May 6, 2011
IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa Assistant Men’s Golf Coach Tyler Stith has been named a semifinalist for the 2011 Jan Strickland Award presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf, as selected by the Golf Coaches Association of America. The Strickland Award is presented to the NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA or NJCAA assistant coach that, among other things, has excelled in working with their student-athletes both on the course and in the classroom.
Stith is in his third season as an assistant golf coach at Iowa. He has helped head coach Mark Hankins take the Hawkeye men’s golf team from a national ranking in the 100’s to as a high as No. 9 earlier this year.
“I am thrilled to be a nominee for the Jan Strickland Award,” Stith said. “Just to make it to this point and be recognized is a tremendous honor. I wouldn’t even be considered for this award if our players weren’t having the type of season they have put together. Coach Hankins and the players deserve all the credit.”
Stith, who was a four-year letterwinner on the Iowa golf team from 1999-02, performs many duties in his role as assistant coach. He helps organize, plan and run any home tournaments the Hawkeyes host, is in charge of golf alumni relations and helps organize and manage practice schedules. Stith also helps student-athletes with day-to-day practice work on the course and is heavily involved in recruiting.
Stith is one of eight semifinalists for the award. He is joined by Steve Bradley (Florida), Josh Brewer (Southern California), Garett Clegg (Washington), Stafford Gray (Oklahoma City), Christian Newton (Georgia Tech), Shane Warren (LSU) and Chris Whitten (Michigan).
The Jan Strickland Award finalists will be announced later next week.
The Jan Strickland Award recipient will have the opportunity to further his professional development by receiving an invitation to the TaylorMade-adidas Golf Kingdom in Carlsbad, Calif.
The Hawkeye men’s golf team will find out its NCAA Regional destination Monday afternoon. NCAA Regional play will run May 19-21.