Beginning his 31st year as Penn State head men’s golf coach in 2022-23, and 39th season overall as a head coach, Greg Nye has guided the Nittany Lions to national prominence, while bolstering the program’s reputation as a perennial power in Eastern collegiate golf. Five appearances in the NCAA Finals in 1996, 2004, 2008, 2010 and 2017 are major highlights of Nye’s highly-respected career as the longest-tenured coach in Penn State men’s golf history.
Penn State secured its highest finish at Big Ten Championships since 2018 during the 2021-22 season, while Nye mentored two student-athletes to becoming NCAA Regional individual qualifiers. Penn State won its seventh-straight Rutherford Intercollegiate team title in April 2022. Three Nittany Lions earned All-Region honors, marking the eighth-straight season that Penn State had the highest number of honorees in the Northeast region.
Nye successfully guided Penn State through a season like no other in the 2020-21 school year. Despite the fall season being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nittany Lions hit their stride in the later half of the spring season to win their sixth-straight Rutherford Intercollegiate tournament championship. Nye mentored three All-Region honorees, which was tied for the highest number of honorees among Big Ten institutions and the highest number of any other school in Penn State’s region.
Penn State posted four top-five tournament finishes during the fall portion of the 2019-20 season, which witnessed the Nittany Lions tie the program record for a low round (269, 11-under) at the Old Town Club Collegiate in September. Success during the early part of the spring campaign produced an appearance in the finals of Big Ten Championship Match Play, ceding to top-seeded Northwestern in a shortened competition as darkness fell.
Nye had positioned Penn State for another NCAA Regional appearance in 2019-20 as the Nittany Lions tied for third at the Florida Gators Invitational in their first tournament action of 2020. The spring season ended while Penn State was on its spring break trip as the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the remaining events as well as Big Ten and NCAA postseason play.
The Nittany Lions made their fourth-straight appearance in an NCAA Regional in 2018, with Penn State one of only four Big Ten Conference teams to accomplish that feat. Under Nye’s purview, the Nittany Lions have done it twice, with consecutive trips in 2015- 2018 and previously in 2007-2010.
Following the 2017-18 season, Nye was selected the Golf Pride Grips Northeast Region Coach of the Year by the Golf Coaches Association of American (GCAA). It was his third-straight award and marked the 11th such recognition in his tenure. The honor was well-deserved as the Nittany Lions recorded nine top-five finishes and three titles in their 11 tournaments that season. Penn State also captured a fourth-place team finish in the Big Ten Championships while Cole Miller placed second among individuals, matching the highest-ever finish by a Nittany Lion.
EASTERN GOLF CONTRIBUTIONS
One of the most significant contributions Nye has made to Penn State and Eastern collegiate golf came in the 1995-96 season when the Nittany Lions became the first-ever Northeastern or Mid- Atlantic team to advance to the NCAA Finals since the regional format was established in 1987. Penn State made a statement with a ninth-place finish in the NCAA East Regional.
In 2004, his Nittany Lions rocked the collegiate golf world by nearly winning the NCAA East Regional, finishing second among 27 teams, seven of which were ranked in the nation’s top 15, including the No. 1-ranked Florida Gators. The Nittany Lions went on to finish 15th among the 30-team field at the NCAA Finals, making Penn State golf history with its highest team and individual finish with Mark Leon capturing sixth.
The team headed into Big Ten territory for the 2008 edition of the NCAA regionals after receiving a bid to the Central Regional hosted by Ohio State. The 13th-seeded Penn State team captured an eighth-place finish to secure its third NCAA Finals berth under Nye.
The Penn State squad was propelled into the 2010 NCAA Finals by seniors T.J. Howe and Kevin Foley. The standout team performance secured a fourth-place finish for the Nittany Lions at regionals upsetting several highly ranked teams and only two shots behind first-place Texas. Howe’s first-place finish made Penn State history in that he became the first Lion to ever win a NCAA regional.
