The longest-tenured active head coach in the Canisius athletic department, Todd Hummel is entering his 20th season as the leader of the Golden Griffin golf program.
Since taking over the program prior to the start of the 2003-04 season, Hummel has built a strong tradition of keeping some of the best scholastic golfers in Western New York close to home to represent the Blue and Gold. Ten of the 11 Canisius golfers who have earned All-MAAC status have played for Hummel, including Ryan Edholm, who tied for fifth in the tournament field with a three-round score of 216.
In each of the last two MAAC Golf Championship tournaments (2022, 2023), members of Hummel’s team have placed fifth in the field, as former Griffs Shane Broad and Mike Donner each tied for fifth in 2022. Edholm’s three-round score of 216 at the 2023 edition of the league’s championship tournament stands as the lowest score for a Canisius golfer since the tournament moved to a 54-hole format in 2002.
Under Hummel's direction, Canisius has enjoyed plenty of success at the annual Little Three Championship, the long-standing fall tournament featuring the Golden Griffins and their local rivals from Niagara and St. Bonaventure. The Griffs won the 2015 event to secure the 12th Little Three Championship for Canisius since the event started in 1952. In 2014, Canisius secured its 11th Little Three team championship, as former Griff Hunter Sagar earned a berth into the Porter Cup after he won a four-hole sudden-death playoff against teammate Andrew Romano. That marked the first time in program history where two Canisius golfers needed a playoff to decide the tournament's individual winner.
Hummel helped lead Canisius to three-straight Little Three crowns from 2010-12. The 2012-13 season got off on the right foot as the Griffs, who served as the host team for the 2012 Little Three Championship, posted a two-round team score of 292 to extend their Little 3 title run. Former Canisius golfer Michael Carrig won the individual championship in 2012, highlighted by his opening-round score of 65. That 65 set the course record at Harvest Hill Golf Course in Orchard Park, N.Y., and matched the program record for a low score, set previously in 2007.
The Griffs won the 2011 Little Three Championship at Niagara Falls Country Club with a 36-hole team score of 619. The win over long-time rivals Niagara and St. Bonaventure gave the Griffs back-to-back Little Three crowns for the first time since the tournament began in 1952. Canisius ended a 14-year drought in the annual Western New York tournament by winning the 2010 team title, the Blue and Gold's first Little Three Championship since 1991.
Building off four-straight fifth-place finishes at the MAAC Golf Championships from 2010-13, Hummel's 2013 squad posted a fourth-place finish at the conference tournament, the best postseason placement for the program since 1997. At the 2012 MAAC Golf Championship in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Hummel's squad posted an opening-round score of 298, which matched the program's single-round low score at the conference's postseason event, previously shot in the second round of the 2007 MAAC Championship.
In the classroom, the golf program has been successful as well, as the program has been honored by the NCAA in its annual APR Public Recognition Awards program in nine of the last 10 years, the best streak of its type among the 20 programs that make up the Canisius athletic department.
Coming off what was considered the toughest schedule in school history, the 2010 edition of the Griffs finished fifth at the MAAC's championship event after the Blue and Gold fired a team-score of 300 on the final day. After the season saw the team play in events against national tournament qualifiers such as Missouri, Kentucky and Indiana, Carrig earned a spot in the 2010 Porter Cup event, the third Canisius golfer in a four-year period to qualify for one of the most recognizable amateur events. The golf program is also working toward success in the classroom as well, as every eligible student-athlete on the 2009-10 roster made the MAAC's All-Academic Team.
Hummel led Canisius to a fifth-place finish at the 2009 MAAC Championship Tournament on the power of a final-round team-score of 307, which was the second-lowest stroke total for any school on the event's final day. Then-junior Drew Creighton shot a final-round 76 and closed out regulation play tied with Loyola's Michael Mulieri. Creighton fell to Mulieri in a playoff, making him the first Canisius golfer in school history to play in the MAAC Championship playoff round. The team's fifth-place finish is the best for the program since 2003.
The Griffs placed second in three different events during the 2008-09 season, including the 2008 Little 3 Championships at Briarwood Country Club in Hamburg, N.Y. Hummel's teams have been honored for their work in the classroom as well, with Creighton being named a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar and three student-athletes earning MAAC All-Academic Team accolades.
The highlight of the 2007-08 season came Oct. 8-9 at the Robert Morris Invitational when the Blue and Gold tied for second as a team. In that event, Creighton fired a seven-under par 65 in the first round en route to the individual title. That score is the best in school history and tied the RMU Invitational single-round low score.
At the 2006 MAAC Championships, the Griffs finished in sixth place, which was the team's best showing since 2003. At the 2005 Little Three Golf Tournament, Jeff Bagley tied for first place, giving the Griffs the medalist for the second straight year. Bagley was also named to the 2006 ESPN The Magazine CoSIDA Academic Men's At-Large All-District I Second Team for his achievements on the course and in the classroom.
In 2005, the team recorded a three-round total of 942 at the MAAC Championships, the lowest at that tournament in school history. On that team was former Griff Rob Krajewski, who won the 2004 Cleveland State Invitational and 2004 Little Three and tied for third at the Lafayette College Tournament in 2002-03.
Hummel was a member of the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) from 1993-95. He served as the assistant golf pro at Brookfield Country Club from 1993-95 and was a golf instructor at Deerwood Country Club from 1989-93. He was the manager of Dundas Golf Inc. from 1995-97 and an assistant manager at Golf Day from 1999-2000.
Hummel graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sport management from Slippery Rock University in 1993 and a master’s degree in sport administration from Canisius in 2005. He also works in the Golden Griffin athletic department as the ticket office manager.
Todd and his wife, Cathy, reside in North Tonawanda. The couple’s son, Jaxon, is currently a member of the golf team at Hofstra, and their daughter, Jordan, plays volleyball at Davidson.
