ROCK HILL, SC—Former Winthrop golf standout Kevin Pendley has been hired as the new men’s golf coach replacing veteran Eddie Weldon who retired July 1 after 19 years, and Jodi Wendt, who has served as the assistant golf coach for the past two years, has been named head coach of the women’s team.
The announcement was made Wednesday by Winthrop Athletic Director Tom Hickman. Pendley takes over a men’s program that returns eight players from the 2005-06 squad. Wendt becomes the first-ever head women’s golf coach after being primarily responsible for the Lady Eagle program the past two seasons. The Winthrop women are coming off one of their most successful seasons ever and return six players from last season, including their top five performers.
“I’m so excited to be coming back to Winthrop, a place that I am passionate about and a place that has meant so much in my life,” said Pendley. “Growing up, playing professionally was my number one goal in life. I saw that dream through, and now the opportunity to coach young men and to stay involved in golf is another dream come true for me.”
Pendley says that winning the Big South championship is first and foremost his goal as he takes over for his former coach. “That will open up the doors for where we want to be nationally. Coach Weldon left a lot of talent in place. He brought in a talented freshman class last year and many of those came in and performed well so it’s a good situation to begin my coaching career.”
Pendley, a native of Greenwood, SC, was a two-time Big South Conference Player of the Year in 1997 and 1998 and earned the Big South Conference Rookie of the Year honor in 1995. He was also a four-time All-Big South performer before going on to play professionally for seven years.
In 1998, 1999 and 2002, Pendley played on the NGA Hooters Tour. In 2000 and 2001 he played on the Buy.Com Tour (formerly the Nike Tour), and in 2003 and 2004 he was on the Nationwide Tour (formerly the Buy.Com Tour). Pendley had five career top 10 finishes on the Nationwide Tour and was third on the 2002 NGA Hooters Tour money list He left the professional tour in 2005 to work for Cherokee National Life Insurance as a South Carolina service representative.
Wendt, a native of Hutchinson, MN, and a 1995 graduate of Minnesota State University, is a nine-year LPGA teaching professional and a former player on the Players West Professional Tour. Before arriving at Winthrop in 2004, she served as a high school golf coach for three years and served as head golf pro and manager of Meadow Lakes Golf Course in her hometown on Hutchinson. Prior to that she served as an assistant golf pro for five years in Arizona and was the 1996 Arizona State Amateur champion.
“I am excited about the opportunity to lead the women’s program and to build on the strong foundation that Coach Weldon has established at Winthrop University,” she said “We will miss Coach Weldon and his expertise, but we wish him well and hope he and his wife, Travis, enjoy their retirement years together. I’m looking forward to the upcoming season. With the players that we have in the program, it should be an exciting year for Winthrop women’s golf.“
