A former professional player and a teaching pro at some of the finest facilities in the nation, Kevin Rhoads enters his 14th season as the Bobby Jones '24 Head Coach for Harvard Men's Golf in 2025-26. Rhoads has been guiding the Crimson to success on the course since taking over the head coach role for the women's program in 2004, a title he held until the 2023 Spring season.
Rhoads was named the New England PGA Teacher of the Year in 2008 and 2013. In October of 2010, Rhoads was recognized by Golf Digest as one of the nation's Top 20 teachers under 40 years old. In 2023, Rhoads was again honored by Golf Digest by being named a Top 15 Teacher in the state of Massachusetts.
In the course of his first 18 seasons as head women's coach, Rhoads has led the Crimson to its most successful period in the program's history. Under his watch, Harvard has won a combined 40 tournaments - 34 more than the Crimson had won in its history before Rhoads joined the program - and has registered its 15 lowest scoring averages in school history. Perhaps most impressive is the fact that seven of the team's lowest 10 scores in program history have all come during the last eight seasons of competition alone.
The 2024-25 season saw the Crimson record five top five finishes including one tournament victory at the Glen Arbor Invitational. One of the highest ranked recruiting classes in program history burst onto the scene to help the Crimson set the tone for the years to come. Rhoads mentored an exciting group of young golfers - William Ma, Ieuan Jones and Barry Zhang - who were all key contributors in Harvard's success during the campaign. Ma joined Jeff Fang on the All-Ivy League second team after leading the team in scoring average at 72.20, which is the lowest average by a first-year in Harvard Golf history. With Rhoads guidance, Zhang posted seven rounds of par or better in his rookie campaign while Jones finished as the runner-up at the 2025 Ivy League Championships, helping Harvard claim third-place in the tournament.
Harvard continued to build its foundation in 2023-24 placing in the top-three at three tournaments while a number of golfers posted impressive individual performances. With Rhoads' guidance, Brian Ma '24 continued his run of success, recording five top-10 finishes and becoming the program leader in scoring average. Ma and the Crimson both finished in third at the Ivy League Championships while first-year Jonathan Hartono and junior Jeff Fang earned All-Ivy honors after placing in the top-10.
The men enjoyed a season of success in 2022-23, taking home three tournament championships at the Doc Gimmler, the Columbia Spring Invite and the Princeton Invitational. Under Rhoads' guidance, Brian Ma '24 was named an All-American Honorable Mention, giving the Crimson its first honoree in over 40 years. Ma went on to capture medalist honors at the Ivy League Championships and compete in the NCAA Regionals. Academically, the team led the nation with six GCAA Scholar All-Americans.
In 2021-22 the Harvard women finished third at the Ivy Championships, placing three individuals inside the top-10. Anina Ku, Chloe Royston and Meiyi Yan were eached named All-Ivy honorees for their performances at the Championship. The men posted their best team scoring average in relation to par in program history at 5.17 for the season while picking up back-to-back wins at the Autumn Invitational and the Lehigh Invitational in October. The wins marked the first time the program has notched consecutive victories since the 2013-14 season. The Crimson would go on to place third at the Ivy Championships at Century Country Club in New York.
The women's team captured its sixth Ivy League championship in eight years in 2019, with first-year Elizabeth Wang winning the overall title and joining classmates Michelle Xie, Anina Ku and Chloe Royston on the All-Ivy League team. The women went on to compete in East Lansing, Michigan at the NCAA Championship. The men's team took sixth, with Grant Fairbairn earning his second-straight All-Ivy League accolade.
Harvard became the first Ancient Eight program to win five-straight Ivy League titles on the women's side in 2016, as the Crimson led from beginning to end en route to a 13-stroke victory over Princeton. Anne Cheng (1st team), Michelle Xie (1st team), Christine Lin (2nd team), and Anna Zhou (2nd team) were each named to the All-Ivy League teams for their performances. The squad went on to a ninth-place performance at the NCAA Regional Championships in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the program's best-ever finish at the event, as Zhou, the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, finished tied for 12th place individually to just miss a spot at the NCAA Championships.
On the men's side, the Crimson earned its first Ivy League championship in 41 years in 2016 and followed it up with a repeat performance in 2017, as Rhoads earned back-to-back Ivy League Coach of the Year honors.
The 2017 men's squad again set a program record for scoring average (287.70), as junior Gregory Royston was named Ivy League Player of the Year. Royston and Daniel De La Garza were named to the All-Ancient Eight first team, while Robert Deng and Kendrick Vinar earned second team accolades.
In 2016, the men's team held off a late-charging Dartmouth for a four-stroke triumph. Harvard was led by freshman Aurian Capart who earned first team All-Ivy League honors and second team selections Gregory Royston and Daniel De La Garza. Additionally, junior Robert Deng received PING All-Northeast Region honors following the season.
