ROLLA, Mo. – Golf is coming – and returning -- to Missouri S&T as the university has announced the hiring of Chad Green and Amy West to head up the programs that will begin play in the fall of 2017.

Green, who has been the head golf coach at Central College in Iowa for the past six seasons, will take the reins of a men's program that will be reinstated for the first time since 2003 while West, who served as the assistant coach last season for the men's and women's teams at West Virginia Wesleyan College, will lead the first women's golf program at the institution.

"We are extremely excited to add both women's and men's golf to our NCAA sports program at Missouri S&T with competition starting in the fall of 2017," said Missouri S&T director of athletics Mark Mullin. "I firmly believe that we have a plan in place that will assure successful women's and men's golf programs.  I believe the programs will be extremely competitive in our conference in a short time frame and eventually on a national level. 

"I am confident we have hired individuals that will recruit high quality student-athletes and will lead them to develop competitively, to work vigorously in the classroom and participate in service to others, as all of our Miner student-athletes do," Mullin added.

After a successful playing career, which included playing on two national championship teams at Daytona State College and earning all-Big East Conference honors, West moved into the coaching ranks last season at West Virginia Wesleyan.  Among the team accomplishments was a fourth place finish by the women's team at the Mountain East Conference's Spring Invitational and a third place showing by the men's squad at the Ohio Valley Highlands Cup Challenge.

In the 2011 national tournament, West recorded a score of 299 which currently ranks as the 12^th-best 72-hole score in the history of the NJCAA Tournament.  That included a round of 68, which was the second-best round ever at the national tournament; a year earlier, West shot a 70 during the national meet and would earn the first of her two All-America awards at Daytona State.

West went on to play two seasons at the University of South Florida, where she was part of a championship team in the Big East Conference in 2012 – the first for USF as a member of the league -- and earned all-conference and All-America honors as a senior the following year.  In her prep career, she was named as the "Golfer of the Year" in Hillsborough County in 2008.

"I'm excited about getting started with the new program at Missouri S&T and working with Mark and Chad," West said.  "I want to be able to build a strong, competitive program and know there is some great competition in the conference.

"What I'm looking for are strong academic student-athletes first, but also ones with talent and the right attitude," she added.  "Attitude is a key as I want our players to be able to buy into my system to help make them better players."

Following her collegiate career at South Florida, West went on to play professional golf in the Symetra Tour during the 2015 season after going through the Ladies Professional Golf Association's qualifying school in 2014, prior to joining the West Virginia Wesleyan staff for the 2015-16 season.

"I am very excited to have Amy join our Miner family," Mullin said.  "She brings with her an exceptional background in women's golf.  Her personality and passion will not only be an asset to Miner women's golf, but to the department, campus and community.  She is highly motivated and will be an outstanding leader for the women's golf program."

Originally from Plant City, Fla., West graduated from South Florida with a bachelor's degree in criminology in 2013.

Green led Central to four NCAA Division III Tournament appearances in his six years at the school as well as four Iowa Conference championships.  The Dutch recorded a 12^th place finish at the 2013 national tournament and during his tenure at Central, Green has been named as the Iowa Conference's "Coach of the Year" on four occasions.

A native of St. Louis, Green previous served as the head women's golf coach and assistant men's coach at Maryville University for two seasons; the second season at Maryville was that school's first as a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.  During that time, he was also the director of instruction at the Country Club of Sugar Creek in High Ridge, Mo.

Green was also an assistant golf professional at the Cedar Rapids Country Club and Forest Highlands Golf Club in Flagstaff, Ariz., and while at Forest Highlands, he competed on the Pepsi Golf Tour.

"It's exciting to start a program from scratch, which is something I've always wanted to do," Green said.  "I think the academic profile of the school, along with the work Mark and the administration have done with the facilities, gives us a chance to get the program off to a good start.  The GLVC is a great conference and I'm looking forward to getting back into the league."

During his playing career, Green earned all-conference honors on three occasions at Clarke College in Iowa, then served as a student assistant coach for the school's women's golf team for one season.  He was also the head golf coach at Southwestern High School in Hazel Green, Wis., before taking the position at Maryville in 2008.  He earned his bachelor's degree in sociology from Central College in 2006.

"The first thing our players will have to do is get the job done in the classroom, or else they won't be playing golf," Green said.  "One of the things I've seen over the last six years is the number of recruiting profiles of student-athletes who want to study engineering, so that's a good thing for us in building the program as the classroom has to come first.  I'm ready to hit the pavement running looking for those players."

"Chad brings a wealth of experience and great enthusiasm," Mullin said.  "He is a proven leader and I have great confidence that he will come into the program ready to immediately start building a foundation for success.  Chad will be a great addition to our Miner family and I am excited about the positive influence he will bring to the department, campus and local community."