Drew Belt - Women's Golf Coach - Ole Miss Athletics

Drew Belt

Title:
Assistant Coach, Women's Golf
Email:
ajbelt@olemiss.edu
Phone:
816-3633

Drew Belt is entering his fourth season as an assistant coach with the Ole Miss women’s golf team in 2018-19. Belt came to Oxford after serving as the head golf professional at West Lake Country Club in Augusta, Georgia and also serving as a part-time assistant at Augusta University.

Early in the 2017-18 season, the Michigan native helped guide the Rebels to their first team championship in the Henkes/Belt Era. Ole Miss took home the team and individual trophies at its co-hosted tournament, the Magnolia Invitational at Old Waverly Golf Club.

The Magnolia triumph was a sign of the Rebel program’s progress with Belt in the fold. Ole Miss shot 854, the lowest score in a tournament win in program history. It was also one stroke off the team’s all-time 54-hole mark. In that event, Julia Johnson became the first freshman in program history to win a three-round tournament. She shot 209 (-7) on the weekend, the lowest individual score in tournament win. After the triumph she had high praise for her coaches.

“When I get off the course and I’m feeling something mechanically wrong with my swing, I pull coach Drew over and within five minutes, I have it fixed,” Johnson said. “Coach Kory and Drew both have such huge strengths, and honestly that’s why I’m here today. I wouldn’t have won this tournament without the two of them. They’re both awesome, and I appreciate them both so much.”

The remarkable fall season continued with Diane Lim’s individual victory at the Palmetto Intercollegiate. The NAIA transfer led a second straight team win, clinching individual and team title sweeps in back-to-back tournaments —another first for the program. Ole Miss kept it going as it traveled to Hawaii to close the fall season. All six Rebels to make the trip finished in the top 15, leading to yet another team championship, tying the single-season school mark. They became the first team to win three tournaments in the fall, and they entered winter break tied for No. 1 in the NCAA with those three wins.

An expert in swing mechanics, Belt helped the Rebels set a new school record for the lowest single-season scoring average at 298.47, the first sub-300 mark in program history.

Belt was a significant part of the turnaround of the program in his first season at Ole Miss. An excellent teacher of the game, Belt coupled with Henkes to help Ole Miss players set 10 team or individual records while seeing scoring averaged decrease by an averaged of 2.5 strokes.

Ole Miss head coach Kory Henkes had the following to say upon Belt’s hiring.

“We are extremely excited to have Drew on board with the Ole Miss women’s golf team,” said Henkes. “I have had the privilege of working with Drew for the past few years and know that he will be the perfect fit. Drew has an extensive knowledge and passion for the game of golf and he will be a huge asset to the future of our program.”

Belt is a Class A PGA member and has extensive experience as a head golf professional having served as the head professional at West Lake Country Club in Augusta, Georgia and also at Jones Creek Golf Club. His duties as the head professional included providing leadership in regards to the day-to-day operations of the club as well as the teaching program and technology operations. Additionally, Belt ran all member-related tournaments and activities, while developing junior programs and tournaments series, while teaching all junior golf clinics.

In addition to his duties as a head golf professional, Belt served as a part-time assistant to the men and women’s golf teams at GRU Augusta.

He helped current Ole Miss head coach and former GRU Augusta head coach; Henkes build the Jaguars into perennial top-25 program. Under Henkes’ watch and with the help of Belt, the Jaguars achieved their highest ranking in program history, checking in at No. 21 in the fall of 2014.

Belt also developed the Papa John’s Augusta Junior Golf Tour, which was played on 10 area courses in Augusta.

Belt is a 2004 graduate of Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan with a bachelor’s of science in business as a marketing major. Belt has a Nick Faldo Golf Institute Teaching certificate and a Troon Golf Teaching Institute certificate and is a member of the Ferris State Professional Golf Alumni Golf Association.