Kevin Farrell - Men's Golf Coach - Bowling Green State University Athletics

Kevin Farrell

Title:
Men's Golf Head Coach
Email:
fskevin@bgsu.edu
Phone:
419-372-2403

Coach Farrell Video

Head coach Kevin Farrell just completed his fifth year at Bowling Green State University having taken over the men’s golf program in 2012-13. Farrell came to BGSU after spending three seasons at Mount St. Mary’s, where he was the men’s coach for three years and the women’s coach for one season.

In his five years at BGSU, Farrell has coached a MAC Freshman of the Year (Brett Rinker), an All-MAC First-Team selection (Jose Narro), four All-MAC Second-Team members (Wes Gates, Brett Rinker (twice), and Jose Narro), one All-MAC Tournament Team honoree (Brett Rinker) and nine MAC Golfer of the Week selections. He has helped guide three different golfers to post single season stroke averages in the top-10 since BGSU started keeping the stat in 1972-73, including both Brett Rinker and Jose Narro who each have twice posted single season averages in the top-10 during their time at BGSU. He has also had numerous different golfers card countless rounds of 68 or below over 18-holes of play. Farrell has also coached six individual tournament winners over his time at the helm of the BGSU men’s golf program.

His teams in each of his first four years have turned in 25 rounds of 18-hole team scores at 287 or less, which all ranks in the top-15 for the Falcons since 1972-73, while BGSU has improved on its stroke average by over five shots from 300.56 in 2012-13 to 294.74 in 2016-17. The Falcons carded a team stroke average of 297.81 on the year in 2014-15, besting that in 2015-16 with a team scoring average of 295.97 overall.

On its way to carding a stroke average of 294.74 in the 2016-17 campaign, the Falcons marked three top-10 finishes on the year, including a runner-up finish at the 2017 Border Olympics. As a team, the Falcons earned 20 rounds with a team score of 300 or below on the year.

Individually, Max Rispler was named MAC Golfer of the Week on two occasions, while as a senior, Jose Narro was named to 2017 All-MAC Second Team honors. Narro matched his 2014-15 single season stroke average of 73.22 in the 2016-17 season, to tie for second all-time in the Bowling Green record books, ultimately concluding his career with the best career scoring average of 73.51 in program history. Additionally, Narro and Pablo Heredia Iglesias we named to 2017 Academic All-MAC honors.

In 2015-16, the Falcons made history carding the lowest 18-hole team score in BGSU history and the second lowest 54-hole team score in the Falcons’ men’s golf program history at the Joe Feaganes Marshall Invitational. BGSU’s final round team score of 269, -15 under par, at the Marshall Invitational marked the lowest 18-hole team score in BGSU history. Their final score of 835, -17 under par, is the second lowest 54-hole tournament team score in BGSU history behind only a score of 831 at the 2010 APSU Intercollegiate.

As a team, the Falcons three top-five team finishes in 2015-16, including a runner-up finish at both the 2015 Joe Feaganes Marshall Invitational and the 2015 ODU/OBX Intercollegiate. The Falcons carded a total of 16 rounds with a team score of under 300 on the season in what was one of their most challenging schedules in program history.

As a junior, Jose Narro set a new individual record in 2015-16, as his 54-hole score of 202, -11 under par, at the Joe Feaganes Marshall Invitational marks the lowest individual 54-hole tournament score by a Falcon in the program’s history. Narro would also post a stroke average of 73.75 overall on the season, which ranks 10th overall in BGSU’s Top-10 single season average list.

Not to be outdone, junior Brett Rinker was named to the All-MAC Second Team for the second time in his career in 2015-16. He tallied a team-best stroke average of 73.28 overall on the year, which ranked in the top-10 overall in the Mid-American Conference and is fifth all-time in school history.

Both Rinker and freshman Pablo Heredia Iglesias earned MAC Men’s Golfer of the Week honors in consecutive weeks on Oct. 22 and Oct. 29, while two golfers in Narro and Mitchell Kontack each earned a spot on the 2015-16 MAC All-Academic Team for men’s golf.

In his third year at the helm of the men’s golf program in 2014-15, the Falcons posted seven top-10 team finishes, which included a sixth-place finish at the 2015 MAC Men’s Golf Championships. As a team, the 2014-15 Falcons posted a team stroke average of 297.81 on the season, which encompassed 12 events and a total of 36 rounds of play. Three times on the year BGSU carded a low team round of 282 - first at the Joe Feaganes Marshall Invitational, second at the Ka’anapali Collegiate Classic and third at the Lone Star Invitational - which was tied for the 12th lowest 18-hole team score in BGSU history since 1972-73.

The Falcons also jumped into the record books in 2014-15 for the lowest 36-hole team score at a two-round event, as BGSU finished with a combined score of 586 at the rain shortened Greenbrier Collegiate Invitational. The 586 team score is the third lowest 36-hole team score for a Falcons’ squad in a 36-hole event since 1972-73.

At the 2015 MAC Championships, BGSU as a team posted a 72-hole score of 1188 to take sixth-place overall for the second straight year. The Falcons’ tournament score of 1188 was the lowest 72-hole score for BGSU at the MAC Championships since posting a 1173 overall at the 2007 MAC Championship event. Bowling Green posted a first round 291, which is the lowest team round for a Falcons’ squad at the conference championship event since carding a 291 at the 2011 MAC Championships and a 290 at the 2007 tournament.

