Matt McPhillips returns for his third season as head coach of the Union College women’s golf program in 2025-26.
McPhillips led the Garnet Chargers to the best season in program history in 2024-25, finishing 76th in the national rankings and 14th in the NCAA East Region. Under his direction, Union averaged a record-setting 332.67 strokes per round in 2024-25, nearly 10 strokes better than the previous program standard, and finished in fourth place at the Liberty League Championships. Leading the way was first-year Iyene Essien, who was named the Liberty League Rookie of the Year and All-Liberty League First Team on the way to smashing program standards for single-round, two-day, and single-season scoring. Essien's record 77.27 scoring average made her one of three Garnet Chargers to place in the top-seven of the school's single-season scoring average ledger.
McPhillips was recently named the Northeastern New York PGA Section Teacher and Coach of the Year for the 2024-25 season.
McPhillips came to Union following a three-year stint at the College of Saint Rose, where he began as an assistant coach with the men’s and women’s golf teams before taking over the top role with both programs in April 2022.
In his first complete season as head coach at St. Rose in 2022-23, he guided the women’s team to a fifth-place finish and the men’s team to an eighth-place finish at the Northeast-10 Conference Championships. His first full year with the program resulted in multiple school records during the 2021-22 campaign: the women’s team set a school record by carding a round of 320 and three-time All-Conference honoree Erika Fuentes recorded the first under-par round in program history, while All-NE10 performer John Del Priore set the school single-round record on the men’s side with a five-under 66.
In addition to his time with the Golden Knights, McPhillips has worked at Pinehaven Country Club as Director of Instruction (since 2021) and Assistant Golf Professional (since 2017), and previously was the Head Golf Professional at Stratton Mountain Country Club for five years. He also currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Northeastern New York PGA, which honored him with their Player Development Award in 2022 and Professional Development Award in 2021. He obtained his PGA membership in 2019 and was certified as a PGA Teaching and Coaching Specialist in 2020.
A native of Canberra, Australia, McPhillips received an International Baccalaureate Diploma from Berlin-Brandenburg International School in 2004. Matt resides in Rotterdam with his wife Katie and son Jack.
