A former professional player and a teaching pro at some of the finest facilities in the nation, Kevin Rhoads is in his sixth season as Harvard's women's golf coach in 2009-10.

Rhoads was named as the 2008 New England PGA Teacher of the Year and, under his guidance, the Crimson has become arguably the top program in the Northeast region.

In the course of his first five seasons, Rhoads has led the Crimson to its most successful period in the young history of women's golf at Harvard. Under his watch, Harvard has won a combined 21 tournaments - 16 more than the Crimson had won in its history before Rhoads joined the program - and has registered its six lowest scoring averages in school history. Perhaps most impressive is the fact that the 22 lowest team scores in program history have all come during the last four seasons alone.

Perhaps even mroe astoundingly, Harvard boasted seven tournament victories alone in the 2008-09 season - winning all but one tournament in the regular season and finishing second in that event. The Crimson won its second consecutive Ivy League title, placing three players on the All-Ivy League team out of seven selections. Freshman Christine Cho was among the group and was also named the inaugural Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

The 2007-08 campaign was no different as Rhoads led Harvard to its first Ivy League women's championship as the Crimson shot a 288 in the first round, crusing to the title by a stunning 10 strokes. Three Crimson golfers, Emily Balmert, Claire Sheldon and Jessica Hazlettt earned all-league honors and the Crimson finished 19th at the NCAA Central Region Championship hosted by the University of Texas. Harvard had an average score of 310.81 - nearly two strokes better than its previous best.  

The 2006-07 season saw Harvard set a program record with an average score of 312.38 on its way to three tournament victories. The Crimson broke the 300 barrier on two occasions as Harvard shot a 297 in the opening round of the Dartmouth Invitational and had a 298 in the second round of the Yale Fall Intercollegiate. That success continued to the off season, when two of Rhoads' players, Sarah Harvey and Claire Sheldon, claimed victories in their respective state amateur tournaments.

The 2005-06 season proved to be Harvard's best Ivy League tournament showing to date as the Crimson registered a second-place finish at the Ivy League championships while producing the school's first Ivy League individual champion. Rhoads saw three of his players register the three lowest season stroke averages in school history as Harvard shattered virtually all of its scoring records during the season.

Rhoads moved to New England in April 2003 to become the teaching professional at The Country Club -- the storied facility which has hosted three U.S. Open championships and the 1999 Ryder Cup tournament and serves as one of Harvard's practice facilities.

Before joining the staff at The Country Club, Rhoads served as an instructor at the PGA Learning Center in Port St. Lucie, Fla., from 2001-03.

Rhoads played collegiately for two years at UCLA, where he walked on to the squad as a junior and earned honorable mention All-Pac 10 accolades as a senior. He went on to enjoy a three-and-a-half year professional playing career in which he competed on the Canadian PGA tour, the Golden Bear tour in Florida, the West Coast Tear Drop tour and the Buy.com Tour. He also attended PGA Tour qualifying school three times and advanced to the second stage twice.

Rhoads' golf background is deeply rooted in his family. His father, Rick, was a two-time All-America selection at the University of Southern California and a seven-year PGA Tour player before becoming the Head Professional at the San Francisco Golf Club where he has taught since 1976. His uncle, Ron, was formerly the head men's golf coach at USC, while his cousin, Roger Tambellini, joined the PGA Tour in 2004.

Rhoads earned a bachelor's degree in history from UCLA in 1995. He is a resident of Brookline, Mass.