Nye led Penn State to a fifth-place team finish in the 2017 NCAA Washington Regional to advance into the NCAA Finals in Sugar Grove, Ill. The second Nittany Lion to ever win an NCAA Regional, Cole Miller, claimed the individual title, shooting 7-under par to win by three strokes. The Blue & White would go on to finish in a tie for 24th in the NCAA Championships.
MILESTONES
In April 2007, Nye marked a personal achievement while the Nittany Lions celebrated their victory at the Marshall Invitational, beating the next best team by 12 strokes. The championship, won on a cool, snowy weekend at the Guyan Golf and Country Club, was the 50th of Nye’s coaching career.
Nye’s career coaching win total now stands at 73. In his first two years, Nye’s teams set two Penn State records for the number of championships earned in a season, with six in 1992-93 and eight in 1993-94, a that mark was tied by the 1996-97 squad.
ACADEMIC & ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE
In addition to the team’s success on the course, Nye has continually stressed strong performance in the classroom. In 1999-2000, 2001-2002 and 2015-16, his teams led the nation with three Golf Coaches Association of America All-America Scholar team selections. Nye’s 2021-22 team set a program record with four GCAA All-America Scholar selections. During the summer of 2015, the Nittany Lions received the President's Special Recognition by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) with Stanford University for teams with a grade-point average over 3.5.
At Penn State, the Nittany Lions have consistently achieved a team GPA greater than 3.00. In 2000-01, 2013-14 and 2014-15, Nye’s team received the award for the top GPA of the 31 intercollegiate teams at Penn State. Six times his Lions topped all the men’s teams with latest honor coming in the spring of 2016. Nye has coached 35 GCAA All-America Scholars and each year he has seen a high percentage of the team rewarded for academic achievements with Academic All-Big Ten honors with 143 student-athletes receiving those laurels along with 21 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars.
Nye’s teams have continually ranked near or at the top of the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast Region. His teams have qualified for the NCAA Championship Regional 22 times. Three Nittany Lions have competed individually in NCAA Regionals, with Patrick Sheehan and Lou Olsakovsky in the Columbus Regional in 2022 and T.J. Howe at the Blacksburg Regional in 2011.
In 2017, Nye guided Penn State to its fifth and most recent NCAA Championship Finals appearance. His squads also won the Eastern Championship three straight seasons, 1994, 1995, and in 1997.
In addition to the accolades he has received as a coach, Nye has tutored 89 NCAA All-Region players, five Mid-Atlantic Region Players of the Year and 17 All-Big Ten selections, as well as 10 NCAA All-Americans Adam Decker (1997), Matt Abbott (2001), Mark Leon (2004), Foley (2008, 2009 & 2010), Howe (2010), Charles Huntzinger (2016), and Cole Miller (2017 & 2018).
For the first time in program history, Penn State had Nittany Lions selected for All-Northeast Region honors all four years of their careers in back-to-back seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Following the 2020-21 season, Penn State added to that run as Ryan Davis received his fifth All-Region honor to mark the third-straight season a student-athlete was recognized in all years of his career.
THE ROAD TO HAPPY VALLEY
Nye served for eight years as head coach of the Bowling Green State University men’s and women’s golf teams in Bowling Green, Ohio, before accepting the assignment as head coach of the Nittany Lion men’s golf program. Attracted to Penn State and its membership in the Big Ten Conference and familiar with the institution through its golf camps, the 1987 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year began his career in Happy Valley in August 1992.
PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP
Nye has been a member of the Golf Coaches Association of America since 1984 and served as the Chair of the Ethics committee for 10 consecutive years from 1993-2003. In addition, he also served the NCAA as a District Selection Chair for the NCAA Championship from 1997-99. Nye, a “Class A” member of the PGA of America since 1982, began his professional career working as a golf professional in 1980.
PLAYING CAREER
A 1979 graduate of the College of Wooster (Ohio), Nye earned All- America honors each of his four years, receiving first-team honors as a sophomore, junior and senior. Nye and his teammates captured the first-ever NCAA Division III Golf Championship in 1975, where he finished eighth individually. Before concluding his collegiate career, Nye earned second, fourth and sixth-place finishes in the NCAA Championship.
