Matthew Watkins began as a volunteer for Academy of Art men's golf in February 2023.
Watkins' debut season with the program's helm saw the Urban Knights continue to gain valuable experience as they worked toward a finish in the middle of the pack at the Pacific West Conference Championship Tournament by the year's end. There,
Anson Pan delivered a top-10 result to make the
PacWest All-Tournament Team while Giulio
Zanichelli, who eventually went on to be named
All-PacWest Second Team, turned in his fifth top-20 performance to wrap up the 2022-23 campaign.
Over the course of his five seasons competing for ART U, Watkins earned All-PacWest First Team once (
2021), Second Team twice (
2019,
2022), and Third Team once (
2018) while adding Pacific West Conference All-Tournament Team honors in
2018,
2021, and
2022. In addition to his two tournament victories, he finished holding program career records in both lowest career average score (74.83) and top 10 finishes (11). Watkins was a five-time Academic All-PacWest selection, two-time Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar, and was twice the PacWest Golfer of the Week in his career.
Watkins was named First-Team All-Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) his sophomore through senior seasons and was on the Second Team his freshman year at Novato High School. He was also the MCAL individual champion in his final season and played in the Bay Cities League and for the Marin Country Club for five years. Watkins finished second overall while his team was named the 2015 North Division Champions.
After his graduation from the School of Communications & Media Technologies in 2021, Watkins has served as a social media marketing intern for Whoosh, Inc.
