Don Hill has lifted Elon Golf to new heights in his 13 seasons as Director of Golf and Men’s Golf Head Coach, highlighted by the 2025 Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Championship, the Phoenix’s first Division I conference title and first overall since 1994.
The 2025 CAA Coach of the Year, Hill was hired by former Elon Director of Athletics Dave Blank in May 2013 and has previously served as the Committee Chair for the Ben Hogan Award (2021-22), the All-America Committee (2022-23) and the East Region (2020-23).
Elon has become a consistent CAA contender under Hill’s watch, posting four consecutive top-two finishes at the CAA Championship since 2022, including the 2025 title run. The Phoenix has amassed six wins, 19 top-two team finishes and 30 top-five efforts over that four-year stretch. Garrett Risner became a four-time All-CAA selection under Hill’s guidance, while rising senior Jack Wieler is a three-time selection in as many seasons dating back to 2023-24.
Hill’s squads have earned GCAA All-Academic Team recognition in 11 of 12 seasons between 2014-25, with more than 10 Phoenix earning GCAA All-America Scholar accolades.
Hill blended veteran leadership and youthful talent into a high-powered 2025-26 squad, which featured proven Phoenix in Jack Wieler and Landon Durham alongside a rookie trio of William Carr, Dylan Lewis and Drew Yeagley. The Phoenix won two tournaments, the Elon Phoenix Invitational and the Cutter Creek Invitational, registered five top-two team finishes and collected a combined 18 top-10 individual performances, highlighted by wins from Durham and Carr. Yeagley was named CAA Co-Rookie of the Year following the season, making him the first Phoenix since 2002 to be voted a conference rookie or freshman of the year.
Hill’s 2024-25 team put it all together at Union League National Golf Club in Swainton, New Jersey, besting Drexel in a sudden-death playoff to win the 2025 CAA Championship and clinch an automatic berth to the NCAA Regionals. Four Phoenix finished among the top 10, led by All-Tournament Team selection Juan Callejo Ropero, who tied for third at 2-over par 218.
Hill built sustained momentum throughout his first decade at Elon, highlighted by team titles, individual champions, conference honors and continued academic success. In 2021-22, the Phoenix competed in nine regular-season tournaments and posted eight top-10 finishes, including four top-five showings. Elon captured the Sixth Annual Phoenix Invitational with a 31-under par 821, as Pedro Rabadan tied for medalist honors at 10-under par and earned CAA Golfer of the Week recognition. Garrett Risner led the Phoenix at the CAA Championship, placing sixth at 3-under par before earning Second Team All-CAA honors.
The 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons saw the Phoenix disrupted by COVID-19. Elon opened the 2020 spring by winning the Pinehurst Intercollegiate, with Graham Hutchinson capturing medalist honors, before the remainder of the year was cut short. The Phoenix played five spring 2021 tournaments, culminating with a fifth-place finish at the CAA Championship.
The Phoenix also enjoyed a strong 2018-19 campaign, defending its team title at the Fourth Annual Phoenix Invitational while William Harwood claimed individual medalist honors. Harwood later earned CAA Men’s Golfer of the Year and First Team All-CAA recognition after helping Elon finish fourth at the CAA Championship alongside fellow All-Tournament Team selection Graham Hutchinson.
Hill helped establish Elon’s footing in the CAA during the program’s early years in the league. In 2015-16, the Phoenix posted a 293.11 stroke average, then the second-best mark of the program’s Division I era, and had six different players record top-10 finishes, the most in the CAA. Jonathan DiIanni earned All-CAA honors for the second straight season, set the program’s top single-season stroke average since 1993 and was named CAA Men’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year while also collecting GCAA and CoSIDA Academic All-America recognition. Hill also orchestrated the revival of Elon’s home tournament, the Elon Phoenix Invitational, at Alamance Country Club.
In Hill’s first season in 2013-14, Elon posted a 292.86 stroke average, then the best in the program’s Division I era, while earning five top-five team finishes. The Phoenix also began a strong academic trend under Hill, earning GCAA All-Academic Team honors with a 3.2 team GPA.
Prior to Elon, Hill spent two seasons as the associate head men’s golf coach at South Carolina from 2011-13, helping elevate the Gamecocks within the SEC and on the national stage. South Carolina earned NCAA postseason bids in both seasons with Hill on staff, including a strong 2012-13 campaign that featured five top-three team finishes, a win at the Wendy’s Kiawah Classic and a runner-up finish at the SEC Championship, just two strokes behind second-ranked Alabama. Hill also helped guide Caleb Sturgeon to a runner-up finish at the 2013 SEC Championship with a 5-under par 205, the second-lowest 54-hole SEC Championship score in program history at the time.
Before his time at South Carolina, Hill spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at North Carolina from 2004-11, assisting with the Tar Heels’ day-to-day operations while also serving in an on-course coaching and teaching role. During his tenure, North Carolina won 10 tournaments, highlighted by the 2006 ACC Championship and the 2010 UNCG Bridgestone Golf Collegiate. Five Tar Heels combined to win seven individual titles during that stretch, and Hill helped coach multiple All-Americans, including Martin Ureta, Dustin Bray and Kevin O’Connell.
Hill was also a standout student-athlete at North Carolina, where he competed for the Tar Heels in 1995 and from 1997-99. He was a two-time All-ACC performer and earned honorable mention All-America recognition in both 1998 and 1999. Hill helped North Carolina to 10th-place finishes at the NCAA Championship in 1997 and 1999, finished runner-up at the 1998 ACC Championship and placed 10th individually at the 1999 NCAA Championship. Over his collegiate career, he recorded 13 top-10 finishes and 23 top-25 finishes.
A native of Mount Olive, North Carolina, Hill was a four-year standout at Southern Wayne High School before graduating from North Carolina in 1999 with a degree in communications. He and his wife, Lizzie, have two daughters, Cate and Mary Martin.
Last Updated: May 28, 2026
