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Kenyon College Athletics

Grant Wallace

  • Title
    Head Men's Golf Coach / NCAA Compliance and Education Coordinator
  • Email
    wallaceg@kenyon.edu
  • Phone
    740-427-5016
Grant Wallace brings a wealth of coaching knowledge into his 12th full year heading up Kenyon's golf team. Originally hired, during the 2011-12 academic year, to oversee the College's intramural and club sports programs, he gradually took over the golf program in the spring of 2013 and has steadily improved it during his time here. Since then, he has compiled a 900-516 coaching record.

Kenyon had perhaps the best season of its 96-year history in 2024, ultimately finishing in a tie for eighth place at the NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championship. The Owls brought home their second NCAC title in three years to earn a berth in the tournament, as five players collected All-NCAC honors, two earned All-Region selections and one made the All-America team. Wallace was named the NCAC's Coach of the Year for the fourth time along with earning the GCAA Region V Coach of the Year honor. Additionally, the Owls were named the 2023-24 GCAA Academic National Champions after their success on the course and in the classroom.

In 2023, the Owls navigated a strong schedule and the departure of seven seniors. Kenyon racked up a trio of top-five finishes during the regular season before finishing in bronze medal position in the NCAC Championship. Three players earned All-NCAC recognition for their tournament finishes, while a quartet of Owls were named GCAA All-America Scholars. 

Clear signs of improvement were the results cranked out by the 2022 team, which won the NCAC Championship for the first time in program history and made the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship since the 1989 season. Wallace was voted 2022 NCAC Coach of the Year, while Nick Lust won the Dick Gordin Award, for being medalist at the NCAC Championship, and Armand Ouellette was crowned both NCAC Player of the Year and NCAC Newcomer of the Year. 

Additionally, the 2022 team, which finished 15th at the NCAA Division III Championship, had two players, Ouellette and Eric Lifson, named to the PING All-Region team, while Ouellette went on to achieve PING All-America status. Wallace himself was a finalist for the 2022 Dave Williams Award, which honors the national coach of the year in NCAA Division III men's golf.   

In 2017-18, Wallace mentored PING All-America selection and NCAC Player of the Year Ryan Muthiora, along with three other all-conference selections in Lawrence Courtney, Sadiq Jiwa and Lifson. By season's end, Muthiora and Courtney had received individual invites for the NCAA Division III Championship. Those two were also semifinalists for the NCAA Division III Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year award. Wallace was named the 2018 GCAA Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year and NCAC Coach of the Year. 

During the 2014-15 season, Wallace helped steer the golf program through another great season. The team had a pair of first-place finishes and six other top-three finishes. At the end of the year, Alex Blickle and Jake Fait became Kenyon's first-ever PING All-Great Lakes Region selections. In light of his team's accomplishments, Wallace was named the NCAC Coach of the Year.
 
Wallace is a Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) Level 2 Golf with additional certification in TPI Level 2 fitness. In addition, he is an Aim Point Express certified golf coach and is an active user of Trackman, applying its data to improving his golfers.
 
Some accolades for the program since the 2012 season:
3 NCAC Player of the Year awards (2018, 2021, 2022)
Dick Gordin Award NCAC Medalist award (2022)
34 NCAC All-Conference awards
3 GCAA/PING All-Americans
11 GCAA/PING All-Region awards
25 GCAA All-America Scholar recipients
GCAA Region V Coach of the Year (2024)
GCAA Academic National Chamions (2024)
GCAA All-Academic Team 2013-2024
President’s Special Recognition: 2016, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 (3.5 team GPA)
5 CSC Academic All-District recipients
17 team tournament wins
12 Medalists
2 individuals selected for NCAA Championships in 2018
Regional Freshman of the Year 2018
2 Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Semifinalists
4x NCAC Coach of the Year (2015, 2018, 2022, 2024)
Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year 2018
National Coach of the Year finalist 2018, 2022
Golfstat top 25 ranking (2015, 2018)
Scoreboard/Clippd top 25 ranking (2024)
2015 best ranking 22 (#2 in region)
2018 best ranking 15 (#3 in region)
2024 best ranking 21 (#3 in region)

Wallace earned a master’s of education degree at Bowling Green State University. While at BGSU, he worked closely with varsity teams and also advised several club sports teams, including baseball. In addition to his master’s from BGSU, Wallace also holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Sacramento State University.