Individually in 2014-15, sophomore Jose Narro was named to the 2015 All-MAC First Team, becoming the first Falcon to receive the all-conference honor since Matt Schneider earned first team recognition in 2009.

Narro finished in a tie for 10th-place overall at the 2015 MAC Championships with a 72-hole score of 291, +3, to make it three straight years in which a Falcon golfer has finished in the top-10 overall at the conference championship event - 2013 Ryan Triller (T-9th), 2014 Rinker (T-5th) and 2015 Narro (T-10th).

Both Narro (Sept. 10, 2014) and Rinker (Nov. 11, 2014) were named MAC Men’s Golfer of the Week on the season, as the sophomore duo led the Falcons with season stroke averages of 73.22 and 74.39 overall on the year, respectively.

Narro recorded eight sub-par rounds of play over 36 rounds on the year, including a career-low round 66 at both the Joe Feaganes Marshall Invitational and at the Ka’anapali Collegiate Classic which is tied for the fifth lowest 18-hole score in BGSU history since 1972-73. His season stroke average of 73.22 ranks second only to Garry Winger’s average of 72.40 in 1993-94, as the lowest stroke average in BGSU history, while he added his name to the all-time BGSU tournament medalist winners with a first-place win at the Joe Feaganes Marshall Invitational with a 54-hole score of 206, -7 under par.

Both Rinker and Triller each went on to tally three sub-par rounds overall on the season, while senior Joe Cooper posted four sub-par rounds on the year, including shooting a career-low 68 on the final round of play at the 2015 MAC Championships. Overall, the Falcons registered 11 top-25 individual finishes and recorded 19 sub-par rounds of golf on the year with a lineup that mostly consisted of two seniors, two sophomores and a freshman.

In 2013-14, the Falcons as a team posted four top-five finishes, which included a runner-up team finish at the inaugural Greenbrier Collegiate Invitational, and recorded a sixth-place showing at the 2014 MAC Championships. BGSU, who carded a season-low round 276 team score at the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational, turned in a team stroke average of 295.03 on the season overall. The Falcons’ 18-hole score of 276 tied for the second lowest 18-hole team score in BGSU history. BGSU also carded rounds of 281 at the Old Dominion/Outer Banks Collegiate and 287 at both the 2014 Desert Shootout and the Greenbrier Collegiate Invitational, which all rank in the top-15 overall.

Individually, freshman Brett Rinker was tabbed the 2013-14 MAC Freshman of the Year, the first Falcon to win the award since its inception in 1994. Rinker also went on earn a spot on the All-MAC Second-Team and the MAC Men’s Golf Championships All-Tournament Team with his fifth-place finish at the 2014 championship event. Rinker’s 73.26 stroke average on the year ranks second overall since 1972-73 in terms of single season scoring averages, while he also posted a low round 67 on the year which is tied for 11th overall in BGSU’s history.

Like Rinker, fellow freshman Jose Narro also carded a low round 67 on the season and with his 73.87 stroke average on the year he jumped into ninth-place overall since 1972-73. Narro also posted a win for the Falcons, picking up his first-ever intercollegiate win with score of 206, -4 under par, at the inaugural Greenbrier Collegiate Invitational and earning him MAC Golfer of the Week honors in the process.

In his first year at BGSU in 2012-13, Farrell led the Flacons to a first-place finish at the Mac Match Play event and two second-place finishes at the Cardinal Intercollegiate tournament and the Mount St. Mary’s Spring Invitational.

Farrell also saw four Flacons average under 80 strokes per round, including Joe Cooper, who dropped a little over two strokes in the 2012-13 season from his first year in 2011-12. Farrell also helped then junior Chris Melvin average a score of 76.95 through 20 rounds, including a 2-1-0 record in the MAC Match Play event.

Not only did Farrell’s squad receive success on the golf course, but his team was excelled in the classroom as well. Six players combined over the last two years have received Academic All-MAC Honorable Mention, which are for student-athletes who have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and participate in at least 50 percent of the contest for the particular sport.

During his time at Mount St. Mary’s Farrell was named the 2012 Northeast Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Mountaineers to its first men’s golf NEC Championship and NCAA Regional appearance. In his three years at the helm of Mount St. Mary’s he coached one First-Team All-Conference player and three Second-Team All-Conference honorees. Farrell’s squads also excelled in the classroom, has he helped to produce 10 All-Conference Academic performers.

In 2011-12 he led the Mount St. Mary's men’s golf program to a third-place finish at the Northeast Conference Championships. Up to that point, it was the squad’s best finish since the 1998 season. In Farrell’s first season, the men finished fourth at the NEC Championships.

Farrell was a standout golfer on the Mountaineers men’s golf team from 2004-08. He finished in the top-10 at the NEC Championships in both his junior and senior seasons to earn spots on the All-NEC team. Farrell is one of five players in team history to finish in the top-10 at the NEC Championships twice in his career and his three-round score of 220 at the 2008 NEC Championships is still the record for three rounds at the NEC Championships.

Farrell was also the first assistant PGA Golf Professional at Quail Valley Golf Club in Littletown, Pa., from 2008-11 and graduated from Mount St. Mary’s in 2008 with a degree in business management.