Terp Q&A: John Phillips – University of Maryland Athletics

What’s the vision for this next era of Maryland men’s golf?

First, the lifeblood of every program is recruiting, so for the past few weeks, that’s been most of my focus since arriving in College Park. You can win a national championship if you retain the talent from this area. Secondly, engaging with the community. There are tons of golf courses in the area that are high caliber and engaging with the community, being a partner with the community will start to give us access to these golf courses. Lastly, with scheduling, with UCLA and USC joining the conference in a few years, are we going to be able to go out west? That’s my goal. I’ve already reached out to schools out west to tee it up in the spring of 2024. So, it is about creating more of a national schedule, because Maryland is a national brand. I don’t think we have to be confined to this little geographic region. That’s where we want to retain our talent from, but then we’re going to take them across the country to compete.

What should Maryland fans know about you that they don’t already know?

I’ll say that, first and foremost, I’m a total golf guy and a golf junkie. It’s something that I asked recruits and I’m trying to find who else is a golf junkie because if the student-athletes that are coming in are golf junkies, we’re going to get along fine. We’re going to communicate well, we’re going to understand the game together. So, I eat, sleep, and breathe golf.