Andrew Sapp’s career has come full circle.
Nearly three decades ago, he met his wife, Laura, at Purdue, where he spent five years as an assistant. They married, then bought their first house in West Lafayette, Indiana, about 25 years ago. After head-coaching stints at Michigan, North Carolina and East Carolina, plus an assistant role at Ball State, Sapp returned to Purdue in 2022, again as an assistant.
“So, we bought both our first and sixth homes here,” Sapp said. “Seemed like a good fit.”
It continues to be.
Sapp is now in his first year as the Boilermakers head coach following the departure of Rob Bradley, Sapp’s former college teammate at North Carolina, to South Carolina. Purdue kicked off the Sapp era with a win at the Island Resort Intercollegiate last September, but it was Wednesday when the Boilermakers scored Sapp his first landmark victory, a six-shot triumph over No. 1 Ole Miss at the Puerto Rico Classic.
With a good chunk of the field battling the flu and other illnesses, Purdue luckily remained upright to shoot 39 under and sweep the top two positions on the individual leaderboard. Sophomore Sam Easterbrook picked up his first career title, capping a 15-under performance with a 7-under 65 to hold off teammate Kent Hsiao by a shot.
South Carolina, LSU and Oklahoma rounded out the top five teams followed by Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee – all teams who could factor this postseason.
“They had a lot to prove,” Sapp said. “We had some good things in the fall but some stumbles as well. With everybody healthy, they were able to get the job done.”
The win was vindication for Sapp personally, too. With his contract not renewed after leading North Carolina to an NCAA Championship berth in 2017, he settled at East Carolina, where he spent four seasons before resigning to move his family to Muncie, Indiana, to be closer to his wife’s family following the tragic death of his wife’s sister. It was there that he taught some private lessons while also helping Ball State’s program. Then Bradley came calling.
Sapp had either recruited or coached – or both – every player on Purdue’s roster, so there was no transition period needed. The Boilermakers had an up and down fall, lowlighted by a 14th-place finish at the 16-team Windon Memorial (as the defending champions). But it’s worth noting that Hsiao, a senior, missed two events, including the Windon, to participate in the Asia-Pacific Amateur. Purdue rallied to finish second at Notre Dame’s event, also without Hsiao, to cap its fall and enter the break just outside the top 50 in the national ranking.
Over the winter, Sapp took his players on multiple warm-weather trips, including in Las Vegas and Naples, Florida. When they arrived in Puerto Rico last weekend, they were sharp, especially Easterbrook, who led Purdue with two top-10s among five top-25s in the fall.
The Tomworth, England, native recorded 20 birdies in 54 holes, most in the field by two. Seven of those came on the final day as he sped away from a contending pack that also included Ole Miss’ Cohen Trolio, LSU’s Arni Sveinsson and Tennessee’s Josh Hill.
“He pretty much had an A+ ball-striking week,” Sapp said of Easterbrook. “It was really windy, and he was doing a great job flighting shots down. Just in total control.”
Walking the last few holes with Easterbrook was Purdue assistant Cole Bradley, a former Purdue standout and the son of Rob Bradley, who was walking in the same group with his guy, South Carolina’s Brock Blais. When Easterbrook put the finishing touches on the sweep, the Bradleys embraced on the final green.
After a brief celebration, Sapp and the younger Bradley headed inside to input scores into Scoreboard’s website. Such are the duties of the host school, and Purdue’s SID was away with the men’s basketball team.
But soon after, Rob Bradley rolled into the scoring room, offering to take over so the Purdue coaches could further enjoy the win, take some photos and do a few interviews before rushing off to the airport.
As Rob Bradley told Sapp, this was an “elite win.”
That it was – and that fact is not lost on Sapp.
“All these coaches I’ve known for decades, and I’ve been coming to Puerto Rico for 30 years. It’s a hard one to win,” Sapp explained. “It feels great personally, but I really owe it to the guys. They worked so hard this winter and came in with a great attitude and great desire to win this thing. It was a lot of fun to see them do that.”
