Hoffman Named Men's Golf Assistant Coach
8/28/2019 3:26:00 PM | Men's Golf
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan head men's golf coach Zach Barlow announced Wednesday (Aug. 21), the hiring of Matt Hoffman as the assistant coach for the Wolverines golf program.
"Matt has an outstanding playing background, knowledge of the game and passion to coach elite athletes," said Barlow. "He and I have known each other for a long time and he is a perfect fit for everything that is Michigan golf."
"I am very excited at the opportunity to coach at such a prestigious university in a conference that played a crucial role in my development both personally and professionally," said Hoffman. "Zach and I relish the challenge that lies ahead, and look forward to building a program that the University of Michigan can be proud of. We have great chemistry, and skills that complement each other perfectly."
A former Illinois teammate of Barlow, Hoffman brings a wealth of golf knowledge after playing professionally on PGA Tour Canada and several U.S. mini-tours for six years, before becoming a TPI Certified Instructor and High Performance Golf coach after moving on from his competitive career.
Hoffman spent the last two years as an assistant coach with one of Canada's most prestigious golf programs at Humber College (2017-19) in Toronto. In his two seasons, the Hawks won back-to-back Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) championships and were second in the 2019 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) championships after a third-place finish in 2018.
Before moving full-time into coaching, Hoffman played three years (2011-13) on PGA Tour Canada, earning Rookie of the Year honors in 2011. In 2014, he spent three more years participating in several mini-tour events throughout the United States, including Hooters Tour (Florida), Great Lakes Tour (Ontario), CCPT Quebec Tour, Fore the Players Tour (Florida), Scratch Pro Tour (Arizona) and the Dream Chasers Tour (Arizona). He attended the WEB.com Qualifying School three times and PGA Tour School once.
While playing collegiately at Illinois (2005-09), Hoffman was instrumental in the resurgence of the Illinois golf program as he helped the Illini to back-to-back Big Ten titles (2009, '10). He made consecutive NCAA regional appearances and finished 21st (2009) and 19th (2010) at the NCAA Championship.
