Neil Barnhill serves as the Director of Golf at Montverde Academy, coaching both the boys and girls golf teams. He has been part of the MVA community since 2017.
In 2024, Coach Barnhill led the girls golf team to its first-ever FHSAA State Championship in program history. His outstanding leadership was further recognized when he was named the Florida Dairy Farmers Coach of the Year in 2024.
A native of Cairo, Georgia, Barnhill was a top-five high school player in the state before earning a scholarship to Georgia Southern University, where he was a four-year letterwinner and graduated in 1994 with a degree in Sports Management. After college, he played professional golf from 2000 to 2009, becoming one of the top five ranked players on the North Florida PGA section and qualifying for the CPC in 2005, placing him among the top 300 players out of 28,000 PGA members.
Barnhill is involved in the PGA of America, PGA Junior League, and PGA HOPE programs. He credits Mike Malone and David Neubacher as professional mentors who have influenced his career.
Outside of coaching, he enjoys CrossFit, where he is currently ranked in the top 20 percent in his age group, and spending time at the beach. Barnhill resides in Minneola with his wife, Gina, who is from Mayfield, Kentucky. They have two sons: Quinton, a 2023 graduate of MVA who played seven years on the varsity golf team, and Jesse, currently a senior at MVA who plays basketball in the Center for Basketball Development (CBD) and competes on the junior varsity boys golf team.
