T-Birds Hire Gil Williams to Lead Men's Golf Program
New Mexico Junior College is pleased to announce the hire of Gil Williams as the next head coach for the T-Bird men's golf program.
"The NMJC Athletic staff is proud to welcome Gil Williams to the ranks," Director of Athletics Deron Clark said. "The energy, knowledge and leadership that Coach Williams will provide the men's golf program are limitless. Having the opportunity to take over this program following a 2024 National Championship will open a wide range of recruiting doors for this team. Hobbs and NMJC are excited about Coach Williams landing his presence on both our local golf community and the international landscape that the T-Birds golf team explores."
Williams is the men's program's sixth head coach to lead the ranks at NMJC. The Pullman, Wash., native began his tenure at NMJC in January of 2024 on a part-time basis as he started recruiting for the upcoming 2024-25 season. He will be inheriting a team that won the NJCAA DI Men's Golf Championship for the first time in school history in 2024.
"It's a humbling opportunity for me," Williams said. "To be able to follow coaches like James Black, James Berry, and Jay Rees just speaks to the history of NMJC golf. Those three coaches have combined for over 30 tournament wins in their time with the Thunderbirds."
Williams will take over from interim head coach Kayla Weaver who helped guide the team to a national title during the 2024 spring season.
"It will be an exciting new challenge at NMJC," Williams said. "The coaches previously mentioned plus Coach Weaver and Coach Ferguson have all had a hand in establishing the winning culture here already. I want to build on the foundation they have already put in place and continue to bring home trophies like they did this season."
Coach Williams spent the past three seasons as the men's and women's head coach of the Ranger College Rangers located over in the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference (NTJCAC). The Rangers are also in the South Central District alongside NMJC.
Ranger freshman Mans Boje finished as the national runner-up at the 2024 NJCAA DI Men's Golf Championship. The second-place finish at Rockwind Community Links in Hobbs, NM was the highest individual finish in Ranger school history.
The Rangers came in seventh place at the national championship this year and ended the season ranked sixth in the country on Clippd scoreboard. The result translated to the second-highest finish in school history. Under Williams's guidance, the Rangers broke the school record for most made birdies with 558 and upended the single-season birdie record with 130 by Oskari Schuvalow. The Rangers ended the year with a scoring average of 287.82.
Coach Williams enters a conference that is one of the most competitive in the country. The WJCAC features NMJC, Western Texas, Odessa, NMMI, and Midland College. Every team listed made the NJCAA championship this spring. The five accounted for 17.24% of the field and three of the five finished in the top 3 (NMJC, Odessa, and Midland).
"The move for me to the WJCAC will be extremely beneficial in recruiting," Williams said. "There's an old saying that says 'To be the best, you have to beat the best' and we will have an opportunity to do that nearly every week."
Three Thunderbirds from the national-champion winning team are returning for the 2024-25 season. The trio is led by Henry Drake who shot a tournament-low 65 in the final round of the national championship. The second member is Elias Pettersson who notched two tournament wins during the spring season. The final returner is Andrew Park of Australia who was the fifth man on Day 1 of the NJCAA DI Men's Golf Championship.
For up to date information follow the NMJC men's golf team on Instagram at nmjc_mgolf