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The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Terry Shaffer out as golf head coach

Athletic director Patrick Nero, above, now has dismissed four head coaches since coming to GW two years ago. Golf head coach Terry Shaffer was dismissed, the Department of Athletics announced Thursday. Hatchet File Photo

GW will not renew golf head coach Terry Shaffer’s contract, the Department of Athletics announced Thursday.

Shaffer, last year’s Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year,  just completed his fifth season as head coach of the program. The alumnus led the Colonials to a conference championship last spring.

The team finished sixth in the A-10 tournament last weekend.

A player, who was granted anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the team learned the news in a meeting Wednesday.

Shaffer is the fourth head coach athletic director Patrick Nero has let go since coming on board two years ago. Former men’s basketball coach Karl Hobbs, former women’s basketball coach Mike Bozeman and former baseball coach Steve Mrowka were all dismissed under Nero.

“I want to thank Terry for his five years as head coach of our golf program,” Nero said in a release. “We wish him the best in the future.”

The department will immediately begin a search for Shaffer’s successor.

Shaffer helped lead the sixth-seeded Colonials to the program’s first ever A-10 Championship title two seasons ago, setting a new 36-hole record with a two-round score of 8-under par 658.  The win saw GW defeat six-time defending champion Charlotte by two strokes.

The title gave the Colonials an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, their first appearance since 2006.  There, GW failed to move on to the next round, finishing tied for 13th place in the Greensboro Regional.

This past weekend, the Colonials finished in sixth place at the A-10 Championships, a drop off from the team’s success the season before.

Shaffer leaves behind an extremely young golf squad, including four freshman and two sophomores, five of whom competed for the Colonials at the recent A-10 Championships.

Prior to coaching at GW, Shaffer accumulated 16 years as a PGA Head Golf Professional and four years as the head golf coach at Mount St. Mary’s.  He was hired in fall 2008 by former Athletic Director Jack Kvancz.

Shaffer, who graduated from GW in 1979, was named the golf team’s most valuable player that year.

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