Briar Cliff University Men's Golf

Irlbeck helped Dawn Chapman achieve first team all-conference status for the fourth-straight year in women's golf and Jake Buelt was an honorable mention all-conference selection for the men's program. Irlbeck, a four-year member of the Dakota Wesleyan golf program, earned his bachelors degree from Dakota Wesleyan in 2006 and his masters degree from DWU two years later.  Irlbeck was a senior team captain and was a two-time all-Great Plains Athletic Conference selection for the Tigers. Since then, he has continued to compete at a high level. He represented South Dakota in the USGA Mens State Team Championship in 2013 and won the SDGA Mens Match Play tournament and was runner-up at the Mens State Amateur, this past summer.  He also has two SDGA Match Play Championship runner-up finishes.  The 2012 Elmwood Golf Course Member Match Play Champion has participated in three SoDak Cups, an event which features 10 club professionals squaring off against the top 10 point earners in SDGAs summer events.  This coming summer, he will participate in the recently expanded Culvers Midwest Cup in Gothenburg, Neb, a state team championship encompassing the best Mid-Am golfers in the Midwest. Irlbeck has also served as a First Tee instructor as well as a junior instructor at the Wild Oak Golf Club in Mitchell, S.D.  Ben and his wife, Marcee have an 18-month old daughter, Kaia. Elise Strutt is in her first season as the graduate assistant coach for the Briar Cliff mens and womens golf teams. Strutt is a native of Queenstown, South Africa and comes to the Cliff after graduating from West Texas A&M with a degree in psychology. Strutt played two years of collegiate golf at West Texas A&M and prior to that played two years at Jacksonville State University in Alabama. Strutt also worked as an assistant golf coach at West Texas A&Ms golf camp and helped kids ages 6-15 improve their golf swings. Strutts golf experience also includes being the head golf coach at Camp Winaukee in Moltonborough, New Hampshirein the summer of 2013 and 2014. 

Ben Irlbeck joined the Briar Cliff coaching staff for the 2013–14 season as the Head Men’s and Women’s Golf Coach.  Irlbeck has led the Chargers to multiple GPAC Women’s Golf Championships, including titles in 2017 and 2023. He was named GPAC Women's Golf Coach of the Year in 2017 after guiding Briar Cliff to its first-ever conference championship, which also marked the first GPAC title for any women’s team in school history. The 2023 GPAC Championship earned the Chargers a berth in the NAIA National Tournament, the program’s first since 2017. A four-year member of the Dakota Wesleyan golf program, Irlbeck earned his bachelor’s degree in 2006 and his master’s degree in 2008. He was a two-time All-GPAC selection and senior team captain. His competitive accomplishments include representing South Dakota in the USGA Men's State Team Championship, winning the SDGA Men's Match Play Championship, and earning multiple SDGA Match Play runner-up finishes. During his first three summers in Sioux City, he captured four club championships, two at Green Valley and the other two at Two Rivers, and won the Tri-State Masters title in a sudden-death playoff. Irlbeck enjoys multiple other activities, including camping with his family, bowhunting, and fishing. Irlbeck and his wife, Marcee, have two children, Kaia and Keaton, and reside in Elk Point, South Dakota.