Matt Thurmond Hometown: Burlington, Wash. High School: Burlington-Edison Last College: Brigham Young '99 Position: Head Coach Experience: 7th Year

Seventh-year Washington men's golf coach Matt Thurmond has built the Husky program into one of the top college programs in the nation. Under his tutelage, Washington made five consecutive trips to the NCAA Championships from 2002-2006.

But Thurmond, who became Washington's head coach when he was just 26, wants to do more than just make the NCAAs an annual rite of passage for Husky golf. He believes Washington can challenge for a national title every year.

Thurmond's teams have established school records for NCAA, Regional and Pac-10 team finishes higlighted by the 2005 season that saw the Huskies place third at the NCAA Championships after winning the Pac-10 title.Thurmond's 2002 squad won the program's first-ever NCAA Regional crown.

In addition to team accomplishments, Thurmond has mentored many of the top players to ever don purple and gold on the links. The 2005 Pac-10 Coach of the Year, he has coached one NCAA champion, one Pac-10 champion, five All-Americans and five All-Pac-10 honorees.

James Lepp become the first-ever Husky to win a NCAA title in 2005, while Erik Olson became the third Husky to win a Pac-10 title in 2005 as well. Thurmond also guided the careers of Husky all-time great Brock Mackenzie - the only four-time All-American in school history.

Mackenzie and current Husky senior Zach Bixler hold the distinction of being two of six NCAA golfers to shoot a 60 in their careers. Both Huskies did so under Thurmond's tutelage.

It's safe to say that Thurmond has guided the most succesful stretch run in Washington's history which he hopes will continue in 2008.

Last year, the Huskies came just three strokes shy of earning a spot in the NCAA Championships, missing the event for the first time in nine seasons. But highlights of the season came from senior Alex Prugh who earned All-Region and All-Pac-10 acclaim to finish out his career.

In 2006, the Huskies followed up their history making 2005 campaign with another strong showing in the postseason. Led by Erik Olson's individual third-place finish, Washington notched a runner-up standing at the Pac-10 Championships - the Huskies' second-straight Top-two finish at the conference tournament.

After a third-place team finish at the NCAA West Regional, the Huskies came one round shy of reaching their ultimate goal. UW led the entire field at the NCAA Championships through the first three rounds, but was unable to hold on through the final 18 holes. A ninth-place team finish was still not a disappointment for Thurmond and his squad when it was all said and done. Three Huskies earned All-America honors at season's end - Erik Olson, Alex Prugh and James Lepp.

The 2005 season was a special season. It started at the Pac-10 Championships, where Thurmond's squad made a remarkable comeback. In 10th place and trailing by 20 strokes after the first round, Washington rallied to earn its first Pac-10 title since 1988. The comeback was led by Pac-10 medalist Erik Olson, who shot an 8-under 276 to win his first collegiate tournament and become the Huskies' first Pac-10 individual champion since 1988. Olson and teammate James Lepp were named first-team All-Pac-10 for their efforts, while Thurmond received Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors. After placing third at the NCAA West Regional, the Huskies advanced the NCAA Championships in Owings Mills, Md. There Lepp staged a comeback of his own, rallying from a six-shot deficit with a course-record 7-under 63 to force a playoff with Pepperdine's Michael Putnam. Lepp then sunk a two-foot putt on the third playoff hole to take home NCAA medalist honors. Led by the first team All-American's furious charge, Washington placed third as a team, the best finish in the program's history.

In 2004, the Huskies placed sixth at the NCAA Championships, the second best finish in Husky history. The 2004 postseason was highlighted by Brock Mackenzie earning first-team All-America honors for the second straight year and freshmen Alex Prugh and Erik Olson being named honorable mention All-Americans.

Prior to that, Thurmond led the UW to a pair of 11th-place finishes at the NCAAs. Over the past six seasons Thurmond's teams have amassed 11 tournament championship trophies.

Thurmond's players have also had great success playing in the amateur ranks while they were Huskies.

In the summer of 2005, Lepp won the stroke play portion of the U.S. Amateur by four strokes, shooting a 5-under 135 in the 36-hole event. He also helped Canada win the 2005 Copa de las Americas title and won his fourth-straight British Columbia Amateur Championship. Olson helped the USA to victory at the 2005 U.S. vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Championships, while Alex Prugh won the Pacific Coast Amateur at Bandon Dunes, as well as the Washington State Amateur.

Most recently, Husky sophomore Nick Taylor won the 2007 Canadian Men's Amateur title.

Thurmond was named Washington's head coach in June of 2001 after O.D. Vincent announced he was leaving to pursue a career in professional golf. Thurmond had worked at UW as an assistant coach for one season. Prior to joining the Husky staff, Thurmond worked as an assistant coach for his alma mater, Brigham Young, during the 1999-2000 season. That edition of Cougar golf won seven tournament titles and was ranked in the top 10 all season.

Thurmond was a four-year letterman on the BYU golf team from 1993-99 and was named Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year in 1994. Following that, he served as a missionary for his church in Venezuela and then returned home to earn recognition as a WAC Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-American in 1998.

Thurmond graduated from BYU in 1999 with a degree in English. He is married to two-time WAC champion triple jumper, Kathy Sorenson, who also competed for the Cougars. They have a five-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, and a three-year-old daughter Emily.

Thurmond is an amateur golfer who enjoys playing in tournaments as well as competing with his team.

Thurmond is from Burlington, Wash., where he attended Burlington-Edison High School.