Kelly Welker, who has served as the women's golf coach at BHSU since 2018, has stepped down to accept the assistant women's golf coach position at Georgia Southern University.

"I am so grateful to Black Hills State for the opportunity they provided me," said Welker. "I have learned so many valuable lessons during my time here, and I will carry those with me for the rest of my life. I will miss the players and the community immensely."

Welker led the women's golf program for over two years, coaching Yellow Jackets such as Kiley Phares (2018-19), who finished her time at BHSU with the lowest career stroke average of 86.19 (min. 30 rounds) and Hayley Franke (2018-20), who finished second on that list (92.47).

Welker has also coached current Yellow Jackets Nicole Klungness, who was named WGCA All-American Scholar as a freshman last season, and junior transfer Jade Burr who has led BHSU in stroke average so far this season.

"In her short time here at BHSU, Coach Welker made positive changes to our women's golf program that will have a lasting impact for years to come," said BHSU Assistant Athletic Director and Senior Women's Administrator Colleen Mischke. "She recruited talented young players who are committed to helping the Yellow Jacket golf program grow in both numbers and competitiveness in our conference. We're appreciative of her efforts and wish her luck in the future."

Prior to BHSU, Welker was a Graduate Assistant Coach with the University of Central Missouri women's golf team from 2017 to 2018.

Also from 2017 to 2018, she worked as a Golf Shop Assistant at Mules National Golf Club where she managed operations. Before that, Welker was an Assistant Golf Instructor from 2016 to 2017 at St. Andrews Golf Club.

She served as an intern in the UCM Athletic Department in 2018, working in compliance under the Senior Associate Athletic Director, and at Elite Golf and Fitness in 2016 where she assisted in training golfers.

As a student athlete at UCM from 2013-2017, Welker received All-Conference honors twice as a four-year member of the women's golf team and had a career-low round of 74. She also made two appearances at the NCAA Central Regional Championships and finished her college career with two top-five finishes, four top-10s and 19 top-20s.

Welker graduated from UCM with her bachelor's degree in Exercise Science in 2016 and a master's in Sport Management in 2019.