University of North Carolina - Wilmington Men's Golf

Pearson Assistant Golf Coach Abby Pearson, a well-known coach and golf advocate in collegiate and professional circles, joined the UNCW staff as assistant mens and womens golf coach in September of 2014.  Abby has won at every level of the game and is very passionate about teaching, said Cindy Ho, UNCWs womens golf coach. She will be involved in all facets of our programs and will be a great addition to our staff.   Head mens golf coach Matt Clark echoed Hos sentiments. Were very excited to have Abby join the Seahawk golf family. Shes an outstanding player and teacher, which will help her make an immediate impact with both programs." Pearson, 41, was a touring golf professional on the Futures Golf Tour for eight years and has worked at three different institutions Ball State, Western Michigan and Penn State as an assistant coach through the years.   "I am extremely excited to join the Seahawks golf staff here at UNCW, said Pearson. I am honored to serve both men's and women's golf programs and look forward to assisting both Coach Clark and Coach Ho to a CAA Championship. Having the opportunity to help each student-athlete achieve their goals is one of my greatest passions! I look forward to the journey. The Florence, S.C., native enjoyed an outstanding amateur career before turning professional. She won a pair of South Carolina Junior Girls and State Amateur Championships and played on the University of Tennessees first team during her stay in Knoxville from 1992-94.  Pearson was named the SECs Co-Freshman of the Year and UTs first womens golf All-American when she earned Second-Team honors in 1993. In her amateur days, Pearson competed in the U.S. Amateur from 1991-93 and reached the quarterfinals of the prestigious event in 1993 before falling to womens golf superstar Annika Sorenstam. Pearson then joined the pro ranks in 1995 on the Futures Tour and posted three tournament victories, with five second-place finishes and 21 top-10 showings. In 1997, she won the Gulf Telephone Futures Classic and, in 1998, she won the Pacific Bell Futures Classic and MedHealth Wellness Centers Futures Classic. Overall, Pearson ranks 22nd on the Futures all-time money list. Pearson also competed in the 2003 U.S. Womens Open Championship and represented the United States on the Kosaido Asian Womens Golf Tour in 1998.   Pearson returned to college in 2000 and completed her undergraduate degree as an assistant coach at Ball State before moving on to Western Michigan, where she served as an assistant coach from 2003-05.   Pearson worked in the private sector before returning to a campus setting in 2011 as assistant coach at Penn State. She aided PSU Head Coach Denise St. Pierre with every aspect of the Nittany Lion program, including recruiting, travel, swing analysis and tournament planning.   Pearson has served as a professional golf instructor and golf event consultant since May of 2000. She holds a Level 1 certification from the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI). Most recently, she has worked at the Golf Performance Academy of Southwest Michigan in Portage, Mich., while heading up the girls program at Portage Central High School.   Pearson earned her Bachelors Degree in Communication Studies at Ball State in 2003.  

Clark Head Coach UNCW Head Coach Matt Clark enters his ninth season with the Seahawks in 2016-17. He joined the program in 2008 following a stint at Georgia State. During his time at UNCW, the Seahawks have competed in four NCAA regionals and captured three straight Colonial Athletic Association tournament championship titles. From 2011 through 2013, the Seahawks won three straight CAA tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA regionals. In his second season he led the Seahawks to an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament. In 2015-16, Thomas Eldridge and Patrick Cover earned individual invitations to the NCAA tournament where they competed in the Franklin Regional, hosted by Vanderbilt. Cover finished the regional tied for 14th while Eldridge checked in at 39th. Former UNCW standouts Josh Brock and Payne McLeod flourished under the guidance of Clark, each winning a CAA Championship and ranked first and second, respectively in stroke average at UNCW. Brock finished his career as the programs all-time leader with 133 career rounds played and is tied for most events played. McLeod, meanwhile, finished tied for third in rounds played (127), tied for fourth in events played (46) and is second all-time with 18 top-10 finishes. In 2010-11, UNCW posted perhaps its best season in recent history with four tournament wins, tying the record set by the 2003 edition of the Seahawks. UNCW opened the fall season with an impressive win at the Maryland Intercollegiate and followed that with three wins in the spring season, including the Seahawk Invitational, Pinehurst Intercollegiate and CAA Championship. In 2009-10, Clark made his mark on the program by guiding the Seahawks to their first NCAA tournament appearance following a four-year absence from the championship tournament. In his second year, UNCW posted a pair of tournament wins taking medalist honors at the VCU Shootout and also at the River Landing Intercollegiate. In 2008-09, UNCW fashioned eight top-10 finishes, including medalist honors for Josh Brock and Derek Wallace in the Cavalier Classic and Kauai Collegiate, respectively. A native of Prattville, Ala., Clark began his collegiate playing career at South Florida before finishing up at Alabama. He played two and a half seasons for the Crimson Tide and former coach Dick Spybey before joining the school's coaching staff. Clark worked six years in Tuscaloosa and assisted with every phase of the Crimson Tide's program, including recruiting, travel, instruction and fund raising. He served as tournament director of the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate and the Joe Namath Celebrity Golf Classic. The energetic Clark accepted his first head coaching post at Georgia State in 2003-04 and enjoyed instant success. The Panthers finished seventh at the NCAA East Regional and 11th at the NCAA Championship, claiming a final ranking of 14th in the Golfstat poll. In 2004-05, Clark was named Atlantic Sun Conference Coach-of-the-Year after leading the Panthers to a fourth place finish in the NCAA East Regional and a tie for 13th at the NCAA Championship. Clark's impressive run at GSU continued in 2005-06 as the Panthers made their debut in the CAA. He was selected CAA Coach-of-the-Year after State captured their first CAA golf title and advanced to the NCAA East Regionals. The Panthers advanced to the NCAA East Regionals once again in 2006-07 behind Third-Team All-American Joel Sjoholm. GSU wound up ninth in the regionals and 17th overall at the NCAA Championship. In his final season at GSU, the Panthers won their second CAA crown in three seasons behind Clark and Sjoholm. The Panthers finished 18th in the NCAA East Regionals in Chattanooga, Tenn., and Sjoholm, two-time Player-of-the-Year in the CAA, qualified for the NCAA finals with a fourth place finish individually. Clark, an avid golfer with seven hole-in-ones to his credit, earned his Bachelor's Degree from Alabama in 1997. He married Raleigh native Erica Wein in the fall of 2008. The couple has a daughter, Ansley Grace (2). The Clarks recently welcomed Graelyn Anne Clark (3/6/2015) to the family.