Colby Huffman, Indiana’s 2012 PGA Teacher of the Year, has been serving on the coaching staff of IUPUI's golf program since 2009. Huffman has been recognized by Golf Digest in their selection of "Best Teachers State by State,” (2013-current), making him the only NCAA coach on the list in the state of Indiana. Further, he is a sport psychology and golf best-selling author per Amazon.com. Of his three books, one (Train for Golf Like an Olympian) has reached No. 1 on Amazon's Best Sellers in Sport Psychology and Golf e-Book Lists.
His contributions with IUPUI golf have translated into record setting performances for the Jaguars. The teams have shot some of the lowest NCAA scores in the country. In 2011-12, he directed the training and instruction for the IUPUI Jaguars that shot the lowest single day tournament round of the year out of all NCAA Division I golf teams, shooting 265 (-19) at Primm Valley Golf Club in Nevada. Also, in 2012, IUPUI won the most regular season tournaments (7) out of all NCAA Division I teams. Plus, few schools in the country matched IUPUI’s presence at NCAA Regionals from ’11-’15 where either the team or a different individual qualified in 4 straight years. Both teams have also received multiple Academic All-American accolades throughout Huffman’s tenure.
Huffman has written articles for numerous publications, including "Teaching Teachers," featured in PGA Magazine, and was also a featured coach on The Golf Channel's "School of Golf". Additionally, as a U.S. Patent holder for a golf training aid that he invented, he was also able to co-produce an instructional DVD with Hank Haney that sold worldwide at stores such as Dick's Sporting Goods ('09-'12).
Huffman served as a lead instructor for Hank Haney’s International Junior Golf Academy from 2007-09 while Hank was teaching Tiger Woods. Prior to that, he worked with Gary Gilchrist at the IJGA (as Director of Instructor Training) as well as the David Leadbetter Golf Academy. Throughout that time he trained over 20 instructors, including former PGA Tour Professionals, on how to teach/coach via weekly training sessions and evaluating/approving the year-long certification.
Additionally, Huffman worked with many top-ranked juniors and LPGA standouts who have been ranked in the top-15 in the LPGA Rolex World Ranking. He is the only coach in the world to have developed two Byron Nelson International Junior Golf Award recipients in the same year (2008). Both students were his full-time academy boarding students. He has developed 8 Junior All-Americans, who were also his full-time boarding students, while helping to cultivate dozens of college scholarship athletes, as well. Multiple students held Top 10 World Rankings via Golfweek and AJGA rankings including a junior player who also held the #1 world ranking. In total his students have won over 70 national and international championships under his guidance.
Huffman has likewise coached numerous Touring Professionals including Major Champions such as Shaun Micheel and I.K. Kim. Further, he coached the #1 ranked National Team in the world—coaching mental and technical skills to the South Korean Girls National Golf Team for 4 months per year, 5 days per week, 3-4 hours per day. During his time with the South Korean National team, South Korea never lost a match (’04-’06) averaging 5 international matches per year. The majority of players went on to be LPGA Tour players and numerous players set records in the game of golf—including S. H. Kim being the youngest girl to ever win a professional event (’06, prior to Lexi Thompson). Moreover, he has been authenticated with LPGA and PGA Instructor Credentials and coached players at both LPGA and PGA Major Championships.
In addition to working for David Leadbetter and Gary Gilchrist, Huffman has been trained by and worked for 2 National PGA Teachers of the Year and 2 National PGA Golf Professionals of the Year in Hank Haney, Peter Krause, Jack Barber, and Chip Essig, respectively. He was also coached in college by the only coach in history to earn a spot in both the men's and women's Hall of Fame (entering the Golf Coaches Association of America's Hall of Fame in 2009, and earning a spot in the Women's Golf Coaches Association record books in 2012) as well as the President of the Golf Coaches Association of America in Devon Brouse and Andrew Sapp, respectively. Moreover, Brouse and Haney have both been selected as NCAA Division 1 Coach of the Year.
Click here to see gallery of nationally televised video clips.
The video clips consist of Golf Channel footage, national commercials, and a nationally televised video clip from Hank Haney stating, “Colby is like ‘The Ultimate Coach.” – Hank Haney was the 1993 PGA Teacher of the Year, the 1998 NCAA Division 1 Golf Coach of the Year and was Tiger Woods’ coach during Tiger’s highest winning percentage of his career (’04-‘10).
Recently, Huffman has been selected out of over 200 golf professionals by Golf Channel Academy executives to be in the inaugural group of Golf Channel Academy Lead Coaches. The national criteria for selection included “consistent, high-quality results attained with students.” He has also been chosen to perform instructional content on the Golf Channel. His Golf Channel Academy is located at Hickory Stick G.C., a course owned by Don Essig and Chip Essig who are both PGA Hall of Fame Members.
Colby Huffman also serves as a Sport Performance Consultant for the 250 IUPUI student-athletes in their various sports. Huffman has been designated a Certified Consultant by the Applied Association of Sport Psychology, the international professional organization of sport and exercise psychology, and is currently listed as one of 10 AASP Certified Consultants in the state of Indiana. AASP is the largest sport and exercise psychology professional association in North America that offers certification to its members. AASP certification is a prerequisite to being placed on the USOC (United States Olympic Committee) Registry that allows sport psychology consultants to work with US Olympic athletes and teams. As Indiana's 2012 PGA Teacher of the Year his Certified Consultant status makes him the only PGA Teacher of the Year in the nation to have also earned CC-AASP credentials.
As a performance specialist, Huffman works with athletes to encourage peak performances at specific times throughout the year. Although there are many specific concepts within applied sport and exercise psychology (e.g., concentration, relaxation, imagery), Huffman's general goal is to optimize mental skills necessary to perform consistently in training and competition, increase focus, and to help individuals realize their potential. He also provides solutions for unwanted pressure, demotivation (academically and athletically), and/or goal-setting skills.
Further, he starred in FootJoy’s 2017 “Never Quit” TV commercials and internet marketing campaign, and was featured in Franciscan Health’s 2017 TV commercials aired regionally on CBS throughout the NCAA basketball tournament and other major sporting events such as the U.S. Open.
He has been a featured speaker at Indiana PGA Meetings with individuals such as Gary Gilchrist on the topic of expert coaching, and he has been a featured speaker at the PGA Show in Orlando, FL multiple times for grow the game incentives. He has been a featured speaker at the Indy Golf Expo on the topic of performance optimization, as well as the featured Celebrity Speaker at a dinner event for the Seymour Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, Huffman has been the keynote speaker at South American Golf Professionals’ Conferences and conducted clinics in South America multiple times.
Huffman is a PGA Class-A member, a Certified golf fitness instructor, a Certified club-fitter, a Certified Consultant-AASP, and is completing his PhD specializing in Sport Psychology. A four-time Academic All-Big Ten student-athlete at Purdue University, Huffman received the USAA All-American Collegiate Scholar Award in 1999. His undergraduate degree focused on kinesiology and biomechanics, before earning a Master’s degree from Purdue in 2001.
Following his time in college, Huffman spent time playing professionally on the PGA Tour de Las Americas, Golden Bear Tour, Hurricane Tour and the Maverick Tour, where he competed against many of today’s PGA Tour Members. After his stint of playing professionally he became the state scoring record holder for Indiana’s P.A.T.—the scoring criteria to be a PGA of America member.
A native of Indianapolis, Ind., Huffman lives on the north side of Indianapolis with his wife and two children.
