Golf Season Preview I Published October 16

By: Caroline Pease

“Building culture is the most important thing to us. From day one, we are trying to bring in kids who
will represent our program and school in a great way.”

Kean golf looks to make strides in the revival of its men’s team and its inaugural women’s team through
the 2024 season.

At the helm of each team is Coach Joseph Yeck, a seasoned division three golf coach looking to
challenge his players through his initial campaigns with the Cougars.

Yeck, a York and Mount Saint Mary University graduate, was also a dual-sport athlete during his
undergraduate, competing in basketball and golf. His father was a long time coach and being surrounded
with athletics, inspired him to pursue a career in coaching

For the past decade, Yeck has focused on coaching golf at varying degrees of competition levels. As
assistant coach at McDaniel College, he guided the Green Terror to a conference championship title and
breach into the Division III Championship.

Yeck is also familiar with building a program from scratch, as he was responsible for helping to build
the first golf program at Drew University prior to his most recent tenure at New Jersey City University
since 2018.

“I’m very familiar with the DIII landscape, and it’s been fun to be a part of this new program. It’s good
because I’ve had experience going in at other places from ground zero,” said Yeck.

Following first place finishes for the men’s team and strong showings for the women’s in their most
recent matches, Yeck looks to continue to challenge his athletes. Through this season, he is putting
both of his young teams in competitive matchups against teams like William Patterson and
FDU-Florham.

“These experiences early on [for the freshmen athletes] will allow them to grow as they get later on
in their career. Where they won’t feel the nerves as much and be ready to go against some of the
better teams in the region,” said Yeck.

For its initial year, Yeck aims to at least have both teams finish in the upper half of meets. While there is
no golf division of the NJAC conference, the coaching staff looks to affiliate Kean with another
conference by the next competitive season.

However, the coaching staff’s main priority is building a strong team culture. Yeck preaches the benefits
of Division III athletics: the ability to balance competition and academics, while getting involved on
campus. He wants his athletes to have open and transparent communication with him and feel that their
opinions will shape the foundation of the program.

“For us, it’s building that culture and then we’ll work on the talent and [then] climbing up the
leaderboard.”

Athletes on both of Yeck’s teams reciprocate a similar message. Patrick Murray, a junior
two-time All-American transfer from UCNJ, agrees that the team’s culture is strong and each
member is passionate about improving through the season.

Murray chose to continue his golf career with the Cougars and be a keystone member of the
team’s revival.

“I heard Kean was starting a new golf team and reached out to Coach Yeck and I knew he
would be a great coach. I chose Kean because I knew it would be a great opportunity being
one of the first members of the program…” said Murray.

Similarly, Kaylee Wohlgemuth, a freshman from Cedar Knolls, NJ, relays that the team has a
distinct, supportive connection and persistence to improve.

Wohlgemuth was excited about the opportunity to continue her golf career at the collegiate
level and be a founding member of the first Kean women’s golf team.

“I saw Kean was having a womens team so I reached out to Coach Yeck to learn more. I met
with him in person and I really liked the fact I could play golf and get a good education, so I
chose Kean,” said Wohlgemuth.

The Cougars look for a strong second leg of the season and are hopeful to continue to grow the program.

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