Ashland University director of athletics Al King announced Friday (July 13) the hiring of Dennis North as head coach of the men's golf program.
North currently serves as the head golf professional at the Ashland Golf Club, the home course for both of AU's golf programs.
"I believe we're getting a highly skilled teacher in Dennis," King said. "Our players are welcoming him with open arms, they've gotten to know him over the past year with his work at the Ashland Golf Club. They have confidence in him, they trust him. That says a lot about Dennis and what he brings. I believe the profile of this program will expand with Dennis' arrival. He has a number of things he wants to try to grow the program and we're excited to watch that."
"I am really excited to have this opportunity. It's a perfect fit," said North. "There's a tradition here and we want to keep that tradition going. We want to continue to build this and make it bigger and better than it's ever been."
North has had the chance to work with AU's players as they have trained at the Ashland Golf Club for the last year.
"They're just as excited as I am," said North. "I've known a lot of them for a few years, and I have relationships with them, especially the seniors more than the underclassmen. I know they're a very talented group with the seniors coming back and some pretty good underclassmen. Hopefully we can get a little more skill level out of them and get them shooting some good tournament scores."
North served as the head golf professional at Riviera Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio before coming to the Ashland Golf Club where he is charged with running the golf operations. In his first full year, the Club was named the eighth-best course in the nation and first in Ohio by Golf Advisor among public golf courses that charge $50 or less per round.
He was previously the head golf professional at Deer Creek Golf Course in Mt. Sterling, Ohio and spent nine years as an assistant professional at Columbus Country Club.
The Hamilton, Ohio native served in the U.S. Army from 1991-95.
The AU men's golf program tied for fourth as a team at the GLIAC Championships and rising senior Austin Kondratick tied for third individually, earning All-GLIAC first team honors.
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