Florida State has taken its rightful place among the nation's top teams and the origins of its success can be traced to ninth year head coach Trey Jones. He is responsible for attracting nationally ranked recruiting classes, upgrading the Seminoles' schedule to where it is ranked among the nation's toughest on an annual basis and creating one of the most functional practice facilities in all of college golf on one of the Seminoles' six home golf courses. Jones has established himself as one of the nation's top minds in college golf and has developed Florida State's program into one of the most successful in the nation. Nine years into his tenure as Florida State's head men's coach and director of golf operations, Jones continues annually to build on the Seminoles' success in developing the nation's top talent into national contenders and collegiate golf's elite players. Named the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year as he led the Seminoles to the first conference championship in the sport of golf in school history, Jones is no stranger to competing with the nation's best in one of its top conferences.
Building championship teams and elevating those teams onto the national stage is nothing new to Jones who has earned four conference coach of the year awards and led 10 of his 15 teams at the Division I level to the NCAA Championship tournament. His teams consistently hold prominent places in the national rankings, are adept at winning conference championships and are annually among the top producers of All-American and all-conference performers.
NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Florida State enters the 2011-12 season having played in a school record six consecutive NCAA Championship tournaments. The Seminoles have advanced to the championship finals twice and finished in a tied for third place nationally in 2009 in Jones' first eight years at Florida State. The Seminoles have also been nationally ranked during each season since Jones' arrival in Tallahassee in 2004 and were ranked as high as No. 3 nationally in 2008. Jones is one of the most respected coaches in the nation which has helped raise the Seminoles' national profile and allows them to receive invitations to play in the most prestigious tournaments in all of college golf and on the most famous courses in the nation.
2010 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
Florida State finished in a tie for third place at the 2010 NCAA Championship to earn the best national finish in school history. The Seminoles fell to Augusta State (the 2010 National Champion) in the semifinals of the championship tournament after defeating Texas Tech in the first round of match play. The Seminoles led the stroke play portion of the tournament and finished in second place to earn the No. 2 seed in the match play portion of the event. The third place finish at the national Tournament marked the best finish in school history - one place better than the Seminoles fourth place national finish in 1957 and tied for fourth place finish in 1958.
RECRUITING
One of the nation's most dynamic recruiters, Jones is nationally recognized as one of the top talent scouts in all of collegiate golf. His ability to recruit talented players, which in turn form solidly built teams, is one of the aspects of coaching that has made Jones one of the top coaches in Division I golf. Florida State's recruiting classes ranked fourth best in the nation in 2007, fifth best in 2008, sixth best in 2005 and among the nation's top 15 in 2006 and 2010. The Seminoles' recruiting class that arrived on campus for the fall of 2011 will certainly rank among the nation's best.
JONAS BLIXT
Jones coached one of Florida State's all-time best players - Jones Blixt - to All-American honors and to the first individual ACC Championship in school history. Blixt earned Ping/Division I All-American First Team honors in 2008 and Ping/Division I All-American second team honors in 2007. He is one of only three players in school history to earn All-American First and Second Team honors during his career. Blixt won the ACC individual championship in 2007 to become the first Seminole to win ACC medalist honors. He helped lead Florida State to the 2008 ACC Championship - the first ACC golf championship in school history - and earned All-ACC honors twice during his career. Blixt is currently playing on the Nationwide Tour.
DREW KITTLESON
Jones also coached Drew Kittleson, who will long be remembered as one of the top golfers in school history. Kittleson played in the Masters Championship at Augusta in 2009, the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in 2009, four NCAA Championships and four ACC Championships during his standout career as a Seminole. He earned All-American Honorable Mention honors from Ping/Golf Coaches' Association of America in 2010 and Southeast Regional All-American honors in 2011. Kittleson helped lead Florida State to the 2008 ACC Championship - the first ACC golf championship in school history and to a third place finish at the NCAA Division I Championship finals in 2010 - the highest national finish in school history. After a second place finish at the 2009 U.S. Amateur, he earned exemptions to play in both the 2009 Masters and U.S. Open Championships. Kittleson is currently playing on the Nationwide Tour.
ACC CHAMPIONSHIP
Florida State, which was led by All-Americans Jonas Blixt and Matt Savage, won its first ever Atlantic Coast Conference championship as it defeated Duke by three strokes at the 2008 ACC Championship at the Old North State Club at Uwharrie Point. The Seminoles defeated Duke by four strokes as they rallied from a one stroke deficit after two rounds to claim the school's first ever ACC championship in the sport of golf. Each of the five team members contributed to the victory as the Seminoles closed the 54-hole tournament with four players under par. Blixt and Savage led the way with eight-under par 208 scores as they both finished in a tie for third in the individual standings.
