Head coach Matt Terry heads into his ninth season at the helm of the Louisiana Tech Golf program following a fourth straight season of having a Bulldog receive a bid to compete as an individual at the NCAA Regionals. 

The 2024-25 season produced 15 team rounds at or under par, shattering the previous program record of nine. The Bulldogs also set program records for the lowest team round (-15) and lowest 54-hole total (-24) at the Ka'anapali Classic in Lahaina, Hawaii. 

Terry coached Niilo Maki-Petaja, a Second Team All-Conference USA selection, who earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tallahassee Regional. Maki-Petaja, who was ranked as high as No. 97 in the country, would set the single-season program record for most rounds at or under par with 22 as well as tie the low 54-hole total for a Bulldog by shooting 14 under (202) at the GMAC Invitational.

LA Tech also made program history during the 2023-24 season as the Bulldogs finished first in stroke play at the CUSA Championship after shooting 280-294-286=860 (-4) to finish three strokes better than the second-place team. The Bulldogs' 860 was its lowest 54-hole total in a league championship in school history, earning them the No. 1 seed for match play.

That season, Maki-Petaja became the most decorated freshman in program history. The CUSA Freshman of the Year and First Team All-CUSA selection was ranked as high as No. 200 in the country after registering five top-five finishes, including an individual title at the Aggie Invitational. He would compete at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regionals where he tied for 27th among the stellar field. 

After signing a contract extension in the summer of 2022, Terry went on to become just the third LA Tech head coach in the program's history to earn conference coach of the year honors and the first in 40 years after being voted as the CUSA Coach of the Year.

Terry's Bulldogs ended up reaching the match play portion of the 2023 CUSA Championship for just the second time in program history, which included a win over No. 2 seed Middle Tennessee to reach the finals. That was not the only highlight from the postseason event as James Swash claimed the CUSA individual title, the first Bulldog to be an individual medalist since 1980. In doing so, the First Team All-USA honoree earned an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Norman Regional where he tied for 21st, the second-highest finish by a LA Tech golfer ever at a regional.

It was the second straight season Terry coached an individual to an NCAA Regional, having guided Sam Murphy in 2022. As a team, LA Tech registered four top-five finishes. The season started out with placing fourth at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate, a home event where the Bulldogs shot a combined 854 (-10), their lowest 54-hole total since 2015 and fourth lowest on record. It was also an event that saw Murphy take home first-place honors after firing a 203 (-13).  Murphy, a Second Team All-Conference USA selection, ended the season tied for 23rd at the NCAA Norman Regional.
 
In the 2020-21 season, Terry was named the LSWA Louisiana Coach of the Year after LA Tech recorded three top-five finishes: LaTour Intercollegiate (1st, -12), Jim Rivers Intercollegiate (4th, -4), and Linger Longer Invitational (4th, -4). The team finished the LaTour Intercollegiate 18 strokes ahead of second place Jacksonville State as they registered a combined -12 (288-276=564). Mac Murphy went on to be named Third Team All-CUSA.
 
In the COVID-19 shortened 2019-20 season, The Bulldogs placed in the top 10 at five of their six tournaments during the season and routinely outpaced higher-ranked teams. In 2018-19, the Bulldogs picked up five top ten finishes, including a victory at the Jerry Weeks Match Play tournament. Terry coached Swash who earned CUSA Freshman of the Year honors that season.

Along with the athletic accomplishments, LA Tech has tons of success in the classroom under Terry. The program has registered a perfect 1,000 single-year APR for five consecutive seasons and has had 15 GCAA All-American Scholar selections as well as six Academic All-District honorees. 

Prior to coming to Ruston, Terry spent 15 years building highly success men's and women's golf programs at Troy University. Terry spent all 15 seasons at the helm of the Troy men's golf team, the final four as the Director of Golf, and 11 seasons guiding the women's golf team. Under his leadership and vision, the Trojans reached its pinnacle in 2015 as both the men's and women's teams competed in the NCAA Regionals.

That started a three-year stretch where the Trojans competed in the NCAA Regionals in 2015, 2016, and 2017 while the Troy women advanced to the NCAA Regionals three times in the span of four years (2014, 2015, and 2017).

Terry saw his hard work pay off as the Troy men's team won the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Championship -- its first ever as a member of the league -- while earning its second straight NCAA Regional bid. The Trojans played in the Franklin Regional as the Sun Belt's automatic selection. The Trojans made their first appearance in an NCAA Regional under Terry after earning an at-large bid to the New Haven Regional in 2015.

The 2017 season saw the program earn its third straight berth into the NCAA Regionals as the Trojans were tabbed as an at-large selection into the NCAA College Grove Regional at The Grove. The Trojans finished in the sixth place, just one spot from qualifying as a team for the NCAA Championships.

In addition to the team accomplishments, Troy sent two individuals to the NCAA Championships as Tolver Dozier (2015) and Cam Norman (2017) both played their way through the Regionals to advance to the highest stage.

Six of Terry's former players are currently playing professionally -- James Swash, Sam Murphy, Mac Murphy, Ryan Alford, Karsten Green, and Sofia Björkman (Nordea Tour).

Prior to coming to Troy in the fall of 2002, Terry served as the head coach at Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. During his three seasons there, he led the Buccaneers to the national tournament three times, finishing in third place twice before winning the championship in 2002.

A native of Moulton, Alabama, Terry has been an avid golfer since dropping baseball to concentrate on the sport in high school. He served as director of the Tuscaloosa Junior Golf Tour, supervising up to 175 children ages 8 to 18. Terry also has experience as a teacher, serving as the assistant pro at the Turtle Creek Golf Club in Rockledge, Florida.

Terry has professional experience playing on the Hooters, Central Florida/Tommy Armour, and North Florida PGA Winter tours. He also participated in the 1988 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, better known as q-school.

Born in Augusta, Georgia, Terry received his bachelor's degree in marketing from the University of Alabama in 1996. He is married to the former Dixie McCreless and the couple has three children: Mya, Alyssa, and Sawyer.