Matt Phippard is entering his fifth season as the head men’s golf coach at Wentworth Institute of Technology and has guided his squad to a pair of appearances in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship in his first four campaigns.

The 2015-2016 season began with a bang as the Leopards opened with a win at the Newbury Invitational and followed that up a week later with a season-best 318 score. The lowest round of the spring season came during the final event of the season as the Black & Gold shot a 322.

Phippard’s first season (2012-2013) saw Wentworth average a 338 over 11 rounds and took home a second-place finish at the Westfield State Invitational. That season also marked the first season of a new CCC Championship format where the top four teams from the fall qualifier advanced to a two-day spring championship. The Leopards finished fourth, outlasting the University of New England, and would post a fourth-place finish at the CCC Championship.

During the 2013-2014 campaign, the Leopards just missed making the cut at the CCC Qualifier, however would post a third-place finish at the Rhode Island College Fall Invitational.

The 2014-2015 season saw Wentworth earn its second trip to the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championships after edging host University of New England by a single stroke at the conference qualifier. The Leopards finished fourth at the CCC Championships while placing a pair of players in the top 15. Wentworth also posted the fifth lowest scoring average in the program’s history, averaging a 336.6 in 16 rounds, and finished in the top half of the field at the Westfield State Invitational.

The Leopards have had a student-athlete recognized on the All-CCC Team in each of the two seasons the conference has sponsored an all-conference team for golf and in 2015 Wentworth will host the CCC Qualifier at the Country Club of Halifax.

An avid golfer, Phippard is also entering his third season as the Leopards’ women’s basketball coach. Prior to Wentworth he spent five seasons as an assistant men’s basketball coach at Bridgewater State where he helped the Bears to an 83-50 record, a Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference Championship in 2009, and two appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including advancing to the “Sweet Sixteen” during the 2008-09 season. That season Bridgewater State set a program record for wins, finishing 22-7.

A native of Duxbury, Mass., and 1997 graduate of Arizona State University, Phippard began his coaching career as the junior varsity boys’ basketball coach at Carl Hayden High School in Phoenix, Ariz., where he spent two seasons. After two seasons as the freshman boys’ basketball coach at Duxbury High School, he spent two seasons as the head boys’ basketball coach for Sun Valley High School in Mesa, Ariz., before returning to New England to spend two years as an assistant boys’ varsity basketball coach at Hingham High School.

(Updated:  08/15/16)