Aug. 14, 2001
Notre Dame, Ind. – John Jasinski, whose teams at the University of Toledo have advanced to the NCAA Golf Championships the last four seasons, has been named the fifth men’s golf coach at the University of Notre Dame.
Jasinski comes to Notre Dame after serving as the head coach at Toledo for the past nine years and as the head PGA professional at Stone Oak Country Club in Toledo, Ohio. A 1983 graduate of the University of Toledo, Jasinski has been associated with the Ohio school for the past 16 years. He played three years for the Rockets golf team and was an assistant coach for four seasons before taking over as the head coach in 1992.
“The Notre Dame golf program has a wonderful opportunity to situate itself among the elite programs in the country and our goal for the future is to win a national championship,” said Jasinski.
“The combination of academic excellence and the investment in the golf program and the facilities puts Notre Dame golf on the map. Notre Dame always has been one place where I wanted to be. My father is a graduate and I grew up on Notre Dame athletics and the school. My family and I are extremely exited to be here.”
In naming Jasinski, Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White said, “We are very excited to be naming John Jasinski as the golf coach at Notre Dame. He brings outstanding credentials to the program and has a history of success at the University of Toledo. With John as our full-time coach, plus the addition of scholarships and our facilities at the Warren Golf Course, we have now put our men’s golf program in the position to compete on the national level.”
Last spring, Jasinski’s Toledo squad finished second at the Mid-American Conference Golf Championships for the fourth straight season and qualified for the NCAA regionals at Stillwater, Okla. where the Rockets finished eighth. From there, Toledo advanced to the NCAA Championships at the Duke University Golf Club where the Rockets were 18th after two rounds and missed the cut.
Since 1997, Toledo has appeared in the NCAA tournament four times, making it to the regionals in 1997 and the finals in 1999 and 2001 where the Rockets finished 16th and 18th respectively. The 1997 MAC coach of the year, Jasinski had two of his golfers selected first team all-MAC and one second team last season while freshman Brad Heaven was the MAC’s freshman of the year. His program has also produced three Academic All-Americans and one honorable mention All-American.
In his nine years at the helm of the Toledo golf program, Jasinski’s teams have posted 52 top five finishes with 12 individual champions and eight team titles.
As a UT golfer, Jasinski was the winner of the 1983 Bill Duschl Memorial Award, given to the University of Toledo golfer who contributes the most to the success of the team. He played six years (1989-91, 94-96) in the National Club Professional Championship and also played in the 1986 National Foot-Joy Assistants Championship. He has qualified for the PGA Tour’s first and second stage in 1986 and earned PGA Northwest Ohio Player of the Year honors in 1989. In 1998 he was selected Northern Ohio Teacher of the Year and served on the Toledo Junior Golf Advisory Board from 1989 to 1998. In 2000 he was the second ranked instructor in Ohio by Golf Digest and was listed among Golf Magazine’s top 400 instructors in the country.
Jasinski takes over for George Thomas who served as Notre Dame’s head golf coach since 1989. Thomas will remain as Director of Golf Instruction at Notre Dame assisting with both the men’s and women’s teams.
Jasinski and his wife Amy Jean have a daughter, Kate and four sons, Zachary, Ben, Sam and Luke.