University of Idaho men’s golf coach John Means was named the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s Women’s Golf All-Time Coach earlier this month.
Means coached for six years at Wisconsin-Eau Claire during his time in the WIAC.
“It’s nice when there’s somebody besides the players that notice what’s going on,” Means said. “It really makes you feel good that somebody noticed … It was a special time.”
During his time at Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Means’ teams won four WIAC titles and played in the NCAA Championship five times. Five of Means’ former players join him on the WIAC All-Time team.
“I got some girls that were extremely enthusiastic about getting better,” Means said. “The fruits of their labors were national rankings and national awards.”
Means said the success of his players led to his award.
Means has been coaching golf since he graduated college. His first coaching position was at Colorado State in 1979.
“This is all I really know how to do,” Means said. “I can’t break an atom, I can’t build a bridge — I can coach golf.”
Means was an avid golfer before his college coaching career took off. He was raised in Minnesota, where he first learned to swing a golf club. Means later received a golf scholarship to play for the University of Tulsa.
During his freshman year at Tulsa, Means’ roommate was Hank Haney — best known for his time coaching Tiger Woods.
“(Haney and I) actually had huge differences of opinion about how we thought the game (of golf) should be played,” Means said. “That peaked my interest into learning more about the game. I decided at that time that I wanted to be a college golf coach and I wanted to make a difference in somebody’s life.”
Fast-forward to the present and Means finds himself coaching the UI men’s golf team. Means willingly accepted the challenge of coaching in a cold-weather climate, where he has had success in the past. Before accepting the UI coaching position, Means received a commitment from the athletic program that they wanted to turn men’s golf into a championship program.
“I had, from the athletic director and from the people here (at Idaho), a commitment that they wanted to make this program a championship program,” Means said.
Means said coaching at Idaho has been similar to some of his past coaching stops except for the challenge of recruiting with so many schools in the Northwest. Means said he does not get much free time from his golfing duties but he likes it that way.
“There’s not much dead time (as a coach),” Means said. “By NCAA rules, if a player wants help, he can come ask me for help at any time.”