Furman University

Former Furman men's golf standout Matt Davidson is in his eighth season as the head coach of the Paladin program, after being promoted the position in June of 2018.

Davidson earned his second-career Southern Conference Coach of the Year honor in 2025.  Furman received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tallahassee Regional, where Harris Barth tied for ninth to pace the Paladins.  Will Morlan, Clark Akers, and Barth were named to the All-SoCon team, while Ludvig Josefsson claimed a spot on the SoCon All-Freshman team. 

The Paladins boasted four top-five finishes, highlighted by a second-place finish at the Furman Intercollegiate in the fall and a third-place finish at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate.  Furman ranked second in the league with a 71.60 individual stroke average, while Barth led the SoCon with a 70.88 stroke average and claimed five top-nine finishes.

PERSONAL
Full Name: Matthew Donald Davidson
Born: March 13, 1981, in West Windsor, N.J.
Wife: Natalie The of Lake Worth, Fla., Furman health sciences professor
Sons: Wesley (10), Graham (8) 

EDUCATION
West Windsor Plainsboro High School, 1999
Furman University, 2004

COLLEGIATE PLAYING CAREER
Furman University, 1999-2004
    Furman Athletics Hall of Fame (2018), Furman Male Athlete of the Year (2004), SoCon Player of the Year (2002), SoCon Individual Medalist (2004), All-SoCon (2002 & 2004), SoCon 100th Anniversary Team (2021), Three collegiate tournament victories, GCAA All-American Scholar (2002 & 2004)

PROFESSIONAL PLAYING CAREER
Korn Ferry Tour – 2005-2017
    146 events played, Made 90 cuts, Four top-3 finishes, 16 top-10 finishes, HSBC Brazil Championship – Runner-Up (2015)
PGA Tour – 2005
    Full PGA Tour member, Best Finish: Greater Milwaukee Open – 14th place (2005)

COLLEGIATE COACHING CAREER
2018 Furman - Asst. Coach
   SoCon POY (Keller Harper), U.S. Amateur Qualifier (Scott Purvis), GCAA All-American Scholar (Connor Bruns)
2019 Furman - Head Coach
   SoCon POY (Keller Harper), SoCon FOY (Jack Crosby), Individual NCAA Athens Regional (Keller Harper – T25th), Wofford Invitational Team Title (Furman’s first team championship since 2011), Three Individual Titles (Keller Harper – River Run Collegiate & Furman Intercollegiate, Jack Crosby – Wofford Invitational), GCAA All-American Scholar (Connor Bruns), GCAA All-Academic Team
2020 Furman - Head Coach
    Season shortened due to Covid-19, Team Top-3 Finishes (Wolfpack Intercollegiate & Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate), GCAA All-American Scholars (Keller Harper, Matt Lehman), GCAA All-Academic Team
2021 Furman - Head Coach
    SoCon POY (Keller Harper – One of only two players in SoCon history to earn the award three times), Individual NCAA Tallahassee Regional (Keller Harper – T14th), Furman Intercollegiate Team Title (First Paladin win at the home tournament since 2004), PING East All-Region Team (Keller Harper), GCAA All-American Scholars (Keller Harper, Reynolds Lambert), GCAA All-Academic Team
2022 Furman - Head Coach
   Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate – Team Runner-Up, Individual NCAA Palm Beach Gardens Regional (Ross Funderburke – T30th), Runner-up Hootie at Bulls Bay (Ross Funderburke)
2023 Furman - Head Coach
    SoCon Coach of the Year, At-large Regional Bid (First since 2002), NCAA Salem Regional (Team - 10th), NCAA Salem Regional Runner-Up (Sam Lape), NCAA Championships (Sam Lape – T131st), No. 62/58 National Ranking, PING East All-Region Team (Will Morlan), Will Morlan - Three Individual Titles (Old Town Collegiate, Furman Intercollegiate, & Hootie at Bulls Bay), Became first Paladin to accomplish the feat since Brad Faxon in 1983, Will Morlan – 70.06 season stroke average (Lowest in history of the Furman program), Will Morlan – Paladin 54-hole record 18-under par (Hootie at Bulls Bay), GCAA All-Academic Team, GCAA All-American Scholars (Will Morlan)
2024 Furman - Head Coach
    Furman Intercollegiate Team Championship, Trey Diehl - Minnesota Golf Classic Individual Champion, GCAA All-Academic Team, GCAA All-American Scholars (Harris Barth, Trey Diehl, Will Morlan)
2025 Furman - Head Coach
    SoCon Coach of the Year, At-Large Bid NCAA Tallahassee Regional (Team - T11th), NCAA Tallahassee Regional (Harris Barth - T9th), Furman Intercollegiate Team Runner-Up, Hootie at Bulls Bay Team – 3rd Place, Team 71.60 individual stroke average (2nd – SoCon), Harris Barth – 70.88 stroke average (1st – SoCon) and five top-9 finishes, GCAA All-Academic Team, GCAA All-American Scholars (Clark Akers, Harris Barth, Trey Diehl, Will Morlan)


Under Davidson’s direction in 2023-24, the Paladins won their home tournament, the Furman Intercollegiate, to wrap up fall competition.  Junior Trey Diehl opened the season with a victory at the Minnesota Golf Classic, where he finished at 9-under par, and sophomore Harris Barth finished eighth at the SoCon Championship and was honored as a member of the All-SoCon team. 

