Hovland Ready for Opening Round as New Maryland Head Coach

For new Maryland women’s golf head coach Kelly Hovland, this is the moment she’s been waiting for. After being tapped for the top job at Maryland by Athletics Director Damon Evans on July 12th, a dream, decades in the making, came true. 

Hovland’s roots are intertwined with the coaching profession. Her father, Roger Gerlach, is in the Illinois Coaches Hall of Fame after a long career coaching basketball, volleyball, baseball, and football at the high school level. Her mother, Janet, was a high school volleyball coach, while her sister also got involved in coaching the sport. 

“For my family, sports was just a normal conversation around the dinner table,” said Hovland. “It was something we were passionate about.” 

Hovland saw the impact of coaching on young people from a young age, crediting her family and her college coach Diane Daugherty at Southern Illinois University for instilling the love of competition in her. 

After wrapping up her college playing career at Southern Illinois it eventually led her to the U.S. Naval Academy, where she coached from 2012-19. She credits those early years by being able to develop ideas, use her creativity, being thoughtful about how she goes about her business with her players and building strong relationships that led her to success at Navy as an associate head coach and eventually as an assistant at Maryland. She hopes to continue that at the helm in College Park. 

“It’s much more than just golf, it’s about the whole person,” said Hovland.

“Be competitive” is something she emphasizes a lot to her team. She says it’s a simple thought but has big rewards. That’s going to be a key focus for her this season as the team goes about practicing, training in the weight room, and competing on the links.  

When it comes to golf, injuries opened the door to her introduction to the sport. After an ACL tear at the age of 11, Hovland’s sports participation took a brief hiatus. But, her dad’s coaching instincts kicked in, and identified golf as a good option to scratch her competitive itch while recovering. A subsequent ACL tear in high school would further limit career opportunities in other sports, but golf always remained in the picture.

Hovland’s background in political science serves her well in the coaching world. After college, she worked in government service for five years. She enjoyed the position but it felt like ‘work’. Her college golf coach with over 30 years of experience one day mentioned to her that she had never worked a day in her life. 

“I never really understood what that meant until I got into politics,” said Hovland. 

That perspective and experience led Hovland to the question: how can she impact her community and the next generation of young women? It didn’t take long for her to realize teaching and coaching is how she wanted to do that. From that day on she hasn't looked back and has reaped the rewards during her journey in the sport.  

Hovland noted the biggest connection from the political world to the collegiate coaching industry is the relationship-building element. She also credits her experience in public administration giving her the tools and know-how to prepare for practices and events.

“In my experience, the best philosophy in coaching is to create a positive student-athlete experience in a high-energy competitive environment,” said Hovland. “Coaching with bold ideas, creativity, and attention to detail will help this team at Maryland be successful as we continue to grow as a program.”

Her coaching prowess hasn’t been limited to just the college ranks, as she’s used her extensive professional instructional background as both a member of the PGA and LPGA to her advantage. With over 1,000 lessons taught on the course over seven years, Hovland quips that it’s her “secret power”. That experience will undoubtedly suit her well as pressure-packed situations arise as she guides her players to low scores.

Looking back on last season’s dramatic rise in which she saw the team reach its first-ever NCAA Championship, Hovland recognizes that in order to repeat and elevate the program, there is still much work ahead. 

Hovland hopes her excitement for Maryland golf permeates into the greater fanbase, as the program continues to compete with the top teams in the Big Ten and nationally in the years to come. The first-year coach and her team have set their sights on bringing the program’s first-ever Big Ten Championship trophy back to College Park, before a rise in the national ranks and hopefully a National Championship down the road.      

“We want to further develop the players on our roster and bring in the best student-athletes in the world,” said Hovland. “Player development is paramount in making good players even better. It’s such an exciting time to be a Terp and this university has so much to offer. We can’t wait to get this season underway and make Terp Nation proud!”