CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) announced on Friday (May 29) that Tony Markel Family Men’s Golf Head Coach, Bowen Sargent, is one of five finalists for the 2026 Dave Williams Award presented by Golf Pride Grips. The Williams Award honors the national coach of the year in NCAA Division I men’s golf.
2026 Dave Williams Award Finalists
Nick Clinard, Auburn
J.C. Deacon, Florida
Chris Malloy, Ole Miss
Brad McMakin, Arkansas
Bowen Sargent, Virginia
* All five finalists are coaching this week at the 2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Cali.
Sargent is a finalist for the second-straight year and is the reigning ACC Coach of the Year as well as the PING East Region Coach of the Year. The Cavaliers set a new school record with seven wins over the course of the 2025-26 season and posted two runner ups in 11 total tournaments. The Cavaliers garnered the No. 1 ranking in the GCAA Top 25 poll and held it through March 4. UVA has been ranked in the top five in both the GCAA and Scoreboard Powered by Clippd the entire season. After earning a share of the NCAA Winston-Salem Regional title, Virginia enters the NCAA Tournament as the No. 4 seed.
In late April UVA captured their second-straight Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, the first ACC school in the match play era (2021-present) to go back-to-back and the first ACC school since 2018-19 to win consecutive league titles. On Friday afternoon, the Cavaliers will make their school-record, fourth-straight appearance at the NCAA Championships, one of seven programs nationally to play in the last four championships.
The winner of the 2026 Dave Williams Award will be announced on Monday, June 8. Sargent is looking to become the first ACC coach to win the Williams Award since 2003. The last three award recipients have won the National Championship.