Chris Saltmarsh

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Florida Tech athletic director Bill Jurgens rounded out his coaching staff for the 2010-11 season with Chris Saltmarsh joining the Panthers as the school’s first full-time head men's and women's golf coach.

“Chris has worked very hard at the collegiate level to put himself in a position to be a head coach at a strong Division II program,” said Jurgens. “His experience coaching both men and women will be an asset for our teams as we continue to develop the golf program at Florida Tech.”

Saltmarsh comes to Melbourne after spending the last four seasons at the helm of the Northwood University men’s and women’s programs. During his tenure, he guided the Seahawk men’s team to a National Championship berth in 2009, finishing 21st overall after claiming The Sun Conference Championship (NAIA) earlier that spring. That year, Saltmarsh was named TSC Coach of the Year, fielded the league’s individual champion, and coached two all-conference and one third team All-America player. The program ranked as high as 20th in the Golfstat standings under his leadership and broke the program’s team scoring record (300.75) just last year.

With an NAIA rating as high as fourth, Saltmarsh’s women’s team earned two straight National Championship at-large invitations for Northwood, finishing 16th in 2009 and 10th in the NAIA tournament last spring. His squad also broke the school’s scoring average in 2010 (324.14).

Saltmarsh is accustomed to placing his teams among some of the toughest competition in the nation, which is precisely what the Panthers will face against fellow Sunshine State Conference and other top Division II programs.

“I’m very excited for the opportunity to coach here at Florida Tech,” said Saltmarsh. “This is certainly one of the toughest conferences in the country so we have our work cut out for us. The men’s and women’s programs are moving in the right direction and my goal as the first full-time head coach for both is to elevate the level of play of our student-athletes each year to be able to compete for championships.”

Prior to his stint at Northwood, Saltmarsh spent one season as the head coach of the Tiffin University women’s golf team, guiding the program from NAIA to Division II status. He also served as a graduate assistant coach for the men’s and women’s teams at Walsh University where he helped lead the men to an 86-25-2 overall record in the two year span and assisted in guiding the women to a second place finish at both the conference and regional tournaments in 2006.

Saltmarsh earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Walsh University in business management where he was also a four-year letterman for the Cavaliers. The NAIA All-American put together a 74.3 career stroke average and was an all-conference member all four years, finishing as the league’s Player of the Year in 2002. Saltmarsh still plays golf as an amateur and is a two-time Eastern Ohio Amateur Champion, winning as recently as 2009.