@NMSU
Aggie Coach earns spot in PGA Tournament
New Mexico State University men's golf coach Scott Lieberwirth is gearing up to compete in the 2009 Callaway Golf PGA Assistant Championship at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., Oct. 1-4.
The 120-man field will consist of the assistant champion from each of the 41 PGA Sections, section qualifiers and defending champion Kyle Voska.
Lieberwirth, who's had a successful coaching and playing career at NMSU, still competes as a professional during the offseason and summer months. While he enjoys competing very much, his first priority is coaching.
"First thing first, I'm still a coach," said Lieberwirth, who won his fourth Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year award after the 2008-09 season.
The 2009-10 men's golf season began Aug. 30, and through three tourneys the Aggies have registered 13th, fourth and ninth place finishes. The team will next compete in the Wolf Pack Invitational in Reno, Nev. Oct. 5-6, immediately after the conclusion of the PGA Assistant Championship. Lieberwirth said he has his hands full with the team and getting them ready for Reno. He is more concerned with his team's play than the PGA tournament.
"Honestly, I haven't given it that much thought at this point," he said of his pending competition. "I am very excited to have the opportunity to go and represent our state."
Though Lieberwirth said his players are definitely excited about his upcoming tournament, he hasn't stressed the tournament to his players very much because he is more concerned with the team than a personal game, although he sees how this could help out in the future.
"Credibility to what I say to the team" is one of the benefits of competing in the PGA event, he said. "Conveying my message that I was not just a college golfer at one time, but [that I am] also still playing this game competitively at a reasonably high level," helps build a bond with his players and credibility with recruits, he said. "Recruitment is one area that could be helped by the championship."
Lieberwirth noted that playing professional golf on the side keeps him sharp, makes him a more effective coach and helps him relate to what his players go through during, before and after competition.
Lieberwirth, a 2000 NMSU graduate, went on to play four years of professional golf on both the Tight Lies (now Adams Golf Pro Tour Series) and the NGA Hooters Pro Golf tours. While at NMSU, he was named to the All Big West Academic team as a sophomore, junior and senior.
Written by Sylvia Quintanilla.