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Former collegiate All-American and Cleveland County native Tee Burton begins his 22nd season as the head coach of both the Gardner-Webb men and women’s golf programs in 2021-22.
Coach Burton’s expertise and experience paid immediate dividends as the men’s golf team posted four top-six finishes and the women’s team added three top-five finishes in his very first year at Gardner-Webb. The success has continued with both teams, with each posting runner up finishes at the Big South Conference Championships since the league went to a match play format.
In only his second year on the job, during the fall of 2001, Burton guided the GWU men’s team to the 2001 National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Title, marking it the third national championship for the program. Following the team's victory, Burton was named the NCCAA National Coach of the Year. Gardner-Webb won NAIA National Championships in men's golf in 1976 and 1977.
Since Gardner-Webb made the transition to the NCAA Division I prior to the 2000-01 season, Coach Burton has tutored numerous All-Conference honorees, highlighted by Daniel Kim’s four-time Big South All-Conference recognition, which puts him as one of only nine male golfers in the history of the Big South Conference to receive all-conference recognition all four years during his intercollegiate career.
Current senior Zack Byers' rise to prominence this season is among many individual success stories. Byers is the first GWU golfer to win Big South Conference medalist honors, first to earn an automatic bid to NCAA Regionals – and first to advance to the NCAA Championships with another strong finish.
During his collegiate career at North Carolina, Burton was a three-time all-Atlantic Coast Conference selection, a two-time All-American and was honored as one of 51 golfers named to the ACC's prestigious 50th Anniversary Team, joining the likes of Arnold Palmer, Davis Love III and other all-time greats. He was one of six Tar Heels named to that anniversary team in 2002.
Burton finished among the top-30 at the 1991 NCAA Championships, helping the Tar Heels to a runner up finish at Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach, Calif. He helped UNC to a seventh place finish at the 1990 NCAA Championships, carding a round of 69 on the final day in Innsbrook, Fla. Burton also won the North Carolina Amateur in 1990 and posted three consecutive top-10 finishes at the ACC Championships from 1989-1991.
Following his collegiate career, Burton was a regular on several professional tours and competed at the PGA Tour Qualifying School on seven occasions.
The former Cleveland County Amateur Champion was an All-State performer at nearby Crest H.S. In his first prep match, Burton earned mention in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd section after posting a four-hole feat of two eagles and two birdies – finishing 1,2,3,4 on the final four holes at Pine Grove.
Burton is known as an exceptional teacher and relates tremendously well with young players.
A member of the Cleveland County Sports Hall of Fame, Burton and his wife Amanda reside in Shelby, N.C. The couple has two sons, Trey and Reed.
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