Maybe the final recognition of Bruce Heppler’s legendary career as Georgia Tech golf coach is his successor.
Tech announced Sunday that Oklahoma coach Ryan Hybl, already a member of the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame, will succeed Heppler, whose 31-year run at Tech came to an end at the Yellow Jackets’ NCAA regional appearance this past week.
Under Heppler’s leadership, Tech developed into a golf program with few equals, winning 14 ACC titles, reaching the NCAA finals 22 times and finishing as national runner-up four times. A compelling case could be made that he was Tech’s best coach of all time regardless of sport.
Tech’s head-coach hiring pattern across all sports has been to hire an up-and-coming assistant coach or a head coach from beneath the power-conference ranks. But Tech’s standing enabled athletic director Ryan Alpert to hire a top-tier leader.
In fact, Hybl — who is from Colbert in Madison County and was a two-time All-American at Georgia — is Tech’s first head-coach hire to have won a national championship at the highest level of NCAA competition before his or her arrival at Tech.
In 17 seasons, Hybl has led the Sooners to 51 tournament wins, 15 consecutive NCAA finals and the 2017 national championship. Hybl will coach Oklahoma through the NCAA finals.
“It’s a significant statement for Georgia Tech, Georgia Tech golf and the legacy that Coach Bruce Heppler built in his 31 seasons on The Flats that a coach of Coach Hybl’s caliber and experience has accepted the opportunity to lead this program,” Alpert said in a statement. “We couldn’t be more grateful to Coach Heppler and all of his student-athletes that have made Georgia Tech golf one of the nation’s premier programs and we couldn’t be more excited for Coach Hybl to lead it into its next era.”
Credit: Bob Andres / AJC file photo
Credit: Bob Andres / AJC file photo
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