Press McPhaul
Head Coach
Press McPhaul has been selected to lead the NC State men's golf program, Director of Athletics Debbie Yow announced on June 13, 2017. McPhaul comes to the Wolfpack after 11 seasons as the head coach of the East Carolina University (ECU) men's golf program.
McPhaul competed at NC State from 1991-96 and later served as an assistant under recently retired Richard Sykes from 1998-2000 before getting his first head coaching position at Vanderbilt.
"We are extremely excited that Press has chosen to come home and lead our men's golf program," said Yow. "His knowledge and love of NC State, and track record of building programs make him an ideal fit. (Deputy AD) Chris Boyer chaired a very strong search process, and we are thrilled with the outcome. We are proud to welcome Press, his wife Lynn, and their three daughters to the Wolfpack family."
Under McPhaul's leadership, the Pirates qualified for four NCAA Regionals (2011, 2012, 2015, 2016) and made one appearance in the NCAA Championships (2012). The NCAA Championships appearance in 2012 was the first in the history of the ECU men's golf program. Eleven ECU golfers have earned all-conference honors and the Pirates have won 12 tournament titles during his tenure, the most recent of which was a team victory at the 2016 Wolfpack Fall Intercollegiate at Lonnie Poole Golf Course in Raleigh.
"It's an honor and a privilege to return to Raleigh, to lead the NC State men's golf program, and succeed a Wolfpack legend in Richard Sykes, who I view as both a mentor and friend," said McPhaul. "I am grateful to Debbie for the opportunity to return home, and I look forward to the challenge ahead."
McPhaul's teams have placed a combined 81 players on the Conference USA and American Athletic Conference Honor Roll and have had 16 Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar Team honorees. ECU has been named a Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar Team seven times since 2009 and was the recipient of the C-USA Sport Academic Award in 2008, 2009, and 2010.
Prior to his time at ECU, McPhaul was the head coach at Vanderbilt from 2000-06. He led the Commodores to three consecutive NCAA Regional appearances and a pair of NCAA Championships appearances, including the program's first in 2003. He coached four All-Americans and three All-America Scholars while in Nashville.
Throughout his coaching career, McPhaul's former players have won more than $65 million in tournament earnings with 22 victories on the PGA Tour, Web.com Tour, and the PGA European Tour (Marc Turnesa and Carl Petterson of NC State; Brandt Snedeker, Luke List and Jon Curran of Vanderbilt; Harold Varner of ECU). They have combined for more than 75 major championship appearances.
A native of Sanford, N.C., McPhaul played college golf at NC State from 1991-96. A co-captain of the 1995-96 squad, he participated in three NCAA Championships (1993, 1995, 1996) and helped the Wolfpack to an eighth-place finish in 1995 and a 1996 NCAA East Regional title. He also served as an assistant coach for the Wolfpack from 1998-2000.
A member of the College Golf Fellowship National Advisory Board, McPhaul is married to the former Lynn May of Farmville, N.C., and the couple has three daughters: Anna, Emma, and Sarah Kate.
Van Williams
Assistant Coach
NC State men's golf coach Press McPhaul announced the addition of assistant coach Van Williams to the program on Monday.
"I welcome Van and his family back to Raleigh and NC State with delight," McPhaul said. "His experience at Oregon and Arizona State is a huge benefit to us, as those programs accomplished objectives during his tenure that we are determined to achieve at NC State. We share the same philosophy and view coaching through the same lens. He is an excellent competitor who will work hard to serve and push our guys to reach and be their best. I am grateful to work alongside Van in growing NC State Golf."
A North Carolina native, Williams has spent the last four years as an assistant coach in the Pac-12. He was an assistant at Oregon from 2013-15 and spent last season as an assistant at Arizona State.
In 2016 at Arizona State, Williams helped lead a Sun Devil lineup that featured three freshmen and a sophomore to an NCAA Championship berth. The Sun Devils ended the season with two tournament wins and three individuals claim medalist honors. Arizona State had three players earn All-Pac 12 honors, while Jared du Toit was a second-team All-America selection.
Williams came to ASU from Oregon, where he helped the Ducks to the NCAA team and individual (Aaron Wise) titles in 2016.
In his time at Oregon, Williams helped head coach Casey Martin develop six All-Pac-12 players and Wise became the fifth Duck to earn first-team All-America honors. He also help guide Wise (2015) and Thomas Lim (2014) to the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team, and Lim also earned Golf Coaches Association of America All-Region selection in 2014.
In his three years as an assistant at Oregon, Williams helped guide the Ducks to three NCAA Championship appearances, including the 2016 title, as well as eight total tournament titles.
During the 2014-15 season, Williams helped coach the Ducks to five tournament victories, the second-most wins in a season in program history, as Wise took home two individual tournament titles, while Lim collected one title. The Ducks finished second at the 2016 Pac-12 Championship and competed at the NCAA Championships for a second consecutive season.
In his first season with the Ducks, Williams helped pilot the squad to a title at the Desert Intercollegiate and the team had seven top-five finishes, including a second-place finish at NCAA Regionals. The Ducks finished 14th at the NCAA Championships.
Williams was the head coach at Wake Tech Community College in Raleigh from 2011-13. He led the Eagles to their first National Junior College Athletic Association ranking after the NJCAA Tournament in 2013. He also guided Ryan Gilbert to a third-place finish and the title of 2013 Region X Medalist at the NJCAA Tournament in 2013. In his first two seasons at the helm, Williams successfully recruited a pair of top-10 recruits.
In addition to his coaching experience, Williams served as a caddie for Casey Martin (2001-04) on the PGA and Nationwide tours. Martin's best finish during Williams' tenure as a caddie was a tie for third at the 2002 LaSalle Bank Open.
Aside from coaching men's and women's golf, Williams also has experience coaching basketball. In 2009, he helped start the men's basketball program at Wake Tech and was the school's first head men's basketball coach. Williams was named the 2013 NJCAA Region X Coach of the Year when Wake Tech accumulated a 24-9 record and was a runner-up at the Division II Region X finals. The Eagles were also ranked for the first time in program history that year climbing as high as 17th. Williams also coached a pair of North Carolina East/West All-Star selections. Four of Wake Tech's players moved onto playing at the Division I level.
Prior to joining Wake Tech, Williams started his career as an associate men's basketball coach at Cape Fear Community College for two years (2006-08). During his time with the Sea Devils, Williams was in charge of player development as well as serving as the tournament director for the 2008 men's and women's NJCAA Region X Division I Basketball Tournament.
Williams then moved on as an assistant men's basketball coach at his alma mater, Shaw University, where he was in charge of player development and conditioning. During his stint at Shaw, Williams recruited two All-CIAA players.
He was a two-sport athlete at Southeastern University (1998-2000) where he was a two-year starter for the basketball team, while also playing golf. As a member of the golf team he earned an individual medal at the Clearwater Christian College Invitational in 1999. The North Carolina native then moved to Shaw University where he helped lead the basketball team to the 2002 NCAA Division II Final Four in Evansville, Ind. During that historic season, the Bears compiled a 28-5 record, winning the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Eastern Division, the CIAA Tournament and the NCAA Division II South-Athletic Regional Championship.
In his final season, Williams led the league in 3-point field goals per game and was seventh in Division II in 3-pointers made per game (3.65). In his first year at SU, Williams was named to the CIAA All-Rookie Team.
Press McPhaul
Van Williams