July 1, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame head men’s golf coach Jim Kubinski has agreed to terms on a multi-year contract extension, the University announced Tuesday.
Kubinski has led the Irish through a period of impressive growth and prosperity since arriving on campus in January 2005. In that four-year span, Notre Dame has won consecutive BIG EAST Conference titles (2005, 2006) and made back-to-back NCAA regional appearances both years (coming within two strokes of making the NCAA finals in 2005). He also has piloted the Irish to the top three single-season stroke average totals (and four of the top seven) in the school’s record books, including a school-record mark of 292.97 in 2005-06, not to mention nine of the top 12 single-round scores in program annals.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be continuing what we’ve started to build here at Notre Dame,” Kubinski said. “When I was hired, I said that coaching at Notre Dame was a dream come true. This is where I want to be, and it couldn’t be at a better time. Our program has made great strides and, given our returning roster and recruiting efforts, the future looks very bright.
“I consider myself fortunate to wake up each day excited about what we’re trying to accomplish,” he added. “Of course, a coach couldn’t ask for greater support from his university and from all the people who have an impact on our program and on our athletic department. I’m also blessed with great kids who work hard and care about improving themselves both on and off the course. It’s a special place and a special time. I’ll continue to play whatever small role I can in building on those things.”
Notre Dame has posted 15 wins over Golfweek Top 25 teams in Kubinski’s tenure, while also being ranked among the top 75 teams in the nation by Golfweek. The Irish rose as high as No. 12 midway through the fall 2005 season, and they were named the Golfweek National Team of the Week on May 1, 2006, after a stirring 12-stroke final-round comeback (with a school-record score of 16-under par 272) and sudden-death playoff victory in the ’06 BIG EAST Championship. What’s more, under Kubinski’s guidance, Notre Dame has registered 16 top-five finishes and won three tournament titles (two in sudden death).
Individually, Kubinski has produced at least one PING All-Midwest Region selection in each of his four seasons with the Irish, after the program had not fielded a regional or national honoree since 1980. Cole Isban was a three-time all-region choice (2005-07), graduated in 2007 as the school record holder for single-season stroke average (72.71 in 2006-07) and career stroke average (73.76) and currently is playing on the NGA Hooters Tour. Rising senior Josh Sandman was a 2008 all-region pick and earned the program’s first-ever individual NCAA regional qualifying berth, while reeling off five consecutive top-10 finishes to wrap up the spring 2008 season (the longest such run by an Irish golfer in nearly three decades). Sandman also is on pace to threaten Isban’s career stroke average standard with a 73.61 all-time mark entering his final season in 2008-09.
In 2007, Kubinski was nominated for the GOLF magazine Top 100 Teachers List, which honors the nation’s pre-eminent golf instructors. He also has created the Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic, an annual fall tournament that has attracted some of the country’s best teams and is hosted by Notre Dame at the award-winning Warren Golf Course. And, he has overseen the program’s move into the state-of-the-art Rolfs Family Varsity All-Season Golf Facility, a 10,333-square foot complex that has quickly become among the top on-campus collegiate facilities in the land.
Kubinski came to Notre Dame after 18 months as an assistant coach with both the men’s and women’s golf teams at Duke University. He is a 1993 graduate of Springfield (Mass.) College, where he lettered three times, was a two-time all-Northeast 10 Conference selection, and a two-year team captain. Upon graduation, Kubinski competed on the North Atlantic Tour (tying for sixth place at the 1995 Boston Open) and the Carolinas Section PGA before embarking on his coaching career.
A native of Springfield, Mass., Kubinski now makes his home in Granger with his wife, Sarah, and their infant daughter, Kelly.
— ND —