Steven Ihm

Steven Ihm is entering his fourth season as an assistant men’s golf coach at the University of Iowa. 

Ihm is part of a Hawkeye coaching staff that has advanced to five NCAA Regionals and finished runner-up at the Big Ten Championships on three occasions.  Iowa has tallied four top four finishes at the Big Ten Championships five times. 

During the 2026 season, Ihm assisted a squad through 11 tournaments across nine states and Puerto Rico, earning eight top-10 team finishes, highlighted by a team title at the Hawkeye Invitational. Iowa captured its 18th Hawkeye Invitational championship with an 851 (-13) 54-hole total -- its first team title since 2023. 

Individually, Ryan Shellberg earned medalist honors at the Hawkeye Invitational and second-team All-Big Ten and PING All-Midwest Region recognition, while Max Tjoa earned co-medalist honors at the Fighting Irish Classic and finished in the top 10 three times. Grant Gudgel recorded three top-10 finishes in his debut season, including seventh at the Moraine Intercollegiate and ninth at the Puerto Rico Classic. Shellberg also advanced to the NCAA Columbus Regional, marking Iowa’s first NCAA postseason qualifier since 2023.

In 2025, Ihm helped guide the Hawkeyes through 11 tournaments across eight states and an international trip, earning three top-five finishes, including third at the Purdue Fall Invitational and Hawkeye Invitational. Iowa set program records with a 275 second-round team score and an 857 54-hole total at the Hawkeye Invitational. Individually, Max Tjoa and Gage Messingham posted career-best scores, with Tjoa’s 66 placing him 20th on Iowa’s all-time 18-hole leaderboard. The team also finished fourth at the Gopher Invitational and eighth at the Fighting Irish Classic. The Hawkeyes also posted the highest GPA among all Iowa men’s athletic programs.

In 2024, the Hawkeyes opened the season with a second-place finish at Iowa’s home tournament -- the ANF Fall Classic. Mac McClear repeated as the individual medalist after winning the tournament the year prior. Freshman Noah Kent carded an opening round 63 in the first round of the Puerto Rico Classic, tying for the second lowest round in program history.

In 2023, Ihm helped direct the Hawkeyes to two team championships at the Iowa Fall Classic and Hawkeye Invitational. Senior Mac McClear was medalist in each of those outings, as well as at the Big Ten Championships, becoming Iowa’s first two-time Big Ten Champion as well as the winningest Hawkeye since 1976 with five collegiate victories. The Hawkeyes tied for fifth as a team at the Big Ten Championships, which were cut short to just 36 holes due to weather concerns during the third round. 

Iowa won its 17th team championship at the Hawkeye Invitational in the event’s 29-season history. Other notable outings included a tie for fourth at the Wake Forest Invitational, where McClear tied for second and senior Ronan Kleu tied for ninth in a loaded field of competition at Pinehurst No. 2. The Hawkeyes also hosted the Calusa Cup, one of the premier events of the 2022 regular season; Iowa welcomed eight ranked programs, including four of the Golfstat top-five ranked teams, to Calusa Pines Golf Club in Florida. 

McClear advanced as an individual to the NCAA Regional competition in Las Vegas. He earned second-team All-Big Ten recognition, the third conference postseason honor of his historic Hawkeye career. In the classroom, Iowa was recognized for posting the top spring and fall team GPA of 2022 among Hawkeye men’s athletics programs.

An alumnus of the University of Iowa, Ihm was the first Hawkeye in program history to earn all-conference honors on three occasions, including consecutive first-team All-Big Ten selections in his final two seasons.

In three seasons as a Hawkeye, Ihm’s teams qualified for NCAA Regionals each year and placed 22nd at the NCAA Championships in 2012. He was a four-time medalist, finishing atop the leaderboard at both the Hawkeye Invitational and Boilermaker Invitational in 2013 and 2014. He was also the low finisher at the Big Ten Championships each of those seasons, as the team placed third in back-to-back years. His personal-best 18-hole round of 64 ties for third in the Iowa record books.

Ihm made his PGA Tour Debut via sponsor’s exemption at the 2013 John Deere Classic and has since played on the PGA Tour Latin America, the Korn Ferry Tour, and the Forme Tour. In 2018 he finished second at the Utah Championship and tied for third at the Price Cutter Charity Championship, marking his two best finishes on the Korn Ferry Tour. Ihm has competed at the John Deere Classic on three occasions, including a 27th-place finish in 2014.

Ihm graduated from the University of Iowa in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in interdepartmental studies.  He and his wife, Caitlin, have two sons, Ryder and Asher.