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Piedmont University Athletics

Home Of The Piedmont University Lions
JP Kircher Headshot

JP Kircher

  • Title
    Director of Golf / Head Men's Golf Coach
  • Email
    jkircher@piedmont.edu
  • Phone
    1194
  • Twitter
    @GolfLions
  • Year
    7th Season
  • Alma Mater
    Huntingdon, 2011 (BA)
Coaching Highlights at Piedmont (2016-Present)
- NCAA Runner-Up Finish (2023)
- Individual National Champion (Josh Hebrink - 2023)
- USA South Tournament Championship (2021)
- 3 NCAA Tournament Appearances (2021, 2022, 2023)
- CCS Coach of the Year (2023)
- Guided program to No. 1 national ranking (Golfstat - Nov. 2020)
- CCS Player of the Year (Fred Roberts IV - 2023)
- CCS Male Student-Athlete of the Year (Fred Roberts IV - 2023)
- 6 Team Titles (Piedmont Invitational - 2017, 2019); (Transylvania Fall Invitational - 2020); (Wynlakes Invitational - 2021); (USA South Conference Tournament - 2021); (Rhodes Fall Invitational - 2022)
- 14 Individual Medalist/Co-Medalists
- 7 All-American selections (Matthew Leemann - 2020); (Ben Balen, 2021); (Fred Roberts IV - 2021, 2022, 2023); (Josh Hebrink - 2022, 2023)
- 9 All-Region Selections (Matthew Leemann - 2020, 2021); (Ben Balen - 2021); (Fred Roberts IV - 2021, 2022, 2023); (Josh Hebrink - 2021, 2022, 2023)
- 5 USA South All-Conference Selections
- 5 CCS All-Conference Selections
- 2 CoSIDA/CSC Academic All-District Selections
 
JP Kircher

 
Collegiate Career at Huntingdon College (2007-2011)
Four straight NCAA Tournament top-10 finishes with the Hawks as a team
Three top-32 NCAA Tournament finishes individually
Career-best top-20 finish at 2010 NCAA Division III National Championship
Two-time All-American selection (2009, 2010)
Three-time All-South Region selection by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA)
 
JP Kircher enters his eighth season as Director of Golf and Head Men's Golf Coach in the fall of 2023 as the program reached unprecedented heights in the 2019-20 campaign and has continued to sustain that success.

The Lions ascended to new heights in the 2022-23 campaign as the team took second place at the 2023 NCAA Division III Championship as Josh Hebrink won the individual national championship. Hebrink became the first student athlete at Piedmont to win an individual national championship. Kircher helped guide Hebrink and Fred Roberts IV to earn PING/GCAA All-America First Team honors while both set a new scoring record during the season with rounds of 66.

The 2021-22 season saw the Lions establish themselves as a legitimate national contender. Piedmont reached a ranking as high as No. 10 and finished the season No. 11 in the GCAA national poll and No. 13 in the Golfstat national poll. Kircher helped guide the Lions to a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, this time improving to an 11th-place finish after advancing to the third and fourth rounds for the second consecutive season.

After enjoying a successful fall season competing against Division I and Division II opponents, the Lions found themselves with a No. 1 national ranking from Golfstat in November of 2020. Individually, four Lions found themselves in the top 12 of the Golfstat individual national rankings.

The spring brought more success as Piedmont took home team titles at the Wynlakes Intercollegiate before capturing the USA South Conference Tournamnt Championship at Benvenue Country Club in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The USA South Tournament title gave the Lions their first ever NCAA National Tournament berth.

The 2019-20 season was cut short due to COVID-19, but the Lions claimed the team title at the 14th annual Piedmont College Fall Invitational led by Matthew Leemann's individual title. It marked the second of two individual titles for Leemann after claiming low-medalist honors at the Transylvania Invitational in Kentucky. 

The Lions posted their best finish at the USA South Tournament in 2019 finishing fourth in the league championship. The fourth place finish was in large part due to Josh DeSain's final round 5-under 67 that broke school records giving him the program best 54-hole total (216). DeSain finished seventh in the tournament giving him his second top-10 finish of the season. 

Kircher led the Lions to a second place finish in 2018 at the Piedmont College Fall Invitational after winning the event in 2017 edging out Truett-McConnell by a single stroke. Davis Cook tied for co-medalist honors in 2017 with a 145, shooting a 70 in the second round for his best tournament round of his Piedmont career. 

Kircher carries NCAA Tournament experience with him to Demorest following a four-year playing career at nationally-respected Division III member Huntingdon College in Alabama. Kircher helped the Hawks to one of the storied program's best finishes in the NCAA Division III National Championships with a 3rd place showing in 2010, part of four straight top ten finishes in the NCAA Tournament.
 
In four showings at the NCAA National Tournament during his collegiate career, Kircher three times finished in the top 32 individually including a career-best top 20 finish in 2010.  Additionally, Kircher helped Huntingdon to a pair of 8th place finishes, a 6th place spot, and a 3rd place showing as a team in the NCAA's as well. 
 
Kircher was a three-time All-South Region selection by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) for his play with the Hawks and would later go on to take All-American status in back-to-back seasons (2009, 2010).
 
Success on the course for Kircher is no surprise given that the New York native comes from a golf family as the Piedmont coach's father played Division I golf for Auburn University.  Keeping it in the family, Kircher went on to join his father as Associate Director of the Monroe Invitational Championship, one of the most prestigious and oldest amateur tournaments in the country. 
 
With the event dating back to 1937, the Monroe Invitational annually compiles a field of some of the best amateur players in the nation and, at times, from across the globe. While working with the Monroe, Kircher recruited some of the top talent around the U.S. to play in the event.  The tournament routinely identifies some of the best players throughout the collegiate ranks as well as up-and-coming players with past champions including PGA mainstays like Dustin Johnson (2007, Coastal Carolina).  
 
A 2011 graduate of Huntingdon College, Kircher earned his undergraduate degree in Communication Studies.
 
Currently residing in northeast Georgia, Kircher manages all aspects of the men's golf program as well as tournament direction in his role as the Director of Golf. 
 

Last updated 7/23