YEARS AS THE W HEAD COACH IN 2025-26: 8th men / 6th women
Benji Williams is the only head coach The W programs have known, starting the men's team in 2018 and the women's program in 2020.
2024-25 was another banner season for MUW, literally. Williams' men's squad repeated as the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) conference champions and NCAA III playoff team. The W finished 35th in NCAA III, with Zach Riley becoming th first player to make the cut and placing 32nd, individually. Matt Wilkinson was the SLIAC medalist, Player of the Year, and first-team all-conference member. Riley (1st team), Luke Yocum (1st team), and Spence Davis (2nd team) were also All-SLIAC honorees. Williams was once again voted the SLIAC Coach of the Year for men's golf. For the women, Ashley Estabrook was a two-time SLIAC Player of the Week and Sara Grace Ramey was tabbed on the SLIAC's All-Sportsmanship Team. A total of four Owl golfers - three men and one woman - were SLIAC All-Academic selections.
in 2023-24, Williams ushered in the NCAA Division III era for The W golf, as well as the University's first season as a member of the SLIAC. It proved to be a banner year for the program, as The W men won the SLIAC and, as a result, became the first MUW program to qualify for the NCAA Division III national championships. Four men - Wilkinson (1st team), Riley (1st team), Yocum (2nd team), and Cameron James (2nd team) - earned All-SLIAC status, with Riley also gaining PING/NCAA Division III All-Region accolades. Williams was voted the SLIAC Men's Golf Coach of the Year by his peers, as well. The MUW ladies were fifth in the SLIAC during its fall championships. In all, six Owls earned SLIAC Academic All-Conference honors, as well.
Williams' 2022-23 teams again produced at a high level. The W men were second at the USCAA championships and finished with two first-team All-Americans: Riley and Logan Pannell. Additionally, the Owls brought home the USCAA's Student-Athlete of the Year award for both the men (Pannell) and women (Ta'Dashia Flowers). MUW earned a total of four USCAA All-Academic Team recognitions. Flowers was picked to play in the PGA Works Collegiate Championship, which spotlights underserved ethnicities.
The 2021-22 Owls produced another outstanding season on both the men's and women's front. The W men tied for third in the USCAA championships. Senior Brady Scola was the USCAA Student-Athlete of the Year and teammates Timothy Turnage (first team) and Zach Riley (second team) had all-American finishes. Scola and Pannell were selected to the USCAA All-academic Team.
Freshman Olivia Derbyshire became the second-consecutive Owl to earn medalist honors at the USCAA women's invitational. Two players - Chesne Joyner and Ta'Daisha Flowers - were USCAA All-Academic Team honorees.
The 2020-21 season was a major success for both teams with both teams almost completing a clean sweep of USCAA post-season awards. Williams was named Coach of the Year, while women's golf player Joyner was named Women's Golf Student-Athlete of the Year. Senior Brandon Walker finished the USCAA 2021 National Golf Championship in first place, individually, to help lead the team to a second-place finish while Emma Coggins placed first as an individual in the women's competition.
Walker and Coleman Suber were named to the men's All-American First Team. Riley and Pannell received All-American Second Team recognition. Walker, Suber, Pannell, and Scola also received USCAA All-Academic Team honors.
During the 2019-20 season, the Owls men's golf team placed fifth in the USCAA National Championship. Coleman Suber was the top contender for the Owls, placing 14th overall and receiving 2019 USCAA All-American Second Team honors.
In its inaugural season in 2018-19, the Owls made their first appearance in the USCAA National Golf Championship and finished third. Junior golfer Brandon Walker tied for sixth place and received All-American First Team honors and freshman Scola finished eighth for All-American Second Team honors.
Prior to The W, Williams spent four seasons as the head men’s golf coach at East Mississippi Community College. In his debut season, Williams led the Lions to a second-place finish in the 2015 MACJC State Golf Championship, marking the fourth time in a five-year stint that EMCC had- earned state runner-up golf honors as a team.
Individual accolades for golfers under his direction include Joey Partin earning All-America second-team honors by finishing in a 14th-place tie in the spring of 2016 at the NJCAA Division II Championship and Steven Eilders and Hunter Harmon receiving MACJC second-team all-state honors in 2015.
A three-sport athlete at Sulligent (Ala.) High School, Williams attended Concordia College in Selma, Ala., on a baseball scholarship. While in college, he developed a passion for the game of golf and immediately began to pave his career path.
Upon graduation from Concordia College in 2011, with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, Williams married his high school sweetheart - the former Michelle Chandler - and the newlyweds moved to Port St. Lucie, Fla., to jointly attend the College of Golf at Keiser University. With an associate’s degree and a perfect 4.0 grade point average in professional golf management, Williams’ first job in the golf business was at The PGA Learning and Performance Center in Port St. Lucie.
During his final semester at Keiser University, where he was a member of the school’s golf team, Williams and his wife headed to Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., for an eight-week internship. Following graduation, the couple moved back to their hometown to open a pro shop at Oak Hill Country Club in Sulligent. Advancement continued for Williams in the golf business, as he soon became an assistant golf professional at the 36-hole Craft Farms Golf Resort in Gulf Shores, Ala.
Williams qualified on his first attempt to become certified as a PGA Apprentice Level 1 in the PGA Golf Management Program 2.0. In July 2012, he shot 75-72 (147) on the Ryder Course at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie to qualify.
Williams, who still competes on a professional level, gives golf lessons and runs instructional golf camps as the head professional at Elm Lake Golf Course. His wife also passed her LPGA playing ability test and works part-time at Lion Hills assisting with the pro shop and giving golf lessons.
The couple are the parents of a son, Bentley Chandler.
