View source for Buddy Alexander

{{Short description|American golf coach (born 1953)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox golfer
| name              = Buddy Alexander
| image             = 
| imagesize         = <!-- e.g. 250px (default is 200px) -->
| caption           = 
| fullname          = 
| nickname          = 
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1953|2|20}}
| birth_place       = [[St. Petersburg, Florida]], U.S.
| death_date        = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|1953|2|20}} -->
| death_place       = 
| height            = <!-- {{height|ft=|in=}} -->
| weight            = <!-- {{convert||lb|kg st|abbr=on}} -->
| nationality       = {{USA}}
| residence         = 
| spouse            = 
| partner           = 
| children          = 
| college           = [[Georgia Southern Eagles|Georgia Southern]]
| status            = 
| yearpro           = 
| retired           = <!--1975-->
| tour              = 
| extour            = 
| prowins           = 
| pgawins           = 
| eurowins          = <!-- Number of European Tour wins -->
| japwins           = <!-- Number of Japan Golf Tour wins -->
| asiawins          = <!-- Number of Asian Tour wins -->
| sunwins           = <!-- Number of Sunshine Tour wins -->
| auswins           = <!-- Number of PGA Tour of Australasia wins -->
| nwidewins         = 
| chalwins          = <!-- Number of Challenge Tour wins -->
| champwins         = <!-- Number of Champions Tour wins -->
| seneurowins       = <!-- Number of European Seniors Tour wins -->
| otherwins         = 
| majorwins         = <!-- Number of Major Championship wins -->
| masters           = CUT: 1987, 1988
| usopen            = CUT: 1987, 1994
| open              = DNP
| pga               = DNP
| wghofid           = <!-- World Golf Hall of Fame member ID -->
| wghofyear         = <!-- World Golf Hall of Fame year inducted -->
| award1            = 
| year1             = 
| awardssection     = <!-- location of awards page or section -->
}}
{{Infobox college coach
| name             = Buddy Alexander
| image            = <!-- Only free-content images are allowed for depicting living people -- see [[WP:NONFREE]]. -->
| image_size       = <!-- Only for images narrower than 220 pixels -->
| alt              = 
| sport            = 
| birth_date       = <!--{{Birth date and age|1953|2|20|mf=y}}-->
| birth_place      = 
| death_date       = 
| death_place      = 
| alma_mater       = 
| player_years1    = 
| player_team1     = 
| player_positions = 
| coach_years1     = 1977&ndash;1980
| coach_team1      = [[Georgia Southern Eagles|Georgia Southern]]
| coach_years2     = 1983&ndash;1987
| coach_team2      = [[LSU Tigers golf|LSU]]
| coach_years3     = 1988&ndash;2014
| coach_team3      = [[Florida Gators men's golf|Florida]]
| overall_record   = 
| bowl_record      = 
| tournament_record= 
| championships    = [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]] (1993, 2001)<br>[[Southeastern Conference]]<br>(1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2003, 2011)
| awards           = [[All-American]] (1974, 1975)<br>[[Southeastern Conference]] Coach of the Year<br>(1986, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2003, 2004)<br>''Golfweek'' National Coach of the Year (1993)<br>GCAA National Coach of the Year (1993, 2001, 2004)<br>GCAA Coaches Hall of Fame (2001)
| coaching_records = 
}}
'''Stewart Murray Alexander''' (born February 20, 1953), nicknamed '''Buddy Alexander''', is an American former college [[golf]] coach and amateur golfer. Alexander is the former head coach of the  [[Florida Gators men's golf]] team. He is best known for coaching the Gators to [[National Collegiate Athletic Association]] (NCAA) [[Division I (NCAA)|Division I]] tournament championships in 1993 and 2001.

== Early life ==
Alexander was born in [[St. Petersburg, Florida]].<ref name="ufprofile" /> His father, [[Skip Alexander]], was a former [[Duke University]] golf stand-out and [[PGA Tour]] player.<ref name="ufprofile" />

== Amateur career ==
Alexander graduated from Georgia Southern University with [[bachelor's degree]] in recreation in 1975, and again with a [[master's degree]] in educational administration in 1980.<ref name="ufprofile" /> 

During his collegiate playing career at [[Georgia Southern University]], Alexander was recognized as an [[All-American]] in 1974 and 1975.<ref name="ufprofile">GatorZone.com, Men's Golf, Coaching & Support Staff, [http://web.gatorzone.com/golf/men/staff/alexander Buddy Alexander] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402034901/http://web.gatorzone.com/golf/men/staff/alexander |date=April 2, 2012 }}.  Retrieved May 22, 2011.</ref>  After his graduation from Georgia Southern, he continued to play competitive golf as an amateur, and notably won the 1976 [[Azalea Invitational]], the 1977 [[Eastern Amateur]], and the 1986 [[U.S. Amateur]].<ref>Jaime Diaz, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20121025043009/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1065194/index.htm He's All Right, Jack: An ex-pro won the Amateur, but it was a lousy week for Nicklauses]," ''Sports Illustrated'' (September 8, 1986).  Retrieved August 4, 2009.</ref>  He was a member of the [[1986 Eisenhower Trophy]] team<ref>[http://www.internationalgolffederation.org/recordbook/player2.asp?fname=Buddy&mname=&lname=Alexander&country=United%20States%20of%20America Buddy Alexander] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927154921/http://www.internationalgolffederation.org/recordbook/player2.asp?fname=Buddy&mname=&lname=Alexander&country=United%20States%20of%20America |date=September 27, 2011 }}, World Amateur Team Championship, Eisenhower Trophy record.  Retrieved August 4, 2009.</ref> and the [[1987 Walker Cup]] team.<ref name="ufprofile" />

