A coaching veteran for more than a decade in the high school and collegiate ranks, Joey Ashley recently completed his fourth season as assistant coach for the UTSA men's golf program.
During his time in San Antonio, the Roadrunners have registered 29 top-10 finishes and combined to earn four all-conference selections.
Off the course, UTSA has been recognized as a Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) All-Academic Team in each of this first three seasons. Individually, Roadrunners have combined to collect eight GCAA All-America Scholar awards, three College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team selections and seven conference all-academic team certificates
In his first year with the Roadrunners, he helped guide the program to an appearance in the Conference USA Championship Match. UTSA dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to Charlotte to finish as the league's runner-up, one of four top-five showings for the Roadrunners in 2021-22. They captured the Lone Star Invitational crown, finished second at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate and tied for fourth at the Bentwater Intercollegiate.
Individually, Michael Rome earned third-team all-conference accolades, while Rome and Hunter Bott were named to the C-USA All-Tournament Team for placing in the top-five at the championship.
UTSA was recognized as a GCAA All-Academic Team, while Bott, Christian Fanfelle and David Harrison were named All-America Scholars.
In 2022-23, UTSA logged eight top-10 team finishes, including sixth at The Clerico. The Roadrunners posted a 7-under-par 857 to finish seventh at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate and ended up 5-under par (859) at the Trinity Forest Invitational for seventh place.
Individually, Bott and Fanfelle were named to the All-Conference USA Third Team, while Brayden Bare landed on the C-USA All-Freshman Team. Bott, Fanfelle and Harrison all were named GCAA All-America Scholars, while the Roadrunners were named a GCAA All-Academic Team. Additionally, Fanfelle earned a spot on the C-USA All-Academic Team and Harrison was tabbed CSC Academic All-District and a 2023 C-USA Spring Spirit of Service Award recipient.
In his third season with the program, UTSA logged seven top-10 team finishes, while Bott capped a record-breaking season with an NCAA postseason appearance. The Roadrunners placed in the top five four times, including a third-place showing at the Bentwater Invitational and a tie for fourth at the rain-shortened Dorado Beach Collegiate in Puerto Rice with a 24-under 552 (278-274).
Bott earned All-American Athletic Conference accolades and a spot in the NCAA Austin Regional in a senior season that saw him break the program's single-season scoring average record with a 71.94 mark. He tied for 37th at the Austin Regional after carding a 4-over-par 217 and his 67 in the second round and 54-hole total both established school records for an NCAA event.
UTSA was chosen as a GCAA All-Academic Team, while Bott and Harrison landed on the CSC Academic All-District Team and were honored as GCAA All-America Scholars. Those two joined four other Roadrunners on The American’s All-Academic Team.
In his third season, Ashley helped guide UTSA to four top-10 finishes highlighted by back-to-back fifth-place performances at the Vaqueros Intercollegiate and Desert Intercollegiate, the latter of which saw the Roadrunners register a 10-under 854 (281-286-287). UTSA capped the campaign by carding the program’s best 54-hole total versus par in a conference tournament with a 13-under 851 (288-280-283), which led to a share of sixth-place at the American Athletic Conference Championship.
Ashley came to the Roadrunners from Texas State, where he was an assistant coach for four seasons. During his time on the staff, he assisted in coaching two all-conference players, the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Newcomer and Freshman of the Year and six All-America scholars.
While in San Marcos, he helped Texas State break numerous school records including five of the top eight player career scoring averages, four of the top six team season scoring marks, 10 of the top 13 player season scoring averages, three of the top four low team rounds and six of the top 10 low tournament totals in program history.
Texas State set a single-season record for the lowest scoring average in 2018-19. The Bobcats also registered the lowest team scores for a single round at the 2019 Big Texan Tournament and two lowest 54-hole totals at the 2019 Big Texan and Lake Charles Invitational. The Bobcats also have turned in the top four individual averages in a single season and two best career averages since his arrival.
Prior to his tenure at Texas State, Ashley was a high school coach for 13 years in the state of Texas. He served as the head coach for four seasons at both San Antonio MacArthur High School and Hendrickson High School in Pflugerville and. He also was an assistant coach for five years at San Antonio Reagan High School.
As a high school coach, Ashley led his teams to 12 district championships and 12 UIL State Tournament appearances in both the Class 5A and 6A ranks. In 2010, he was named the San Antonio Express-News Golf Coach of the Year after leading MacArthur to the District 26-5A crown and a runner-up finish in the Region IV-5A Tournament.
Ashley also produced two individual runner-up finishes at the UIL State Championships and coached 30 players who went on to compete at the collegiate level. He also staffed and directed the Texas Junior Golf Tour for 11 years in the Austin/San Antonio area.
Ashley earned a master’s degree in education administration and a bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies at Concordia University in Austin.
A native of Port Aransas, Texas, he was a two-sport athlete for the Tornados, competing for four years on the golf team and three seasons with the basketball squad.
Ashley is married to U.S. Olympian and softball star Cat Osterman.