Maryville Athletics hired former Tennessee head coach Jim Kelson to lead the Scots men's golf program starting in June 2024.
Kelson spent 20 seasons coaching the Volunteers from 1998 to 2018, leading the program to 17 NCAA Regional appearances and seven trips to the NCAA Championship Finals. He won 2007 SEC Coach of the Year honors after guiding UT to its most recent conference crown.
Overall, Kelson came to Maryville with 30 years of experience coaching Division I golf, including 27 years as head coach. He coached teams to 11 NCAA Division I Championship Finals and qualified his teams for the NCAA Regionals in 25 of his 27 years. Kelson-coached teams won 37 tournament titles, 32 medalist honors and 15 Academic All-America recognitions.
"We are just ecstatic to have someone like Coach Kelson join our athletics department," Maryville Director of Athletics Sara Quatrocky said. "From our very first interaction, he was ready to start coaching our students right away with pure excitement. His passion for mentoring young men and his drive to influence their lives fits well with our culture.
"I cannot wait for our program to be immersed in his knowledge and expertise, not only on the golf course but in life as well. Coach Kelson cares about the complete development of students, and our men's golf team is going to see a total change starting next week in their everyday lives."
Began Head Coaching Career at Augusta State
Before his Tennessee tenure, Kelson was head coach at Augusta State, which plays golf on the Division I level. He served there from 1992-97 after five years as a Florida assistant coach.
"Coach Kelson will hit the ground running to build strong relationships in the community and on the recruiting trail for Maryville," Quatrocky said. "We look forward to him finding the right students to represent the Orange and Garnet. I know he is already making connections with the current roster of Scots, and they are excited to get back to campus."
Since retiring from Tennessee in 2018, Kelson has run College Golf Consulting 101 and been instrumental in aligning college golfers with college programs and providing insights, guidance and mentoring to potential student-athletes. He has been involved in performing skills assessments to identify areas of improvement, providing college selection advice and creating player-specific recruitment strategies designed to attract attention from college coaches.
"I would first like to thank Sara Quatrocky and Dr. Coker for giving me this wonderful opportunity," Kelson said. "I am thrilled beyond belief and extremely excited to get started. I have been truly fortunate to travel and live in numerous nice cities throughout the world. To be able to coach again in this area is a dream come true for me.
"I wish to guide, mentor and mold young men. I also wish to achieve remarkable success on the course as well. Maryville College is the place where both things will happen."
Kelson has a history of cultivating top-performing programs and consistently producing award-winning results. His history of integrating advanced training practices to improve player performance has led to 30 years of development and creation of programs that drive success.
Individual Success Complemented Team Victories
He developed 20 Vols who went on to professional playing career. Three different Vols garnered four All-America honors during Kelson's career at Tennessee and six others earned honorable mention acclaim. He saw 16 of his 22 players capture 22 All-SEC awards.
Other noteworthy individual honors and accomplishments that took place during the Kelson era include current PGA Tour member David Skinns earning SEC Freshman of the Year honors in 2002 and winning the SEC individual championship in 2005, DP Tour member Garrick Porteous winning the 2013 British Amateur title, and former Australian professional Oliver Goss finishing runner-up at the 2013 U.S. Amateur and capturing low amateur honors at the 2014 Masters.
Kelson himself is a former Oklahoma state amateur champion and quarterfinalist at the U.S. Junior Championships. He played collegiately at Oklahoma before finishing his career at Alabama.
Kelson earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Alabama and his Master of Science in Sport Administration at the University of Florida.
"I fell in love with Maryville College the moment I stepped on campus," Kelson said. "I love the institution's motto, campus, and most of all its employees. It is truly a special place, a place where I can see our team and myself thriving.
"I look forward to working with our team and the Maryville community. I know it will be a wonderful experience."
