Winthrop University Men's Golf

Pendley, a former golf standout at Winthrop, is in his ninth season as the head mens golf coach. He replaced former longtime golf coach Eddie Weldon, who retired following the 2006 season. Pendley, a native of Greenwood, SC, was the Big South's first two-time Men's Golfer of the Year and Individual Medalist in 1997 and 1998. He also was the conference's third-ever four-time All-Conference performer (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998), along with former Eagle Paul Tomlinson, and is now just one of six men's golfers in league history with this distinction. Pendley also earned Big South Rookie of the Year recognition in 1995. He carded a 6-under 210 (69-69-72) in his 1998 Big South Conference Championship victory, which was the fifth-lowest at the time and remains tied for the ninth-lowest individual score in conference championship history. Pendley helped Winthrop to a runner-up finish in the 1997 Big South Championship, which is tied for the squad's best finish for the conference championship in program history, and was a member of the 1996 Eagles squad that set a school record for lowest 36-hole score of 571 at Old Dominions Seascape Collegiate, a record that stood for seven years. In only his fifth tournament as Winthrops coach, his team broke the 36-hole record by four strokes on the same course where Pendley and his teammates set the record seven years prior. He also has the most tournament victories in Eagle history with five Pendley later played professionally for seven years, including the NGA Hooters Tour in 1998, 1999 and 2002, and the Buy.com Tour in 2000 and 2001. He ranked third on the NGA Hooters Tour money list in 2002. After playing on the Hooters Tour and Buy.com Tour, Pendley played on the Nationwide Tour in 2003 and 2004, with his best career finish on the Nationwide Tour came at the 2001 Mark Christopher Charity Classic in Rancho Cucamonga, CA where he tied for fourth. Pendley had five career top 10 finishes on the Nationwide Tour. His lone professional victory Pendley came on the NGA Hooters Tour in 2002 at the Louisiana Classic in Monroe, LA. Pendley concluded his professional career with five Top 10 finishes. He left the professional tour in 2005 to work for Cherokee National Life Insurance as a South Carolina service representative. During his six-year tenure as head coach of the mens golf team, Pendley has coached four All-Conference performers in Brent Martin (2007) and Kamito Hirai (2010, 2011) and Brandon Truesdale (2011). He has also had one Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year in Pete Alminas, who received the award in 2008, and his 2010 squad received the Big South Team Sportsmanship Award. He was inducted into the 2008 Winthrop Athletics Hall of Fame and the Big South Conference Hall of Fame in 2010. Pendley and his wife, Krista, are the parents of two sons, Landon and Logan, and a daughter, Raegan. Kevin Pendley, a former golf standout at Winthrop, is in his ninth season as the head mens golf coach.