Clarksville, TN – After spending the last eight years building Trevecca University’s men’s golf team into a top-flight program on the NAIA level, Robbie Wilson is ready to face the winning tradition and expectations of leading the Austin Peay men’s golf program.
Wilson, who along with coaching at Trevecca was also an alumnus of the school, has had interaction with the Govs golf program having played against several former APSU players growing up and knowing the success that they had while playing.
“When I was coming up (playing golf), the program had guys like Grant Lever and Chris Barron, who I practiced with,” Wilson said. “So I knew them and I knew how good they were for (coach Mark) Leroux.“So I’m very aware of the tradition that Austin Peay has had and I love the expectations and I love the fact that guys come in here wanting to compete for OVC championships and move on to the national tournament.”
And it’s that success and expectation for the Austin Peay golf program that helped fuel Wilson’s desire to coach the Governors.
“I really enjoyed my time at Trevecca and I thank athletic director Mark Elliott for his support,” Wilson said. “But it (coming to Austin Peay) was a family decision and a career decision that I had in the back of my mind for a while and if this job ever came open I would love to pursue it.”
“Things fell right, it was good timing, family was on board and it’s such a good opportunity to come up here and revisit Clarksville and be around the area again.”
But along with the success the Governors have had over the years, the support of the Clarksville area also added to the allure of coaching the program.
“Two things that brought me up here is the tradition and the golf community here in Clarksville,” Wilson said. “Building on those is my number-one goal and building on what we have and pushing the envelope on just how far we can go.
“We had a lot of success in 2013 in having a best finish in a NCAA Regional that Austin Peay had ever had, so now let’s see if we can build on that and how far we can go on that.”
The Governors had already finished their fall schedule before Wilson took the helm as coach, so the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate at Hilton Head Island, SC on February 23rd and 24th will be the first event for the new coach, but that doesn’t mean Wilson hasn’t been working hard to get to know his players and his players him.
“That’s the most important thing for me coming in establish trust with them. So they can get a good feel for me and I can learn about them and what their goals are and what they want out of Austin Peay and out of college golf.”