Tommy Snell 

Tommy Snell built a golf dynasty at Gulf Coast which reached the pinnacle with the first team NJCAA Golf Championship in school history. His Bulldog teams finished in the top five at the NJCAA Tournament seven times between 2012 and 2019, with three more top-10 finishes. His teams won 11 of the his final 12 NJCAA Region 23/District D titles, and more than 40 of his golfers went on to play at four-year schools.

Gulf Coast’s Colin Troxler won the NJCAA individual championship in 2017, and the Bulldogs won the team title the next year.

Snell started at Perkinston in 2000, and he was inducted into the NJCAA Men’s Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2015. His teams won seven MACJC championships and were runners-up seven times, and he was the MAC Community College Coach of the Year in 2016.

Gulf Coast sent golfers to the national tournament every year starting in 2002, and Snell was named PING Coach of the Year in 2008 and the Dave Williams Coach of the Year for NJCAA Division II in 2018.

Prior to Gulf Coast, Snell was the golf coach at St. John High School, where his teams won five straight Class 2A state championships. He was a three-time MHSAA Coach of the Year.

Snell is active as a United States Golf Association rules official and committeeman. He is a frequent rules official at NCAA championships and is on the NCAA Division I national championship committee. 

Snell was on the Golf Coaches Association of America national championship advisory board, and was a weekly columnist for the Sun Herald. He was a U.S Open qualifying medalist in 1980 and winner of several amateur and professional tournaments.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from The University of Southern Miss, graduating with highest honors. He also has a master’s from William Carey.

Snell, who retired as head coach following the 2021 season, has been married to his wife, Charlotte, for nearly 40 years. He has four children and eight grandkids.