Poets name new head golf coach

Whittier College alum and Upland High School golf coach, Richard Kim, has been named the new head coach of the Whittier College golf program.  Kim graduated from Whittier College in 1992 and was a football and track and field star for the Poets.

Kim has spent the last eight years as the head coach of the Upland High School golf team and the last five years as the Baseline League Golf Manager.  He led Upland to their first ever CIF Central Region Championship in 2005.  The team was the Baseline League Champions in 1999 and won four straight titles from 2002-2006.  He was also an assistant football coach for Upland from 1994-98, leading the school to its first CIF Division VI Championship in 1995.  He also spent time as the head girls' track and field coach from 1995-97.      

As an athlete at Whittier College, Kim earned All-SCIAC honors in 1989 and 1991 as a lineman for the Poets football team and was a four-time all-conference performer in track and field from 1989-1992.  He was also named the Whittier College Athlete of the Year in 1990, a three-time Lineman of the Year (1989, 1990, 1992) and a four-time Field Athlete of the Year (1989-1992).  He was a graduate assistant for the football and track and field teams in 1993.

"I am really excited about rebuilding our men's golf program and the addition of Rich will certainly help in making this goal a reality," said Whittier College Director of Athletics, Robert Coleman. 

"Having a former alumnus that is passionate about Whittier College and the student-athlete is instrumental with what we are trying to create."

Kim is the third coach in as many years for the Poets.  The Poets finished seventh in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings last season.