ACC COACH OF THE YEAR
Jones was named to the ACC Coach of the Year in leading the Seminoles to the first ACC Championship in the sport of golf in 2008. It marked the fourth time in his career that he had earned Coach of the Year honors; he was named the Trans America Athletic Conference (now known as the Atlantic Sun) Coach of the Year in 1998, 2000 and 2001. In 2008 the Seminoles won the first ACC Championship in school history, won three tournament championships, won the first team championship for the program since 1998 finished the season ranked 11th nationally.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Florida State finished the 2010 season ranked No. 6 in the final GolfStat poll of the season and No. 16 in the final poll by GolfWeek. The GolfStat poll was released following the Seminoles' third place finish in the NCAA Championship while the GolfWeek poll came out before the beginning of the NCAA Championship. The Seminoles' national ranking of No. 6 is the highest final ranking since head coach Trey Jones' arrival for the 2004 season. The Seminoles were ranked nationally each year from 2007-09 including 11th in the final GolfStat rankings in 2008.
ALL AMERICANS
Eight players, including current senior Brooks Kopeka, have earned All-American or Regional All-American honors under Jones at Florida State. Jonas Blixt, one of the most decorated Seminoles in school history, earned Ping/Division I First and Second Team honors during his career in leading the Seminoles to the first ACC golf championship in school history. Jones coached the first three Regional All-Americans at Georgia State including Ty Harris in 2003 who was the first player in school history to earn All-American honors.
ALL CONFERENCE SELECTIONS
Jones has coached 10 All-ACC selections, the 2008 and 2010 ACC Player of the Year, the 2009 ACC Rookie of the Year and five players who have earned All-ACC honors multiple times during their careers since his arrival at Florida State. Current senior Brooks Koepka is one of seven players in conference history to be awarded ACC Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year honors in his career. Prior to Jones's arrival at Florida State in 2004 a total of five players had earned All-ACC honors in men's golf since the Seminoles joined the ACC for the 1992 golf season. Jones coached eight all-conference selections, the 2001 conference Player of the Year, the 2001 Rookie and the only four time all-conference selection (Jack Croyle, 1999-2002) during his career at Georgia State.
CHAMPIONSHIP SUCCESS
Jones has led Florida State to six NCAA Regional appearances (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) and to the NCAA Championship finals in 2007 and 201. He has led the Seminoles to seven team championships in his first eight years in Tallahassee and Florida State's first ACC Championship in the sport of golf in 2008 and was named the ACC Coach of the Year in 2008. Jones led Georgia State to four NCAA Regional Championship appearances (1999, 2000. 2001 and 2003) and to the NCAA Championship finals in 2000. He led the Panthers to eight tournament titles and to the first three Atlantic Sun conference titles in school history. Jones was named the Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year three times (1998, 2000, 2001) and is the only Atlantic Sun coach to earn the award three or more times.
ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Committed to the academic and athletic success of his student-athletes, Jones has coached 27 members of the ACC Academic Honor Roll, six members of the ACC Academic Golf Team and two members of the Golf Coaches' Association of America All-American Scholar team. His team was also nationally recognized in 2010 as one of the few schools in the NCAA that has achieved a perfect APR score of 1000 since the inception of the Academic Progress Rate program in 2003. During his tenure at Georgia State, he coached 10 members of the Atlantic Sun All-Academic team and 20 members of the TAAC All-Academic team.
JONES NATIONALLY
Jones has been an active member of the Collegiate Golf Coaches Association since 1993. He is currently a member of the All-American selection committee. Jones served the board as the Division I Director for the East Region and served as the chair of the District 3 South Regional NCAA Selection Committee. He was also a representative in the District 3 South NCAA Selection Committee from 1999-2002.
GEORGIA STATE
Trey Jones was named the head coach at Georgia State in 1995 and immediately began to assemble one of the dominant men's golf programs in the southeastern United States. He led the Panthers onto the national scene for the first time in school history including its first appearance in the NCAA Championship tournament (2003), its first conference championship (1998, Trans America Athletic Conference) and to its highest ever national ranking (20th during the 2000 season). Jones was responsible for the program in its entirety including recruiting, coaching, fundraising, public relations, strength and conditioning, scheduling all budgetary matters. Under Jones' leadership, Georgia State amassed 91 wins over SEC teams and 33 wins over ACC opponents from 1997-2003. During that period, the Panthers earned 23 victories over top 25 opponents.
PERSONAL
Jones is married to the former Cathy McVeigh, who is the coordinator of financial aid for student-athletes at Florida State. The couple is the proud parents of a daughter, Jordan (10) and a son, Lawrence Andrew (6). Jones earned his bachelor's degree in health and physical education with a minor in business administration from North Alabama in 1991. Jones is a 21-year veteran of the collegiate coaching ranks. He was the head men's coach and Director of Golf Operations at Georgia State for eight years (1996-2003) before becoming only the fifth coach in the history of the Seminole program in 2004. Prior to his career at Georgia State, Jones was an assistant coach at Wallace State Junior College (1992-95) and his alma mater North Alabama (1991). Jones developed his teaching, coaching and recruiting philosophies as he helped mold those programs into national contenders.
