Hall of Fame
During his tenure as golf coach (2002-20) Carpenter elevated the UT Martin golf program to new heights, including helping the program to its first OVC title in 2016. He was named OVC Coach of the Year twice (2014, 2016) and guided individual Skyhawk players to OVC Championship medalist honors in three straight seasons (2015-17), becoming only the third OVC school to achieve that honor. He also had three consecutive OVC Freshman of the Year recipients (2013-15), the first team in OVC history to accomplish the feat.
Overall the Skyhawks won 24 tournaments during his tenure (24th all-time in NCAA Division I men’s history), including 22 over his final nine seasons. The team won four tournaments during his last season and the team was a potential favorite to win another OVC Championship before the year was cut short due to the pandemic. Through his final season (2019-20) there were 35 instances of a UTM player earning All-OVC, OVC All-Tournament or All-Newcomer honorees; 30 of which came while he was the head coach.
Off the course his team won seven OVC Team Sportsmanship Awards, including six straight from 2014-19. His squads also excelled in the classroom. Inducted into the UTM Hall of Fame in 2021, he recently had the practice grounds at the school’s practice facility named in his honor.
A graduate of UT Martin, Carpenter was associated with his alma mater for nearly 60 years, first as a student, then manager of the campus bookstore, then later head men's golf coach and now in retirement, volunteer assistant golf coach. He has also worked on the football chain gang and basketball table crew, in addition to officiating football and basketball games at both the high school and collegiate levels.