After the Aisle: Playing for Keeps

They were Furman students at the same time, and both were athletes.   Two decades later, Natalie The ’03 and Matt Davidson ’04are not only still together, they both work at Furman – Davidson as head coach of the men’s golf team and The as professor and chair of health sciences.

“We hit it off right from the start,” says Davidson. “We are a very good match.”

A native of Florida, The was recruited to play collegiate tennis at Furman, while Davidson, who grew up in New Jersey, came to play golf.

They knew of one another because, as athletes, they traveled in the same circles, Davidson says.

“But the first time I spoke to him was at a Furman Paladin Club event,” The says. “I was asked to give a talk … and he came up to me and we talked briefly.”

It wasn’t until the spring of 2003, however, that they really connected after going out with each other’s roommates, she recalls.

“I asked his roommate to a sorority function as my date, and my roommate asked (Davidson) to the same function as her date,” she says.

A month later, Davidson asked The to a fraternity function, and they’ve been together ever since.

“We did have a connection right off the bat,” she says. “One of the things that struck us both is the ease of conversation – and real conversation,  immediately. Not small talk.”

“From the first day, our conversation went really well,” adds Davidson. “Our personalities just matched really well.”

A health and exercise science major, The graduated in 2003 before earning her master’s degree in public health and epidemiology from Emory University and her Ph.D. in nutrition epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

She was deciding between a career in public health or teaching when she applied to Furman and got the job in the health sciences department.

Davidson, who redshirted for a year, played golf professionally from 2005 until 2017, spending a year on the PGA Tour and most of his career on the Korn Ferry Tour. He was then named assistant men’s golf coach, before becoming head coach when his predecessor left.

“The timing couldn’t have been better,” he says. “I’m now in my sixth season at Furman.”

On New Year’s Eve 2009, The recalls, Davidson planned a nice dinner, got down on one knee and proposed. They married the following year.

“I kind of suspected it,” she says. “We always had conversations about the future, and in those conversations, we were both a part of it.”

They now have two young sons who are also active in sports.

But despite working at the same university, they rarely see each other because he’s on the golf course and she’s in the classroom.

“Every once in a while, we have lunch together, but it’s far less common than one would imagine,” The says. “We’re both so busy.”

“When I started working here, we tried to get together for lunch once a month or so,” Davidson says. “But we’re at opposite ends of the campus.”

On weekends, they spend time as a family, attending Furman sporting events, hiking, bicycling on the Swamp Rabbit Trail or going to a park.

Davidson says they got lucky when they found each other.

“Life is great,” he says. “We wouldn’t trade a thing.”