Kansas State University Athletics
Men's Golf
- Phone:
- (785) 473-8862
A young, energetic coach with a championship pedigree, Rob Murray is in his sixth year at K-State after being hired in August 2017.
Most recently, Murray helped lead the 2021-22 Wildcats to their first NCAA regional appearance since 2009. K-State captured six top-five finishes throughout the season and accumulated a school record stroke average of 288.24.
Back in his first season with the Wildcats, Murray found immediate success as K-State produced a 292.63 team stroke average in 2017-18 to rank fifth in school history. The squad was led by junior Jeremy Gandon, who averaged 72.72 stroke per round and carded four top-10 finishes.
Murray helped tutor Gandon to a tie for first at the 2018 Big 12 Championship to become the Wildcats' first conference medalist since Graham Hunt in 1951. The individual title paved the way for Gandon to earn an individual berth into the NCAA Pacific Regional, the 10th individual bid to regionals in school history. Gandon would finish his career at Kansas State as the all-time career stroke average leader.
In just Murray's second season with the Wildcats, he helped the team to the best stroke average in school history and five top-10 finishes. Gandon, Roland Massimino, and Jacob Eklund, and Jeremey Gandon all represented K-State at the NCAA Athens Regional, the second time in school history multiple individuals competed in the postseason (2010), and the first time the Wildcats ever sent three individuals to a regional.
During the 2020-21 campaign, Murray was a part of three top-five finishes, featuring a first- place tie at the Git-R.-Done Husker Invitational. The team carded the second best team stroke average in school history at 288.60. Will Hopkins and Tim Tillmanns each had a pair of top five finishes to lead the Wildcats, with Tillmanns going on to represent the Wildcats as an individual at the NCAA Stillwater Regional.
Prior to his time in Manhattan, Murray spent the previous four years at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa, including the final two as head coach. He was the 2017 Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) Dave Williams National Coach of the Year honoree after his Warriors registered a runner-up finish in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I National Championship. He was also named the NJCAA District III Coach of the Year during both his seasons as head coach. As an assistant, Murray helped IHCC capture back-to-back NJCAA National Championships in 2014 and 2015.
Murray’s 2017 squad was led by Ricky Sanders, who was the individual national champion and Phil Mickelson Award Winner as the most outstanding freshman in the NJCAA. Jackson Bugdalski won the Mickelleson Award in Murray’s first year as head coach in 2016. Over his two-year stint leading the Warriors, Murray’s teams compiled seven All-America honors, won 12 tournaments and finished fourth in the national tournament in 2016 in addition to the runner-up finish in 2017.
A native of Colchester, Essex, England, Murray came to the United States in 2007 to play collegiately at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, Arizona. He was a first team all-conference performer and won two events as a member of the top-ranked NJCAA Division II squad. An Academic All-American at South Mountain, Murray helped his team win the conference and regional championship, while they placed third in the national championship in 2009.
Following South Mountain, Murray played two seasons at Washington State and earned his Bachelor of Arts in Social Science in December 2011. He then went on to Concordia University Irvine to obtain his Master of Arts in Coaching and Athletic Administration in May 2013.
Murray and his wife, Emily, were married in August 2015, and the couple has one daughter, Ava.
