Jay Hardwick
After leading the Virginia Tech men’s golf team for 36 years and guiding the Hokies to eight conference titles, 13 NCAA regional appearances and five NCAA Championship berths, head coach Jay Hardwick has decided to announce his retirement, effective at the end of the 2018-19 season.
Hardwick, who has been at his alma mater since 1983, has enjoyed a remarkable and storied tenure in Blacksburg. He competed for Virginia Tech as an undergraduate from 1967-71 and then guided the program to national prominence as its head coach, with the Hokies having a presence at NCAA postseason events for the past 12 consecutive years. He established a foundation of not only winning, but also doing things the right way, with academic integrity, solid fundamentals and a sense of right serving as the trademarks.
“Although I will greatly miss the people who have made these past 36 years a labor of love, I’m excited to be able to spend more time with my family,” Hardwick said. “It has been a great honor to spend my entire coaching career at Virginia Tech, and I am indebted to all of the ‘Hackin’ Hokies,’ my former players and golf team supporters for allowing me to serve them, our golf program, and this wonderful university.”
A look at his accomplishments over the past 35 years shows a reign of undeniable successes. His teams won 40 tournaments, including a nation’s-best six titles during the 2000-01 season. Under Hardwick’s direction, a Hokie team or individual has competed in 12 consecutive NCAA Division I Golf Regionals, and most recently, the team qualified for the 2014 NCAA Championship at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kansas. Virginia Tech also made consecutive trips to the NCAA Regionals from 2001-04, advancing to the NCAA Championship two of those years and finishing eighth in 2001. In total, Hardwick’s players have been to 18 NCAA Regionals and advanced to the NCAA finals seven times.
“Jay Hardwick has been a living example of what is a Hokie,” Virginia Tech Director of Athletics Whit Babcock said. “His contributions to Virginia Tech reach far beyond the game of golf, but it is for his prowess at building and leading a nationally respected golf program that will put him on the list of all-time greats at this university.
“What he has been able to accomplish and build through the years here is truly remarkable. His passion, dedication and attention to detail have made a positive impact on decades of student-athletes, fans, boosters and members of the Hokie Nation. The booster groups he has founded, developed and nurtured, the ‘Hackin’ Hokies’ and the ‘Hackin’ Hokies Too,’ have supported all areas of Virginia Tech Athletics.
“He has guided this program the right way, with integrity, responsibility and compassion. He will be missed on the course, but Jay and his wife, Celia, will continue to be a big part of the Hokie Nation and the fabric of this university.”
Since 1993, Hardwick has guided the Hokies to eight conference championships, becoming the only coach in NCAA history to capture conference titles in four different leagues with the same school. His teams won back-to-back championships in the Metro Conference in 1993 and 1994 and again in the Atlantic 10 Conference in 1996 and 1997. Virginia Tech claimed the BIG EAST Conference championship in 2001, its first season of competition in the league, and then won again in 2002 and in 2003, staging a dramatic come-from-behind victory over Notre Dame in 2003 on the Irish’s home course by overcoming an 11-stroke deficit on the final three holes.
“I had three goals when I started coaching: (1) to help endow the golf program; (2) to help build first-class facilities; and (3) to leave the program in solid shape,” Hardwick said. “Given the outstanding recruiting class this year, the golf program is on solid ground and positioned for future growth and success. The tremendous support and contributions by our ‘Hackin’ Hokies’ and other generous donors have enabled us to not only endow our scholarships, but also build outstanding facilities as well, thus ensuring the stability of the program for years to come.
“The work we have accomplished together, in which all of them played a major role, has made Virginia Tech Golf a program of which we can all be proud. The gratitude I have for the wonderful respect, support, and friendship the Hokie Nation has shown me and my family is something I can’t begin to put into words.”
One of the most important innovations made by Hardwick was his founding of the “Hackin’ Hokies,” a booster group that has grown in numbers and dedication to the program. Thirty-four years ago, a small group of Virginia Tech supporters traveled to the Metro Conference Championship at Wild Dunes Golf Links on the Isle of Palms, South Carolina, in a show of support for the Tech golf team. A great friendship developed between this group and the players. As a result, these supporters were affectionately tagged the “Hackin’ Hokies.” Today, this group, totaling more than 100 members, travels annually with the team and has been the major supporter of not only the Virginia Tech men’s golf program, but has shown support for multiple other teams and causes as well.
Hardwick’s accolades serve as a testament to the mark he has left on collegiate golf. In December of 2017, he earned the GCAA Service Award for outstanding service to Virginia Tech and the sport of golf for more than 35 years. In 2007, he was inducted into the Golf Coaches Association of America’s Hall of Fame, receiving the award at the association’s annual banquet in Orlando. Sharing the dais with Hardwick and the two other inductees was the late Arnold Palmer, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the GCAA. Additionally, in 1994, Hardwick received one of his greatest honors when he was selected as the 11th inductee to the Virginia PGA Hall of Fame, making him the youngest member of this elite group.
Hardwick was named the inaugural recipient of the Labron Harris Sr., Award in 2005, given by E-Z-GO Textron, in association with the PGA of America. That same year, he received the Bill Strausbaugh Award, presented by the Middle Atlantic PGA, for significant contributions through mentoring of PGA Professionals and through involvement in community and charitable activities. In the summer of 1992, Hardwick coached Team USA at the World Junior Team Championship held in Izumo City, Japan – which marked the first time that the United States officially had sponsored a junior team in international competition. Team USA won the gold medal in the 12-team tournament and four of Team USA’s players placed in the top 10.
Hardwick was named the BIG EAST Conference Coach of the Year in 2001, 2002 and 2003. In 1996 and 1997, he earned the Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year, and he won the Metro Conference Coach of the Year in 1992 and 1993. In addition, the coaching members of the Golf Coaches Association of America awarded him the NCAA Golf Coach of the Year for District 3-North for the 1993-94 season. He also received the inaugural Virginia Collegiate Coach of the Year award in 1993 and earned the same honor again in 1994, 2001, 2013 and 2014.
A Narrows native, Hardwick earned four letters during his playing career for the Hokies. During that four-year stint, the Hokies posted a 64-9 match play record and won three straight state intercollegiate championships. He was the captain of the 1971 squad that claimed the state crown.
After graduating in 1971 with a degree in business administration, Hardwick turned pro and played for a year on the Florida winter tour. In 1973, he became the head professional at Giles Country Club in Pearisburg, Virginia, where he developed an outstanding junior golf program.
He held that position for 10 years before returning to his alma mater. Hardwick also officiated high school and college basketball for 25 years, retiring from the sport in 1997 after working more than 1,000 games.
–VT Athletics
