Meadows looks to adopt a winning culture for the Lehigh men’s golf team

Dustin Meadows’ first day of practice as the Lehigh men’s head golf coach didn’t go exactly as planned.

The leader, who stresses punctuality, found himself running late to the first team lift. Instead of excusing himself and telling the team he got lost trying to navigate to the weight room for the first time, he owned up to his mistake and started doing push-ups in front of his new team.

This caught the attention of sophomore Drew Golden.

“He proved he wouldn’t make the team do anything that he wouldn’t,” Golden said.

Meadows said turning his rocky start into a learning moment was the first action that reinforced his plan to raise the team standard and earn the respect of his players.

Meadows took over as Lehigh men’s golf head coach in August, joining the Mountain Hawks after three seasons at Piedmont University in Georgia. At Piedmont, he led the Lions to three consecutive conference championships. In 2025, he was named the Collegiate Conference of the South’s Head Coach.

Now, Meadows looks to adopt a winning culture at a new school by emphasizing trust and accountability to his players.

After meeting with director of golf John Manos, Meadows knew Lehigh would be a good fit as his coaching philosophy aligns with Manos’ vision for the program.

Meadows said one of his core values is that a good coach doesn’t stay on top of their players too much. In his few months with the team, he said he believes in his players to figure out certain things on their own.

“A great coach knows when to get out of the way,” Meadows said.

Showing a strong belief in his team’s ability and knowledge of the game has led to trust from leaders on the roster. Senior Matthew Quinn backed up his new coach’s teaching methods.

“In the few interactions we’ve had, it really seems like he believes in us,” Quinn said. “(Meadows) believes that our team can do excellent things.”

Quinn explained Meadows’ attitude has rubbed off on the team and has given them more confidence to compete and win at a high level.

Meadows said he wants to shoot for success beyond a Patriot League Championship, aiming to qualify for national championships.

“He already added regionals to our schedule,” Golden said.

Golden also said that Meadows’ energy and confidence in the team has helped bring them closer together.

Quinn said he thinks the changes will help the team reach levels they haven’t reached in the past.

“He pushes us to do things we haven’t done before,” Quinn said. “To go the extra mile and find out how good we can be.”

Another one of Meadows’ goals for the Mountain Hawks is to become the benchmark of success in the Patriot League. He said he plans to prepare the team for long-term success that makes them the team to beat every year.

“I want it to feel like we’ve planted a flag in the Patriot League that says we are the standard,” Meadows said.

In the long run, Meadows said he hopes the team continues to achieve at a high level academically as well.The academic excellence at Lehigh was a big factor in Meadows’ decision to take the position as head coach. He said developing young men on the team for life outside of college is high on his list of priorities.

“There’s an energy on campus about Lehigh athletically and academically that feels like it’s about to go to another level,” Meadows said. “I want to be part of that.”