MURRAY, Ky. (BVM) –  Murray State University’s Eddie Hunt coached the Racers Men’s Golf team for 20 years, and now as he enters into retirement, free time that was regularly occupied with various coaching duties has instead been dedicated to reflection.

Hunt moved to the Murray, Ky. area in the 1960’s, obtaining three degrees from Murray State and even working in administration after two years of service in the U.S. Army. Following work with Murray State, Hunt ventured into entrepreneurship, creating and growing a prosperous sporting goods business called “Dennis and Hunt” for over 26 years. The connections he developed within the Murray community, along with his experience and affiliations with Murray State University, led to the initial opportunity to start his coaching career.

“They were having a hard time finding a golf coach. They had had some interest, but they couldn’t find the right person,” Hunt said. “I was offered a job as a one year interim, just to keep the program going for however long they needed me. Halfway through my first year, I was enjoying the competition, the travel, and working with the young men. I thought ‘maybe I’ll apply for the job next year,’ and after the first year I reapplied and was chosen for the full time position.”

Hunt was officially named the head coach for the men’s golf program ahead of the 2002-03 season, taking over the job as only the second ever head coach for the men’s team after coach Buddy Hewitt started the program in 1961 and led it for its first 40 years.

Hunt coached the Murray State men’s program to an Ohio Valley Conference title in 2010 (the program’s fourth all–time) and led the team to win a total of 36 tournaments during his 20 years of coaching. Hunt conceded that winning a tournament, even at the mid-major level, is a difficult task to complete, but he attributed the program’s success to the local talent he recruited.

“The recruiting base that I primarily built my teams from has always been what I consider local, Kentucky kids, and I’ve been real lucky regarding the talent pool in this area,” Hunt said. “I always felt like there were enough good players in Western Kentucky to build a strong program, and I think that has proven to be true.”

Hunt’s “locally-built” teams always mirrored his own competitiveness. The teams that Hunt coached were always in the mix for OVC titles, and the foundation the success was built on stemmed from Hunt’s coaching ideals and beliefs. 

“The first thing I always emphasized was representing Murray State, and the rest was based on my core beliefs,” Hunt said. “I always preached to my players that as a student at the University, your first priority is academics. You attend Murray State University to get a degree. Your second priority is golf.”

The leadership that Hunt presented nurtured success both on and off the golf course. Hunt valued accomplishments in academics just as much as he valued tournament victories. Those successes often brought good publicity to the team in the eyes of the community, something Hunt said was invaluable to the program.

“The right arm of our program and why we have success is the support we’ve gotten from the community,” Hunt said. “I’ve always tried to get our golfers involved with the community. I feel like our program and our players are probably as well known in the community as any other sport. The association with the local community gave our team great publicity, and I think that comes from having some good players and great results.”

The community support and the connections Hunt made with boosters, players and coaches along the way fueled his passion for coaching for two decades. Though he is stepping away after 20 years, he never set out in the beginning to reach a certain number of accomplishments or coach a specific amount of time before retiring.

“The last thing on my mind when I started coaching was that I would stay for 20 years,” Hunt said with a laugh. “Because I had technically already retired from my first profession. However, year after year, I had great support from my wife, I was healthy, and I loved doing it. I was very fortunate my entire coaching career, but I just felt like after 20 years, it was time for somebody else to step in.”

Hunt credited his enjoyment of the job to the great players and leaders he had as members of his Racer golf teams. His coaching philosophy leaned heavily on player empowerment, with Hunt often going to his players when making decisions.

“I’ve been lucky to have some great leaders on my teams,” Hunt said. “Over the years, I would rely on their opinions on how to do things, how practices were structured and what tournaments they would like to play in. I always wanted what was best for the team, and I found that a great mindset to ensure the best was that if it was going to be the coach’s way, it more importantly had to be the team’s way.”

Now that Hunt’s coaching career lies in the past, the usual busy summer filled with recruiting and meetings has transitioned into time for rumination. The former Murray State coach enjoyed the busyness that came with the job, so now that things have slowed down, Hunt has had some time to reflect.

“I can tell you that I’m going to miss it,” Hunt conceded. “I’ll miss the relationships with the young men and I’ll definitely miss the travel. I can tell some really interesting and funny stories that happened on trips, and now every little group that has come through during my career have their own unique stories and experiences too.”

Hunt values the relationships he was able to make with all of the players over the years, and takes a lot of pride in being able to maintain those relationships. One of his favorite things is keeping in touch with his former players and catching up on the lives they have led after graduating from Murray State.

“If the people I recruited graduate and move on, and after 20 years, when they’re out of school, they still like to hang out with me, I think I’ve been successful,” Hunt said. “I’ve strived to keep relationships with all of my players. It makes me happy to see that they all are successful in different ways of life, as doctors, lawyers, golfers, and in other professions.”

Hunt does his best to keep the connections that have blossomed from his two-decade coaching career. Many of his golfers continue to play golf competitively after they leave Murray State, and Hunt never wastes an opportunity to see his former players compete out on the golf course.

“When I go see my former guys play in a golf tournament, I usually stay focused on the relationships, talking about what’s going on with their families and how they’ve been doing. There is a tournament every year that brings a lot of my former players back to the area. I think one year, I had over 25 former and current players in the tournament, and most of them were at the top of the leaderboard,” Hunt said proudly. “Those are the things I love to see. The success my former players have after they graduate, not only in golf, but in life.”

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