Former Captain Schuette Picked to Coach Pepperdine Golf Team

Looking to establish itself as a future NCAA golf power, Pepperdine announced Thursday that Kurt Schuette has been hired as the men’s golf coach.

Schuette, 26, Pepperdine’s team captain in 1984 and 1985, succeeds Bob Yokoi, who resigned in June to pursue other endeavors related to golf. Pepperdine finished second in the West Coast Athletic Conference last season but no individual qualified for the NCAA championships.

“I’m very excited about the job,” Schuette said. “It’s very important that we establish ourselves as a top NCAA team in the future. It’s something that we’re very enthusiastic about, but we have to be realistic. We can’t turn the program around overnight.”

Schuette’s immediate goals are to win the conference title in 1989 and qualify an individual player for the championships.

The Waves’ top player, Jim Johnson, used up his eligibility this season. However, Kevin Eden, Mike Murphy, Dean Kobane and Roger Trevison, all of whom earned letters as freshmen, will return next season.

“Within three years, I’d like to see us within the top 20 in the country,” said Schuette, a resident of Thousand Oaks. “I think that’s a realistic goal.”

Tim Wilhelm, associate athletic director at Pepperdine, said that Schuette possessed the kind of qualities the Malibu school deemed necessary for the position.

“He’s a good player. He is a good person and he gets along with people,” Wilhelm said. “We like to hire from within, if possible, and Kurt is one of us. He was the type of coach we were looking for.”

Schuette, a volunteer assistant coach at Pepperdine during the 1986 and 1988 seasons, will relinquish his position as assistant pro at North Ranch Country Club in three weeks.