Golf Coach Ross Randall retires
After 28 years behind the tee, Head Coach Ross Randall for KU men's golf, announced he'll leave the team for a different set of greens. As KU's new director of golf operations, he'll focus on finding funds for a new indoor hitting facility.
"It's not really a retirement," Randall told a room packed with former KU golfers in town for a reunion; he also announced that current assistant coach and former Jayhawk golfer Kit Grove, d'99, will take over as head coach.
"Lew (Perkins) asked what I would like to do, and I said I would like to do what I have been doing but not travel as much," Randall said. "I'm old enough to where that is beating me up a little bit. We're going to work in tandem a lot. Kit will use some of my experience and I will use his energy. I think we make a pretty good team."
An institution at KU for nearly three decades, Randall guided seven teams—including this year's team—to the NCAA championships. His 1989 squad was the first KU team to reach the NCAA Finals in 32 years, and his 1996 team advanced to the final two rounds of the NCAA championships, the second-best finish in University history.
Randall coached five All-Americans during his tenure with the Jayhawks, including three two-time All-American selections: Chris Thompson, b'99; Ryan Vermeer, '00; and Chris Marshall, '90.
He also helped develop 27 all-conference selections, including senior Gary Woodland, who was named to this year's All-Big 12 Team. "I want to finish out with Gary Woodland," said Randall. "It's exciting being around him. With his potential, I felt like I could help him and I think I have. He is certainly the most talented guy I have been around in my career of coaching. He's got people in all areas of the game of golf excited about his potential."
Randall's crowning achievement came in 1999, when he took the fifth-seeded Jayhawks into the Big 12 Tournament and captured the program's first league title in 49 years. For his efforts that season, Randall was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year.
Randall's replacement, Grove, is in his first season as the assistant coach for the Jayhawks. His professional playing career has taken him all over the world, including a stint in South Africa. The Superior, Neb., native served in instructor roles in Oregon and Arizona before taking the assistant coach job at Kansas. Grove played at Kansas from 1995 to '97.
