Colby Huffman was hired as the men's golf coach at Butler University in June of 2021.
In his second season (2022-23), the Bulldogs ranked as the No. 2 team in the BIG EAST according to Golfstat. The team finished with the second-best national ranking and second-best scoring average dating back to 1993 when Golfstat began tracking Butler records. As a team, the Bulldogs made 453 birdies during the season, the most since at least 1993 and by a margin of more than 100.
Butler won the 2023 Sacred Heart Spring Invitational, while Damon Dickey took individual medalist honors. Dickey posted a pair of 64s during the season, claiming the Butler single-round record for par-71 and par-72 courses, respectively. Dickey was one of three Bulldogs to card rounds of 65 or better during the season. Eight different Bulldogs placed in the top five of events at some point during the campaign. Freshman Connor McNeely closed the season by tying for fifth at the 2023 BIG EAST Men's Golf Championship.
In his first season as head coach (2021-22), the Bulldogs posted a pair of runner-up finishes in the spring (at the Don Benbow Invitational in Jacksonville and the Butler Spring Invitational). Daniel Tanaka set a single-round record (for a par-70 course) with a six-under 64 in the final round of the 2022 Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational in September.
Huffman was named head coach after spending the 2021 season as a volunteer assistant at Butler. In 2021, Huffman helped Michael Cascino to the BIG EAST title as a member of Bill Mattingly's staff. Mattingly retired following the 2021 season.
He brings extensive coaching experience from the collegiate, professional and junior ranks.
Huffman served as an assistant for the men's and women's programs at IUPUI from 2009-2018. During that time, the Jaguars broke every school performance record, captured conference championships and had made appearances at the NCAA Regional. In 2012, the IUPUI men's team won an NCAA-best seven tournaments.
Beginning in 2015, Huffman began working with a number of IUPUI student-athletes across multiple sports as a sport performance consultant, focusing on performance enhancement through mental training. Colby has been designated a Certified Mental Performance Consultant by the Applied Association of Sport Psychology, and is currently listed as one of 10 certified consultants in the state of Indiana to have the prerequisite credentials for being placed on the USOC (United States Olympic Committee) Registry that allows sport psychology consultants to work with US Olympic athletes and teams. He is the only PGA Teacher of the Year in the nation to have earned CMPC-AASP credentials. Additionally, Huffman has received Certified Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) golf fitness instructor status, and is a Certified Titleist Club Fitter.
Huffman has been recognized as a Golf Channel Academy Lead Coach since 2017. He has twice been selected as the Golf Channel's National Coach of the Week, has performed more than 20 instruction videos at the Golf Channel studios, and has appeared on both the Morning Drive and School of Golf television programs.
He has worked with numerous touring professionals including major champions Shaun Micheel and I.K. Kim. Huffman has been recognized by Golf Digest in their selection of "Best Teachers" every year since 2013 and was selected as the PGA Teacher of the Year for the state of Indiana in 2012, the youngest ever in the state at the age of 35. He has also been recently selected as one of 30 “Teachers to Watch” by GOLF Magazine and is the only NCAA coach listed.
Huffman served as a lead instructor for the Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy (2007-’09) while Haney was teaching Tiger Woods. He also worked with Gary Gilchrist at the International Junior Golf Association (IJGA) as Director of Training as well as the David Leadbetter Golf Academy. He trained more than 15 instructors, including former PGA Tour professionals, on how to teach and coach. He developed eight Junior All-Americans and was the only coach in the world to develop two Byron Nelson International Junior Golf Award recipients in the same year (2008).
As a student-athlete at Purdue, Huffman earned Academic All-Big Ten honors from 1996-2000 and was a 1999 USAA All-American Scholar. He received his bachelor's in 1999 and his master's in 2001 from Purdue. Following his time in college, Huffman spent time playing professionally on the PGA Tour de Las Americas (now the PGA Tour Latinoamerica), Golden Bear Tour, Hurricane Tour and the Maverick Tour, where he competed against many of today’s PGA Tour Members. He completed his Ph.D. in Psychology, Specialization in Sport Psychology in 2021.
Huffman resides on the north side of Indianapolis with his wife and two sons.
Tournament Titles with Huffman as Head Coach
2023 Sacred Heart Spring Invitational (11 Teams) - 573 (-3)