Nye was the individual champion in the Ohio Athletic Conference in his final two years at Wooster. In 1978, he set a conference margin of victory record winning by 11 shots. He played on Fighting Scot teams that captured conference titles in 1975, 1976 and 1977.
While at Wooster, Nye played several notable national amateur tournaments, and after graduation he played professionally on the Florida mini-tours.
In 1990, Nye was inducted into the College of Wooster’s Athletic Hall of Fame, and was honored with induction into the Wayne County, Ohio, Sports Hall of Fame in Wooster, Ohio, in 2002. Nye was also inducted into the Wooster High School Hall of Fame in 2009.
A LIFE IN GOLF
When asked about how his life in golf and Penn State fit together Nye said, “Sports, golf, competing, coaching and teaching have been with me from the beginning. I have been very fortunate to be able to pursue a passion for competitive golf at a few very special places with many outstanding people. Penn State has been one of those places. I have particularly enjoyed the Penn State approach to intercollegiate athletics. Penn State supports our program to be competitive athletically on a conference and national level, but insists that the student-athletes’ education and well-being remains first and foremost.”
Nye and his wife, Marjie, reside in State College, and are parents of two sons, Russell and Graham.
NYE FAMILY GOLF TRADITION
Coach Nye’s two brothers and his father have all been greatly involved in the sport of golf. His father, Bob Nye, coached all three sons at the College of Wooster in Ohio and saw each son find his own niche professionally.
Bob Nye coached golf and soccer at the College of Wooster from 1963-1996 and was inducted into Wooster’s Hall of Fame in 1997. He served as the president of the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) from 1984-86 and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2000, the elder Nye received the GCAA’s highest distinction by being presented with the Honor Award for his lifetime contributions to golf. He was named the Golfweek Father of the Year in 2007.
Coach Nye’s brother, Scott, is the head golf professional at the prestigious Merion Golf Club, located in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, which has hosted four United States Open Championships. In his time at Merion, the course has hosted the 2004 US Amateur, the 2009 Walker Cup and the 2013 U.S. Open.
Nye’s youngest brother, Gary, serves as the head golf professional at the Stock Farm Club in Hamilton, Montana.
Penn State secured its highest finish at Big Ten Championships since 2018 during the 2021-22 season, while Nye mentored two student-athletes to becoming NCAA Regional individual qualifiers. Penn State won its seventh-straight Rutherford Intercollegiate team title in April 2022. Three Nittany Lions earned All-Region honors, marking the eighth-straight season that Penn State had the highest number of honorees in the Northeast region.
Nye successfully guided Penn State through a season like no other in the 2020-21 school year. Despite the fall season being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nittany Lions hit their stride in the later half of the spring season to win their sixth-straight Rutherford Intercollegiate tournament championship. Nye mentored three All-Region honorees, which was tied for the highest number of honorees among Big Ten institutions and the highest number of any other school in Penn State’s region.
Penn State posted four top-five tournament finishes during the fall portion of the 2019-20 season, which witnessed the Nittany Lions tie the program record for a low round (269, 11-under) at the Old Town Club Collegiate in September. Success during the early part of the spring campaign produced an appearance in the finals of Big Ten Championship Match Play, ceding to top-seeded Northwestern in a shortened competition as darkness fell.
Nye had positioned Penn State for another NCAA Regional appearance in 2019-20 as the Nittany Lions tied for third at the Florida Gators Invitational in their first tournament action of 2020. The spring season ended while Penn State was on its spring break trip as the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the remaining events as well as Big Ten and NCAA postseason play.
The Nittany Lions made their fourth-straight appearance in an NCAA Regional in 2018, with Penn State one of only four Big Ten Conference teams to accomplish that feat. Under Nye’s purview, the Nittany Lions have done it twice, with consecutive trips in 2015- 2018 and previously in 2007-2010.
