The Kentucky Wesleyan College Department of Athletics is pleased to announce the hiring of Ken Badylak as the Head Coach of the Men’s and Women’s Golf programs beginning in July of 2017. Badylak comes to Wesleyan after spending nine years at Saint Joseph’s College of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
“We are very excited to have Ken join the Panther family,” noted Director of Athletics Rob Mallory. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will elevate our program to the next level not only in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, but at the national level as well.”
In nine seasons as the women’s golf coach and eight seasons on the men’s side, Badylak has produced a 100% graduation rate for players exhausting their eligibility in the St. Joe’s golf program. Under Badylak, SJC golf has been recognized five times by the GLVC for its academic achievements with the Team Academic Award. The women’s team earned the honor during the 2009-10, 2010-11, 2014-15 and the 2016-17 seasons while the men achieved the same feat in 2010-11.
“I am forever grateful to Rob Mallory for seeking me out and encouraging me to be his golf coach. I am appreciative to him and President Bart Darrell for all that they have done. It’s an unfortunate circumstance that St. Joe’s is closing and I had to make a decision if I wanted to continue to coach. After visiting Kentucky Wesleyan, I saw all of values and family atmosphere that I enjoyed in Rensselaer,” commented Badylak. “I’ve spoken with the most of the players and they are energized and I hope that enthusiasm continues as we approach the season. My main goal is to see everybody get better from the first day to the last day, not only on the course, but as a person. Be a good student, a good athlete, and a good human being.”
This fall Badylak will complete a five year term on the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf National Committee, where he served as National Chair this past season, 2016-17. He also served as the GLVC Chairman for the both the men’s and women’s conference championships during the 2014-15, as elected by his peers. Badylak served as the liaison between the GLVC office and the league coaches on matters pertaining to GLVC Golf Championship. He also served a three-year term on the GLVC Awards Committee.
Badylak was also the Sports Information Director at St. Joe’s and will serve as the Assistant Director of Athletic Communications at Kentucky Wesleyan. With the Pumas, Badylak oversaw the development and redesign of the SJC athletics website and initiated a strong social media presence for St. Joe’s including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. In the span of its first year, athletics.saintjoe.edu received nearly 100,000 different visitors with over one million page views.
Prior to his stink at St. Joe’s, Badylak was a Tournament Operations Assistant with the LPGA’s Duramed Futures Tour, the official developmental tour of the LPGA.
Badylak is a 2005 graduate of Saint Joseph’s College, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. He has also been a member of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) since 2008.
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Liz Wacienga
Director of Athletic Communications
Kentucky Wesleyan College
