One month ago, former Eastern golf coach Jay Albaugh was on vacation in Las Vegas and received a phone call that changed his life and eventually lead him to the College of William & Mary.

“I was in Vegas and heard about the position from family and friends while I was out there,” Albaugh said.

After a month-long process that involved one interview trip to Virginia, Albaugh was officially named as director of golf at the College of William & Mary. Albaugh signed a one-year deal to lead both the men’s and women’s golf programs.

“I hope to be here for a while, but that depends obviously on the success you’ve had,” Albaugh said.

Albaugh will now be less than four hours away from his home town of Westminster, Md., and says being closer to home was a major factor in his decision.

“Growing up on the east coast will make this process easier because I will be near family and friends,” Albaugh said. “Five years ago, when I took the job at Eastern, I knew nobody around here.”

Albaugh mentioned other several components in his move to William & Mary including an upgrade in facilities, weather and pledge to its golf program.

“I believe that William & Mary have in my opinion, the No. 1 golf facilities in the country,” Albaugh said. “Quite frankly, there’s more of a financial commitment to golf here.”

The tradition is what excites Albaugh in regard to controlling a historical part of the athletics program.

“This institution is cradled with the history of the foundation of this country,” Albaugh said.

Classes haven’t started at William & Mary until next week but Albaugh will be scheduling a team meeting for later this week.

“Some of them have been here and introduced themselves to me in the office,” Albaugh said.

The academic standards at William & Mary is a large increase from Eastern and Albaugh sees it as a recruiting challenge.

“This is known as a public Ivy League institution so the standards are very high,” Albaugh said. “However, with golfers you tend to get very solid students along with good players.”

Albaugh will be asked to be highly competitive in the Colonial Athletic Association which he finds to be an interesting challenge.

“I honestly think that with the weather being better here and all over the league, the CAA is a step up from the Ohio Valley,” Albaugh said.

The toughest act for Albaugh was telling his players his decision to leave Eastern, especially the upcoming recruits.

“No coach ever wants to be in that situation because I had good young men and ladies at Eastern,” Albaugh said. “It really hurt telling the incoming freshman because these are kids that not only committed to Eastern but committed to me as well.”

Albaugh hinted he will miss the bond he’s held with his veteran players.

“Players like Amanda (Minchin) are people I’ve held a close relationship with,” Albaugh said. “Even though, I don’t want to step on the toes of the new coach, I wouldn’t turn away from my old players.”