For his team's successes in 2015-16, Rhoads was named the Ivy League Coach of the Year on both the men's and women's side.
The Crimson women overcame a slow start on day one of the 2015 Ivy League Championships to defeat Yale by one stroke for its fourth-consecutive Ivy crown. Cheng (1st team), Courtney Hooton (1st team) and Brenna Nelsen (2nd team) were each named to the All-Ivy League teams, with all five of the team's entrants finishing in the top 20.
The women won the 2014 Ivy title by an astonishing 21 strokes before placing 13th at the NCAA Regionals. Cheng, who won the individual conference crown, was tabbed Ivy League Rookie of the Year, while Tiffany Lim (1st team), Bonnie Hu (2nd team) and Lin (2nd team) were also tabbed to the All-Ivy team.
That same year, Theo Lederhausen won the Ivy League individual championship, marking the first time a Harvard men's golfer had done so since 1998 and earning the senior an at-large spot to the NCAA Regional Championships. Deng captured Rookie of the Year honors after placing 13th.
The Harvard women appeared in the NCAA West Regional after capturing the Ivy League Championship in 2013, marking the second time in program history Harvard won back-to-back conference titles. Harvard picked up three All-Ivy honors in its title defense, highlighted by Lin who was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year after finishing in second place at the conference championship. Hooton joined Lin on the All-Ivy first team, while Hu earned a second team nod. Rhoades led the Crimson to its second-highest national ranking in program history (No. 65) and set school records for scoring average (302.6), birdies (180), par-3 scoring (3.28), par-4 scoring (4.32), par-5 scoring (5.05), the lowest round score (284) and best-ever national scoring rating (63rd).
Harvard won its third Ivy League title in five seasons in 2011-12, and the Crimson earned three nods to the All-Ancient Eight team. Hu won the Ivy individual crown and garnered all-conference first team honors, while Lim was named the Ivy Rookie of the Year, joining Jane Lee on the All-Ivy second team. The team advanced to the NCAA Central Regional, finishing 18th.
Perhaps even more astoundingly, Harvard boasted seven tournament victories alone in the 2008-09 season - winning all but one tournament in the regular season and finishing second in that event. The Crimson won its second consecutive Ivy League title, placing three players on the All-Ivy League team out of seven selections. Freshman Christine Cho was among the group and was also named the inaugural Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
The 2007-08 campaign was no different as Rhoads led Harvard to its first Ivy League women's championship as the Crimson shot a 288 in the first round, cruising to the title by a stunning 10 strokes. Three Crimson golfers, Emily Balmert, Claire Sheldon and Jessica Hazlettt earned all-league honors and the Crimson finished 19th at the NCAA Central Region Championship hosted by the University of Texas. Harvard had an average score of 310.81 - nearly two strokes better than its previous best.
The 2006-07 season saw Harvard set a program record with an average score of 312.38 on its way to three tournament victories. The Crimson broke the 300 barrier on two occasions as Harvard shot a 297 in the opening round of the Dartmouth Invitational and had a 298 in the second round of the Yale Fall Intercollegiate. That success continued to the off season, when two of Rhoads' players, Sarah Harvey and Claire Sheldon, claimed victories in their respective state amateur tournaments.
The 2005-06 season proved to be Harvard's best Ivy League tournament showing to date as the Crimson registered a second-place finish at the Ivy League championships while producing the school's first Ivy League individual champion. Rhoads saw three of his players register the three lowest season stroke averages in school history as Harvard shattered virtually all of its scoring records during the season.
Rhoads moved to New England in April 2003 to become the teaching professional at The Country Club -- the storied facility which has hosted three U.S. Open championships and the 1999 Ryder Cup tournament and serves as one of Harvard's practice facilities.
Before joining the staff at The Country Club, Rhoads served as an instructor at the PGA Learning Center in Port St. Lucie, Fla., from 2001-03.
Rhoads played collegiately for two years at UCLA, where he walked on to the squad as a junior and earned honorable mention All-Pac 10 accolades as a senior. He went on to enjoy a three-and-a-half year professional playing career in which he competed on the Canadian PGA tour, the Golden Bear tour in Florida, the West Coast Tear Drop tour and the Buy.com Tour. He also attended PGA Tour qualifying school three times and advanced to the second stage twice.
Rhoads' golf background is deeply rooted in his family. His father, Rick, was a two-time All-America selection at the University of Southern California and a seven-year PGA Tour player before becoming the Head Professional at the San Francisco Golf Club where he has taught since 1976. His uncle, Ron, was formerly the head men's golf coach at USC, while his cousin, Roger Tambellini, joined the PGA Tour in 2004.
Rhoads earned a bachelor's degree in history from UCLA in 1995. He is a resident of Brookline, Massachusetts.