In his fifth season at the head of the Paladin program, Davidson was voted the 2023 SoCon Coach of the Year by his peers.  Under Davidson’s tutelage, Furman, which concluded the season ranked 62^nd by Golfstat and 58^th by Golfweek, received an at-large regional bid for the first time since 2002 and made its fifth NCAA Regional appearance and first since 2010.  At the NCAA Salem Regional, senior Sam Lape fired a final-round 64 to finish second, the highest regional finish in Furman men's golf history, and claim the region's individual bid to the championship.  After posting rounds of 65-72-64=201 to finish 15-under par at the event, he became the first Paladin to compete at the NCAA Championship since Kirk Satterfield finished fifth at the 2001 NCAA East Regional to advance to the finals. 

Also during the 2022-23 season, sophomore Will Morlan, a PING All-Region Team selection, became the first Paladin to win three individual titles in a season since Brad Faxon accomplished the feat in 1983.  An All-Southern Conference honoree, he led the Paladins and ranked second in the league with a 70.06 stroke average over 36 rounds, the lowest season stroke average in the history of the Furman program.  In September, he tied for the individual championship at the Old Town Collegiate with a three-round score of 10-under after shooting a career-best 63 in the second round, then he tied for individual medalist honors at the Furman Intercollegiate at 9-under in October.  Morlan shot 18-under par to win the Hootie at Bulls Bay in March, setting both a Furman and tournament 54-hole record.  Harris Barth was voted to the 2023 SoCon All-Freshman Team with a 72.4 stroke average over 21 spring rounds, while the Paladin team finished as runner-up at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate and took third place at the SoCon Championship and the Old Town Collegiate. 

During the 2021-22 season, the Furman team finished as runner-up at the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate and turned in a third-place finish at the SoCon Championship.  Junior Ross Funderburke, an All-Southern Conference selection, tied for 30th at the NCAA Palm Beach Gardens Regional and finished second at the prestigious Hootie at Bulls Bay tournament.  Senior Jack Crosby noted three top-10 finishes and joined Funderburke on the all-conference team, while Will Morlan was voted to the SoCon All-Freshman Team. 

In Davidson's third season as head coach, the 2021 season was shortened, with Furman playing only in the spring.  The Paladins won the Furman Intercollegiate team championship for the first time since 2004 and just the third time in Furman Intercollegiate history.  Furman recorded four top-3 team finishes and notched a 271 in the second round of the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate, tying the best round in Paladin men's golf history.

Under Davidson's direction, Keller Harper concluded his career in 2021 as one of only two players in SoCon history to be named SoCon Player of the Year three times and became one of only two players in program history, along with Brad Faxon, to compete as an individual in multiple NCAA regionals.  After tying for 14th at the NCAA Tallahassee Regional, Harper was honored as a member of the PING East All-Region Team.  He finished the 2020-21 season with a conference best 70.7 stroke average, which ranks third in Paladin history.  Mac Scott represented the Paladins on the SoCon All-Freshman Team after putting together a 72.8 stroke average in the spring of 2021.

During the shortened 2019-20 campaign, Davidson's second season at the helm of the Paladin program, Furman notched top-3 finishes at both the Wolfpack Intercollegiate and the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate.   The Paladins recorded a season-best round of 276 in the final round of the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate, the second-best round in Furman men's golf history, after tallying a 277 in the opening round just days before.  Harper, who led the Paladins with a 71.9 stroke average over 21 rounds, and rookie Reynolds Lambert, who was second on the team with a 72.7 stroke average over 15 rounds, each fired a 65 in the final round of the Wolfpack Intercollegiate, tying for fifth and helping the Paladins to a third-place finish.

In his first season as head coach, Furman won the team title at the Wofford Invitational, marking the Paladins' first team championship since 2011, and finished as runner up at four additional tournaments.  All-SoCon selection Harper was honored as the Southern Conference Player of the Year for the second-consecutive season after winning individual medalist honors at both the River Run Collegiate and the Furman Intercollegiate, and Jack Crosby, who was voted the SoCon Freshman of the Year, claimed individual medalist honors at the Wofford Invitational.  The individual titles were the first for the Paladins since 2014.  The Paladins returned to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2010, as Harper qualified as an individual for the NCAA Athens Regional, where he tied for 25th.

Davidson, a native of West Windsor, N.J., served as the Paladin assistant coach during the 2018 spring season before being appointed head coach.  During the 2018 season, Harper was chosen the SoCon Men's Golf Player of the Year, becoming the first Paladin to win the award since Davidson captured the honor in 2002.  Harper led the league with a 72.2 stroke average over 31 rounds and recorded three top-5 finishes, including a fourth-place finish at the league championships. Also in 2018, Connor Bruns earned his second-consecutive All-SoCon nod, and Scott Purvis qualified for the U.S. Amateur.

Prior to his time coaching at Furman, Davidson spent 13 years playing professionally, splitting time between the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour.  He played in 147 events on the Korn Ferry Tour and made 90 cuts, notched 16 top-10 finishes, and finished among the top three on four occasions during his professional career.  His best Korn Ferry Tour finish came in 2015, when he tied for second at the HSBC Brazil Championship.  The 2008 and 2009 EGolf Tour championship winner, he posted a career-best 14th-place finish at the 2005 Greater Milwaukee Open on the PGA Tour.

The 2002 Southern Conference Player of the Year, Davidson was a member of the Paladin golf team from 2000-2004.  He won individual medalist honors at the 2004 SoCon Championships and was chosen the 2004 Furman Male Athlete of the Year following a stellar senior campaign.

A member of the Furman Athletics' 2018 Hall of Fame class, Davidson ranked second on Furman's career stroke average list behind only Faxon at the time of his graduation.  A two-time All-SoCon first team selection, he was twice honored as a member of the Golf Coaches Association of America All-American Scholar team.  

Davidson earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Furman in 2004.  His wife, Natalie The, graduated from Furman in 2003 and was a member of the Paladin women's tennis team.  She is a professor in the Furman health sciences department.  The couple are parents of two sons, Wesley (10) and Graham (8).