Courtesy Lynn Uni.
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Lynn University Director of Athletics Devin Crosby announced on August 7, 2018 that Andy Walker has become the new head coach of the Fighting Knights’ National Champion men’s golf program. Walker has over a decade of professional touring experience and has coached at the collegiate and professional levels, earning nine Coach of the Year award designations.
“Andy is an elite collegiate golf coach,” said Crosby. “He is well known among various PGA, NCAA and international golf authorities, and importantly, our current student-athletes highly recommended him throughout the search process. They’re looking forward to working with him, and I’m confident his personal yet innovative coaching techniques will be a great fit for our Fighting Knights athletics programs.”
In accepting the position Walker has relocated to Boca Raton from Phoenix, Arizona, where he served as the head coach of men’s golf at South Mountain Community College (SMCC) and as a senior staff instructor and director of player development at the Golf Channel Academy.
Since 2013, Walker led the SMCC Cougars to back-to-back National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II National Championships in 2015 and 2016. The Cougars also held the No. 1 national ranking for 155 out of 156 weeks since the summer of 2013. Walker’s most decorated recruiting class claimed three Region I Championships, four Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC) Championships and 31 tournament victories. Walker has coached two Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) Phil Mickelson National Freshman of the Year honorees and three GCAA Arnold Palmer National Champions. His student-athletes have collected a combined 25 All-American selections and 30 All-ACCAC accolades. Off the course, SMCC was named the 2018 NJCAA Academic Team of the Year with a 3.81 GPA.
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At the Golf Channel Academy, Walker trained junior to professional-level golfers to build physical and mental skills that translate into improvements during competition. Walker’s clients include professional golfers from the PGA, LPGA and European Tours, along with notable stars from the NFL and MLB.
Walker’s success earned him a GCAA Dave Williams National Coach of the Year accolade, two nods as the NJCAA National Coach of the Year, five ACCAC Coach of the Year awards and a GCAA West Region Coach of the Year honor.
“I’d like to thank Dr. Kevin M. Ross, Greg Malfitano and Devin Crosby for this opportunity,” Walker said. “It is a privilege to work with a strong athletics program that has been so successful in and outside of the classroom. Lynn has great resources, and I cannot wait to work with its student-athletes to defend the NCAA title. I’m proud to be a Fighting Knight.”
Walker also has been featured as a television and radio personality in multiple capacities since 2010. He was a contestant on the Golf Channel’s reality show Big Break Ireland while co-hosting the NBC Sports Radio Show For the Love of the Game.
Before Walker joined the coaching ranks, he spent 11 years playing professionally on various domestic and international tours. He played in over 375 professional tournaments, garnering 28 professional victories and over 70 Top-10 finishes. Walker ranked as high as No. 272 among Americans on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) and was the second-highest ranked African American in the world on the OWGR, behind only Tiger Woods.
Walker first tasted national collegiate success as a student-athlete, winning the 1997 NCAA National Championship at Pepperdine University. During his three years as a Pepperdine Wave, Walker was a two-time All-West Coast Conference selection and the 1997 WCC Individual Champion.
He graduated from Pepperdine University in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and was inducted into the Pepperdine Sports Hall of Fame. He is also K-Vest Level II, Trackman and Flightscope certified and holds memberships with the Golf Channel Academy and GCAA.
