26 years. “I want to thank Athletic Director Matt Dean and the administration of Rhodes College for the opportunity to serve as the next head men’s golf coach," said Campbell. "I’m looking forward to continuing to work with the members of the golf team at Rhodes. We’ll strive to move the program back to national prominence while most importantly preparing young men for life post Rhodes.”
Professionally, Campbell won the Kentucky State Amateur golf title in 2014. In 2020 he was the Kentucky Senior Player of the Year after being runner-up in the Kentucky Senior Amateur, Kentucky Senior Open, and the Kentucky Senior Team Championship. Campbell, a graduate of Transylvania University, earned All-District honors twice and helped lead the Pioneers to their first ever appearance at a men's golf national championship.
