June 7, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.ââ'¬" For the 10th time in his Penn State career, men's golf coach Greg Nye has been selected the Golf Pride Grips Northeast Region Coach of the Year.
Nye directed Penn State to four victories this spring and a 24th place finish at the NCAA Championships, having entered the national tournament ranked No. 48 by Golfweek and Golfstat. The Nittany Lions tied Lipscomb for 24th place to finish ahead of five teams seeded higher entering the NCAA Championships Finals.
Nye previously was selected the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) Region Coach of the Year in 1993, 1994, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2016.
"Coaching awards are truly team awards," Nye said. "Thanks to my assistant coach, Mark Leon, for the vital role he plays in our success, the team for their resilience and excellence, and our administrative support. I also want to thank all the professionals at our Penn State Blue Course, from Joe Hughes and staff for their daily support, to Rick Padgett and his staff for all their efforts to prepare our facilities. Many people play a role, including our supporting alumni."
During the 2016-17 season, Penn State was victorious at the Seminole Intercollegiate and the Rutherford Intercollegiate tournaments. The Nittany Lions also defeated West Virginia to capture the Athletic Director's Trophy and beat Michigan State to claim the Challenge at Champions. Penn State placed second at the Kingsmill Intercollegiate and earned a program-best second place finish in the Big Ten Match Play Championship.
The Nittany Lions qualified for the NCAA Championships for the fifth time under Nye. Penn State made its 23rd NCAA Championship regional appearance under the veteran coach, finishing fifth in the Washington Regional after being seeded ninth entering the regional.
Penn State, Illinois and Purdue were the Big Ten Conference teams that participated in the 2017 NCAA Men's Golf Championships.
For the third consecutive year, Nye directed a quartet of Penn State men's golf student-athletes to PING All-Northeast Region Team honors, announced by the GCAA: Ryan Davis (Berkeley Heights, N.J.), JD Hughes (Carlisle, Pa.), Charles Huntzinger (Duluth, Ga.) and Cole Miller (New Tripoli, Pa.). Huntzinger and Miller also earned All-Big Ten accolades.
For the third consecutive year, Penn State led all schools in the Northeast Region with its four All-Region selections. For the second straight year, the Nittany Lions were tied with Illinois (Midwest Region) for the most honorees among Big Ten institutions.
All five of Penn State's NCAA Championship participants are slated to return for the 2017-18 season (one junior, two sophomores, two freshmen from this past season).