Men's Golf
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- kayden_kb@mercer.edu
- Phone:
- (478) 301-5349
Kirk Kayden is in his seventh season at the helm of the Mercer men's golf program. He was hired in July 2014 after a stint as the head coach at Austin Peay.
During his time at Mercer, Kayden has coached six All-SoCon players, four that have made the SoCon All-Freshman team, and five GCAA Academic All-Americans. Kayden’s teams have consistently preformed at a high level in the classroom and on the golf course. Many of his players have gone on to play professional golf, including Trey Rule (PGA Tour Canada), Stanton Schorr (PGA Tour Canada), and Brennan Bogdanovich (Dakotas Tour). His teams have consistently performed in the classroom over the six-year tenure with team GPA’s above 3.4.
In his 10 years in Clarksville, Kayden led the Austin Peay Governors to a pair of Ohio Valley Conference Championships, coached 23 All-Conference student-athletes and two OVC Players of the Year. In addition to the team's NCAA Regional appearances in 2009 and 2013, Kayden also coached a trio of Govs to NCAA Regional appearances as individuals. He was also named the 2013 OVC Coach of the year.
Prior to his post at Austin Peay, Kayden spent four seasons as an assistant at Penn State where he helped lead the Nittany Lions to three consecutive NCAA Regional Appearances and one NCAA National Championship Appearance in 2004.Â
The Fremont, Ohio, native played his collegiate golf at the University of Toledo, where he was a three-year letter winner before graduating with bachelor's degree in sport management in 1997. Kayden and his wife, Melissa, have one child, Maddie (11), and 2 dogs, Penny and Cali. They live in North Macon.