== Coaching career ==

Alexander served as the Florida Gators men's golf head coach from January 1988 to April 2014.<ref name="ufprofile" />
Alexander's Gators teams have won two [[National Collegiate Athletic Association]] (NCAA) tournament championships in 1993<ref>Robbie Andreu, "[http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090602/ARTICLES/906029916/1136/sports Top 25 Gator teams: #23 1993 Men's Golf]," ''Gainesville Sun'' (June 2, 2009).  Retrieved August 1, 2009.</ref> and 2001.<ref>Kevin Brockaway, "[http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090613/ARTICLES/906139897 Top 25 Gator teams: #12 2001 Men's golf]," ''Gainesville Sun'' (June 13, 2009).  Retrieved August 1, 2009.</ref>  During the 2001 NCAA tournament, Alexander also coached team captain Nick Gilliam to an individual NCAA golf championship, only the second in the history of the Gators golf program.<ref>NCAA, NCAA History, Division I Men's Golf History, [https://www.ncaa.com/history/m-golf-d1.html Division I Champions].  Retrieved August 1, 2009.</ref>  His teams have also won 10 [[Southeastern Conference]] (SEC) team championships (1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2003, 2011), and his players have won eight SEC individual titles, in his twenty-two seasons as the Gators' coach.<ref name="secrecords">SECSports.com, SEC Record Book, [http://cache.secsports.com/doc_lib/mgol_records.pdf Men's Golf]{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.  Retrieved August 1, 2009</ref>

Alexander previously coached the men's and women's golf teams at [[Louisiana State University]] (LSU) from 1983 to 1987, and the men's golf team at [[Georgia Southern University]] from 1977 to 1980.<ref name="ufprofile" />  Alexander became the  head golf coach at his alma mater, Georgia Southern, in 1977, only two years after his graduation.<ref name="ufprofile" /> As the LSU men's and women's golf head coach, Alexander's teams won two SEC team titles (1986, 1987),<ref name="secrecords" /> and his LSU players won two SEC individual titles.<ref name="secrecords" />

In thirty-seven years as a head coach, Alexander's teams finished among the top ten in the NCAA tournament fifteen times.<ref name="ufprofile" />  His teams amassed seventy-two tournament victories, and thirty-one of his players earned All-American honors.<ref name="ufprofile" />  The [[Golf Coaches Association of America]] (GCAA) honored him as its National Coach of the Year three times (1993, 2001 and 2004),<ref name="ufprofile" /> and the GCAA inducted him into its Coaches Hall of Fame in 2001, joining former Gators coach [[Buster Bishop]].<ref>Golf Coaches Association of America, [http://collegiategolf.com/awards/hall-of-fame.html GCAA Coaches Hall of Fame].  Retrieved June 10, 2011.</ref>  The SEC recognized him seven times as its Coach of the Year (1986, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2003, 2004).<ref name="ufprofile" />  As of 2010, Alexander had coached thirty-three future professional golfers as collegians, including eighteen at Florida.

In 2005, Alexander was selected to coach the U.S. national amateur team in [[Arnold Palmer Cup|Palmer Cup]] competition.<ref name="ufprofile" />

In 2013, Alexander's Gator golfers finished fourth of fourteen teams in the SEC championship tournament in [[Sea Island, Georgia]], and twenty-fifth of thirty invited teams at the NCAA Tournament in [[Woodstock, Georgia]].

== Personal life ==

Alexander is married to Joan. His wife previously worked as a PGA Tour media official.<ref name="ufprofile" />  

Alexander has a daughter, Cortnee, and a son, Tyson.<ref name="ufprofile" /> Tyson played for his father's Gators golf from 2006 to 2010,<ref name="ufprofile" /> and qualified for the U.S. Open, like his father and grandfather before him, in 2009.<ref>"[http://www.gatorcountry.com/other_sports/article/another_alexander_gets_his_open_shot/6553 Another Alexander gets his Open shot]," GatorCountry.com (June 11, 2009).  Retrieved August 1, 2009.</ref> Tyson turned pro in 2010.

==Results in major championships ==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"
!Tournament
! 1987 !! 1988 !! 1989 !! 1990 !! 1991 !! 1992 !! 1993 !! 1994
|-
|align=left|[[Masters Tournament]]
|CUT
|CUT
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|-
|align=left|[[U.S. Open (golf)|U.S. Open]]
|CUT
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|style="background:#eeeeee;"|
|CUT
|}
*''Note: Alexander only played in the [[Masters Tournament|Masters]] and the [[U.S. Open (golf)|U.S. Open]].''
*{{legend|#eeeeee|Did not play}}
*CUT = missed the half-way cut

==U.S. national team appearances==
'''Amateur'''
*[[Eisenhower Trophy]]: [[1986 Eisenhower Trophy|1986]]
*[[Walker Cup]]: [[1987 Walker Cup|1987]] (winners)

== See also ==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* [[Florida Gators]]
* [[History of the University of Florida]]
* [[List of American Walker Cup golfers]]
* [[List of Georgia Southern University alumni]]
* [[Mimi Ryan]]
* [[University of Florida Athletic Association|University Athletic Association]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{U.S. Amateur champions}}
{{LSU Tigers women's golf coach navbox}}
{{LSU Tigers men's golf coach navbox}}
{{Florida Gators men's golf coach navbox}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Buddy}}
[[Category:American male golfers]]
[[Category:Amateur golfers]]
[[Category:Florida Gators men's golf coaches]]
[[Category:LSU Tigers golf coaches]]
[[Category:LSU Lady Tigers golf coaches]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Gainesville, Florida]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from St. Petersburg, Florida]]
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]