"Tom Shaw has a wealth of experience as a coach at the highest collegiate level, played professionally for six years and was a highly successful student-athlete at Georgia Tech," says Vanderbilt Vice Chancellor David Williams. "His Tulane team had a composite grade point over 3.0. We believe that background makes him the ideal person to lead our men's golf program and we are delighted he will be joining us."
Shaw helped improve the Green Wave's national ranking every year but he probably received his greatest challenge when forced to guide the team through the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He relocated the team to Southern Methodist University, which entailed enrolling his team in classes and securing practice and playing facilities for the semester.
"I am honored to be a part of one of the most prestigious institutions in the country," Shaw says. "I'm also very excited to be coaching in the powerhouse conference in all of collegiate athletics. I have followed the Vanderbilt program closely in recent years and think I can pick up on the progress that has been made and advance the team forward. The Vanderbilt Legends Club is a great home facility and I can't wait to get involved with the Nashville golf community."
Shaw was an NCAA Academic All-America at Georgia Tech in 1990 and 1991 while serving as captain of the nationally ranked Yellow Jacket golf team. He graduated in 1991 with High Honor.
He joined the Nike Tour in 1992 and competed in three Nike Tour Championships, reserved for the Top 50 money winners of the year. He has three career second-place finishes.
Shaw left the Tour to become assistant coach at South Carolina in 1998 and in two years he handled a variety of duties including recruiting for the Top 10 program along with scheduling, academic and budget oversight. His work at USC led to the head coaching position at Tulane.
While with the Green Wave, Shaw served as chair of the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee for the Southeast Region (2004, 2005). He organized boosters to finance an on-campus short game facility, improved his team's access to local golf facilities and raised the competitive level of the team each year. Shaw earned a reputation as being especially skilled in his team's personal development.
Shaw is expected to arrive on campus in June. He replaces Press McPhaul, who resigned earlier this year to return to his home state of North Carolina and with a position at East Carolina University.