Following the 2017-18 season, Nye was selected the Golf Pride Grips Northeast Region Coach of the Year by the Golf Coaches Association of American (GCAA). It was his third-straight award and marked the 11th such recognition in his tenure. The honor was well-deserved as the Nittany Lions recorded nine top-five finishes and three titles in their 11 tournaments that season. Penn State also captured a fourth-place team finish in the Big Ten Championships while Cole Miller placed second among individuals, matching the highest-ever finish by a Nittany Lion.
EASTERN GOLF CONTRIBUTIONS
One of the most significant contributions Nye has made to Penn State and Eastern collegiate golf came in the 1995-96 season when the Nittany Lions became the first-ever Northeastern or Mid- Atlantic team to advance to the NCAA Finals since the regional format was established in 1987. Penn State made a statement with a ninth-place finish in the NCAA East Regional.
In 2004, his Nittany Lions rocked the collegiate golf world by nearly winning the NCAA East Regional, finishing second among 27 teams, seven of which were ranked in the nation’s top 15, including the No. 1-ranked Florida Gators. The Nittany Lions went on to finish 15th among the 30-team field at the NCAA Finals, making Penn State golf history with its highest team and individual finish with Mark Leon capturing sixth.
The team headed into Big Ten territory for the 2008 edition of the NCAA regionals after receiving a bid to the Central Regional hosted by Ohio State. The 13th-seeded Penn State team captured an eighth-place finish to secure its third NCAA Finals berth under Nye.
The Penn State squad was propelled into the 2010 NCAA Finals by seniors T.J. Howe and Kevin Foley. The standout team performance secured a fourth-place finish for the Nittany Lions at regionals upsetting several highly ranked teams and only two shots behind first-place Texas. Howe’s first-place finish made Penn State history in that he became the first Lion to ever win a NCAA regional.
Nye led Penn State to a fifth-place team finish in the 2017 NCAA Washington Regional to advance into the NCAA Finals in Sugar Grove, Ill. The second Nittany Lion to ever win an NCAA Regional, Cole Miller, claimed the individual title, shooting 7-under par to win by three strokes. The Blue & White would go on to finish in a tie for 24th in the NCAA Championships.
MILESTONES
In April 2007, Nye marked a personal achievement while the Nittany Lions celebrated their victory at the Marshall Invitational, beating the next best team by 12 strokes. The championship, won on a cool, snowy weekend at the Guyan Golf and Country Club, was the 50th of Nye’s coaching career.
Nye’s career coaching win total now stands at 73. In his first two years, Nye’s teams set two Penn State records for the number of championships earned in a season, with six in 1992-93 and eight in 1993-94, a that mark was tied by the 1996-97 squad.
ACADEMIC & ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE
In addition to the team’s success on the course, Nye has continually stressed strong performance in the classroom. In 1999-2000, 2001-2002 and 2015-16, his teams led the nation with three Golf Coaches Association of America All-America Scholar team selections. Nye’s 2021-22 team set a program record with four GCAA All-America Scholar selections. During the summer of 2015, the Nittany Lions received the President's Special Recognition by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) with Stanford University for teams with a grade-point average over 3.5.
At Penn State, the Nittany Lions have consistently achieved a team GPA greater than 3.00. In 2000-01, 2013-14 and 2014-15, Nye’s team received the award for the top GPA of the 31 intercollegiate teams at Penn State. Six times his Lions topped all the men’s teams with latest honor coming in the spring of 2016. Nye has coached 35 GCAA All-America Scholars and each year he has seen a high percentage of the team rewarded for academic achievements with Academic All-Big Ten honors with 143 student-athletes receiving those laurels along with 21 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars.
Nye’s teams have continually ranked near or at the top of the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast Region. His teams have qualified for the NCAA Championship Regional 22 times. Three Nittany Lions have competed individually in NCAA Regionals, with Patrick Sheehan and Lou Olsakovsky in the Columbus Regional in 2022 and T.J. Howe at the Blacksburg Regional in 2011.
In 2017, Nye guided Penn State to its fifth and most recent NCAA Championship Finals appearance. His squads also won the Eastern Championship three straight seasons, 1994, 1995, and in 1997.
