Georgia Tech head coach Bruce Heppler announced on Friday that he will retire at the end of this season.
Heppler has led the Yellow Jackets for the past 31 years, during which Georgia Tech has won 71 times, including six NCAA regional titles. He’s coached two NCAA individual champions in Troy Matteson (2002) and Hiroshi Tait (2024), and three U.S. Amateur winners in Matt Kuchar (1998), Andy Ogletree (2019) and Ty Strafaci (2020). Only one other coach in NCAA history has had more than two U.S. Amateur champions (Buster Bishop, Florida).
Georgia Tech hasn’t missed an NCAA regional since 1997, Heppler’s second season with the Yellow Jackets.
“Georgia Tech is a special place, and to be a part of this school, this athletics department and this historic golf program has been an honor,” Heppler said. “It’s meaningful to me that my career as a head coach, and all of the relationships that come with that, are tied to one place – Georgia Tech. To the men that have come through our program: I’ve had the privilege of having a front-row seat to when many of your dreams came true, and to see the growth in each one of you. I hope that maybe we’ve altered your course in some small way – not just as golfers, but as people, husbands and fathers.
“I’d also like to acknowledge the generosity of those who have donated to our program over the years. Nothing could have been achieved without those resources that you provided. (Former athletics director) Homer Rice told me when he hired me that I won’t find a place that people love more than here at Georgia Tech, and that has proven to be true. The trophies will stay here, but the relationships will travel. The goal when I arrived on The Flats in 1995 was to leave things better than I found them, and I hope that is the case.”
Heppler, a St. George, Utah, native, began his coaching career at Amherst College, where he coached both the men’s and women’s teams for one season, in 1987. He then became the assistant for Dwaine Knight at UNLV (1991-95), where he also served as a men’s basketball manager for head coach Jerry Tarkanian. From UNLV, Heppler went to Oklahoma State (1991-95), where he was the assistant under Mike Holder. Heppler was a part of the Cowboys’ 1995 NCAA title team that beat Tiger Woods and Stanford despite one of their players leaving before the team playoff.
At Georgia Tech, Heppler has had an NCAA Championship elude him, though the Yellow Jackets reached the match-play final at Grayhawk in 2023 before falling to Florida.
Inducted into the GCAA Hall of Fame in 2013, Heppler also has served as treasurer for the association since 2007.