Webster University Director of Athletics Scott Kilgallon announced the hire of Matthew Gordon as the interim head men’s golf coach on Tuesday, Feb. 16.
Gordon joins the Gorlok men’s golf program following the recent resignation of longtime coach Andrew Belsky and Gordon will coach the Gorloks during the shortened 2021 spring season when Webster will conduct a national search for a full-time coach.
“We are very excited to have Matt rejoin Gorlok athletics to serve as our interim men’s golf coach. Matt through hard work, was a very successful student-athlete earning many academic and athletic accolades which has continued with his career as a teacher and coach,” Kilgallon said. “We have a very good team both athletically and academically who I believe will continue to excel with Matt’s leadership.”
Gordon, who lettered in men’s golf at Webster from 2015-17, comes to Webster after being a Junior High School Special Education Teacher since August 2017 with the St. Clair School District R-13. Along with being a Special Education teacher, Gordon was also a head junior high school wrestling and football coach and was an assistant coach in those two sports at the high school level.
As a golfer for the Gorloks, Gordon played in 14 career events and recorded a 78.29 career scoring average in 31.5 round and 2,466 strokes. He was a member of Webster’s 2017 team that captured the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship and advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championships, where the program made the cut into the finals for the only time in program history and placed 17th overall.
In his time at Webster, Gordon, who is originally from St. Clair, Mo., had a 78.13 scoring average in eight event and 625 strokes in 2015-16 and then tallied a 78.34 scoring average in 23.5 rounds and 1,841 strokes in 2016-17. During the 2016-17 campaign, he had finished as the runner-up at the SLIAC Championships and earned First-Team All-SLIAC honors. At the SLIAC Championships, he recorded a career-low score of 71 in the first round of the event and had seven rounds of shooting 75 or less during the season.
At the 2017 NCAA National Championships, Gordon, who played for Belsky, was Webster’s No. 4 finisher as he recorded a 327 for 72 holes and finished in 94th place overall.
In addition to his earning First-Team All-SLIAC honors, Gordon was named to the SLIAC All-Sportsmanship Team in 2015-16 and was a Cleveland Golf/Srixon GCAA All-American Scholar and a member of the 2017 SLIAC Spring All-Academic Team after compiling a 3.60 cumulative grade point average.
“I couldn’t be happier to be joining Webster University as Interim head coach for the golf team,” Gordon said. “We have a very talented group of guys that are ready to make their mark. This is an exciting time to join Webster University and I look forward to helping this team achieve great things.”
Along with working as a Special Education Teacher since 2017, Gordon has also been an MSHSAA referee in wrestling since 2014 and has served as a head golf instructor for the Golf Foundation of Missouri since 2016. He also has been a head golf instructor and camp leader at Lake of the Woods and Greenwoods Camp in 2017 and also had various duties at both Westborough Country Club (2015-17) and St. Albans Country Club (2011-12).
Prior to playing golf at Webster, Gordon lettered in golf for two seasons (2013-15) at Mineral Area Community College in Park Hills, Mo., for Coach Don Huff. During his two years at Mineral Area, he was a NJCAA Academic All-American in 2015 and qualified for the NJCAA National Golf Championships in both 2014 and 2015. In addition, he was also a member of Mineral Area’s golf team that was an Academic National Championship Team in both 2014 and 2015 and was a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society in 2013. He compiled a 3.40 cumulative grade point average with MACC.
As a high school athlete at St. Clair High School from 2009-13, he was a three-time MSHSAA State Wrestling qualifier and finished fifth at the 2013 Missouri State Wrestling Championships. He was a three-time All-Conference selection in golf from 2011-13, a two-time All-Conference selection in wrestling in 2011 and 2013 and qualified for the Missouri State Golf Championships in 2011.
Gordon earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Webster in 2017 and earned his Associates of Arts degree in Teaching from Mineral Area Community College in 2015. Currently, he is pursuing a Masters of Educational Leadership degree from Arkansas State University.