In addition to the accolades he has received as a coach, Nye has tutored 89 NCAA All-Region players, five Mid-Atlantic Region Players of the Year and 17 All-Big Ten selections, as well as 10 NCAA All-Americans Adam Decker (1997), Matt Abbott (2001), Mark Leon (2004), Foley (2008, 2009 & 2010), Howe (2010), Charles Huntzinger (2016), and Cole Miller (2017 & 2018).
For the first time in program history, Penn State had Nittany Lions selected for All-Northeast Region honors all four years of their careers in back-to-back seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Following the 2020-21 season, Penn State added to that run as Ryan Davis received his fifth All-Region honor to mark the third-straight season a student-athlete was recognized in all years of his career.
THE ROAD TO HAPPY VALLEY
Nye served for eight years as head coach of the Bowling Green State University men’s and women’s golf teams in Bowling Green, Ohio, before accepting the assignment as head coach of the Nittany Lion men’s golf program. Attracted to Penn State and its membership in the Big Ten Conference and familiar with the institution through its golf camps, the 1987 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year began his career in Happy Valley in August 1992.
PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP
Nye has been a member of the Golf Coaches Association of America since 1984 and served as the Chair of the Ethics committee for 10 consecutive years from 1993-2003. In addition, he also served the NCAA as a District Selection Chair for the NCAA Championship from 1997-99. Nye, a “Class A” member of the PGA of America since 1982, began his professional career working as a golf professional in 1980.
PLAYING CAREER
A 1979 graduate of the College of Wooster (Ohio), Nye earned All- America honors each of his four years, receiving first-team honors as a sophomore, junior and senior. Nye and his teammates captured the first-ever NCAA Division III Golf Championship in 1975, where he finished eighth individually. Before concluding his collegiate career, Nye earned second, fourth and sixth-place finishes in the NCAA Championship.
Nye was the individual champion in the Ohio Athletic Conference in his final two years at Wooster. In 1978, he set a conference margin of victory record winning by 11 shots. He played on Fighting Scot teams that captured conference titles in 1975, 1976 and 1977.
While at Wooster, Nye played several notable national amateur tournaments, and after graduation he played professionally on the Florida mini-tours.
In 1990, Nye was inducted into the College of Wooster’s Athletic Hall of Fame, and was honored with induction into the Wayne County, Ohio, Sports Hall of Fame in Wooster, Ohio, in 2002. Nye was also inducted into the Wooster High School Hall of Fame in 2009.
A LIFE IN GOLF
When asked about how his life in golf and Penn State fit together Nye said, “Sports, golf, competing, coaching and teaching have been with me from the beginning. I have been very fortunate to be able to pursue a passion for competitive golf at a few very special places with many outstanding people. Penn State has been one of those places. I have particularly enjoyed the Penn State approach to intercollegiate athletics. Penn State supports our program to be competitive athletically on a conference and national level, but insists that the student-athletes’ education and well-being remains first and foremost.”
Nye and his wife, Marjie, reside in State College, and are parents of two sons, Russell and Graham.
NYE FAMILY GOLF TRADITION
Coach Nye’s two brothers and his father have all been greatly involved in the sport of golf. His father, Bob Nye, coached all three sons at the College of Wooster in Ohio and saw each son find his own niche professionally.
Bob Nye coached golf and soccer at the College of Wooster from 1963-1996 and was inducted into Wooster’s Hall of Fame in 1997. He served as the president of the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) from 1984-86 and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2000, the elder Nye received the GCAA’s highest distinction by being presented with the Honor Award for his lifetime contributions to golf. He was named the Golfweek Father of the Year in 2007.
Coach Nye’s brother, Scott, is the head golf professional at the prestigious Merion Golf Club, located in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, which has hosted four United States Open Championships. In his time at Merion, the course has hosted the 2004 US Amateur, the 2009 Walker Cup and the 2013 U.S. Open.
Nye’s youngest brother, Gary, serves as the head golf professional at the Stock Farm Club in Hamilton, Montana.