Eastern Mennonite University has announced the resignation of head golf coach Wendell Eberly. The resignation is effective June 30.
Eberly recently completed his fourth year at the helm of EMU’s men’s and women’s golf teams. He is the only coach in the history of the programs after starting them both before the 2012-13 season.
Director of Athletics Dave King was appreciative of Eberly’s four years.
“I am grateful for Wendell’s willingness to step up and help us when we started the golf program four years ago,” said King. “His relationship to Heritage Oaks Golf Course and Head Professional David Johns provided stability for the program. His organizational skills and attention to detail established smooth operations for the team.”
Eberly said he enjoyed coming out of retirement to return to his alma mater.
“I had a fun time and a good experience working for EMU and starting the men’s and women’s golf teams,” he explained. “It was somewhat of a learning experience starting the new program. I feel I was able to get things going in the right direction.
Eberly, who also coached Eastern Mennonite’s women’s basketball team from 1975 to 1978, guided the new golf programs to a quick start. Despite building most of his first team from students already on campus, Eberly pushed the men’s squad to a respectable 8th-place finish out of 10 teams at the Royals’ first ODAC Championships in the spring of 2013.
While the women’s side never gathered enough golfers to field a scoring team, Brittany McDonaldson (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) was named to the ODAC All-Tournament Team in both 2013 and 2014, as well as landing on the All-ODAC Third Team already as a sophomore.
Eberly said he was proud of the golf program at EMU.
“I feel that the men’s team is going in the right direction and has a good base to build on,” he said. “We made some good progress last year. I hope that the next coach is able to recruit more players for the team and is able to get the program to the next level. I feel that golf is an important program for the University. I will miss the team and the tournaments. Go Royals.”
After breaking the program low round record three times in 2015-16, the men’s team graduated only one senior from a roster of seven. EMU’s men also finished with their lowest team score ever in the ODAC Championships.
King said the program’s next coach will be able to build on the current team to expand on what Eberly started.
“Wendell has helped create a solid foundation on which the golf program can build into the future,” King said. “I’m convinced the golf program is one that can help us reach our enrollment goals and provide quality educational experiences for more student athletes.”
The search to find EMU’s second-ever golf coach will begin immediately.
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