Kelly Mettert is entering his 14th season as the head men’s and women’s golf coach at Indiana Tech heading into the 2021-22 season. He is the longest-tenured head coach in the Department of Athletics.
While at Tech he has coached (women's): 38 All-Conference selections, 29 WHAC All-Academic Team members, 22 NAIA Scholar-Athletes, eight NAIA All-Americans, 27 WHAC Golfers of the Week recipients, six CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, four WHAC Golfer of the Year winners, two WHAC Individual Medalist's, two NAIA All-Tournament First-Team honorees, three WHAC Newcomer of the Year selections, two NAIA National Golfer of the Week and one NAIA Individual Medalist (Courtney Dye, 2017)
and (men's): 28 WHAC All-Academic Team selections, 20 All-WHAC recipients, 16 NAIA Scholar-Athletes, 12 WHAC Golfer of the Week winners and the first NAIA National Championship qualifier in program history (Dathan Terry, 2016).
Last season the women's team won their eighth regular season WHAC title while Carissa Graft was named the Golfer of the Year after winning all three conference jamborees, while the men's program finished sixth in the conference standings during fall. The spring season was cut short after the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early March and forced the cancellation of all collegiate sports.
In 2019-20 the women's golf team returned to the top of the conference and shattered several records over the year, winning the WHAC Championship for their seventh title in program history and taking second at the WHAC Championships to garner an at-large bid to the NAIA National Championships. Cecilia Heck was named the WHAC Golfer of the Year following the fall season while Victoria Raffle won WHAC Newcomer of the Year honors following the conference tournament. Katie Giant made the cut at the national championships, becoming just the second individual to compete in all four rounds at the tournament. The Orange and Black set new records for a round and 36-holes while Heck set the program record for a round and 36-holes as well. The men's team finished third in the regular season standings and took fourth at the conference championships.
The 2017-18 season saw the women's team finish fourth in the WHAC regular season standings and second at the WHAC Championships while the men's team finished fourth in the regular season and third at the conference tournament.
In the 2016-17 season the women's team would continue it's dominance in conference play as they ran their regular season and tournament titles to four years in a row with Mettert garnering Coach of the Year honors for the fourth year in a row and sixth honor overall. Courtney Dye would break Wiebke Schlender's three-year run as the WHAC's best player as she captured individual medalist honors before concluding her season with the individual title at the NAIA National Championships, becoming the first player in school history to win the title. The team would finish 14th overall at the national meet. The men's team would finish third at the WHAC Championships.
During the 2015-16 campaign the Orange and Black continued to make history under Mettert as the women's team won its third consecutive WHAC regular season and tournament titles to earn their third straight trip to the NAIA National Championships, while on the men's side freshman Dathan Terry won Individual Medalist honors at the WHAC Tournament to become the first Tech men's golfer to qualify for the National Championships. The women would finish 11th at the NAIA National Championships, their second-best finish ever, while Terry placed in a tie for 36th individually. Wiebke Schlender would earn All-American honors for the third year in a row while earning medalist honors at the WHAC Tournament for the third consecutive year and taking home WHAC Player of the Year honors for the second time, while Courtney Dye picked up her second All-American plaque. Mettert would earn his fifth WHAC Coach of the Year plaque and third in a row for the women's program.
In the 2014-15 campaign, Tech's women continued its dominance by repeating as WHAC regular season and tournament championships and would finish 17th at the NAIA National Championships while the men's team won the regular season title and hosted the conference tournament at Coyote Creek Golf Course in Fort Wayne. Mettert would be named Coach of the Year in the WHAC for the women's team for the fourth time.
In the 2013-14 season the Warriors made history as Mettert guided the women to a WHAC regular season and tournament championship, earning a trip to Lincoln, Neb. to play in the NAIA National Championship. The team made the cut for the first time and finished ninth, the best finish in program history. Mettert earned his third Coach of the Year award while coaching Wiebke Schlender to Player and Newcomer of the Year honors as well as being named to the All-Tournament team. Mettert also saw his first three All-Americans in Schlender, Tamina Römer and Courtney Dye.
In 2012-13 Mettert coached Megan Garrison to the first place at WHAC Championships, earning her a trip ro the NAIA National Tournament in Lincoln, Neb.
In 2010-11, he guided the women's team back to the NAIA National Championships after sweeping the WHAC regular season and conference tournament titles and earning his second WHAC Coach of the Year honor.
In his first two years at Tech, Mettert took the Warrior women from worst (2006-07) to first (2007-08) in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference while earning the Coach of Character award in 2007 and the Coach of the Year honor in 2008. The 2008 team earned a trip to the NAIA National Championships in Rapid City, S.D. for the first time in program history.
The men's team won the WHAC Regular season title in 2014 and was the runner-up at the conference tournament the following spring, capping the best team season in program history.
A native of New Haven, Indiana and a graduate of New Haven High School, Coach Mettert played varsity golf all the way through high school and college. Three years All-Conference in high school and two years All-Conference in college, Mettert was also the MVP at Tech for two years. Still holding many of the school records, he hopes to bring in recruits that can set their own records and get Indiana Tech to the National Tournament. Coach Mettert brings more than 30 years of coaching experience to the Warriors.
He is still active in softball, bowling, and of course, golf. He still carries a seven handicap, so he can give the kids a challenge on the course. He and his wife own Custom Golf, a custom club and repair shop located at 2614 W. State Blvd, in Fort Wayne. It is the winter hangout for the golfers to practice when not in school. Coach Mettert has also been honored in his field of fitting golf clubs by being named to the Top 100 fitters in the world five times.
Coach Mettert is a 1978 Indiana Tech graduate and lives in New Haven, Indiana with his wife of 33 years, Cathy, and has three kids: Tina, Kaitlyn, and Andrew.
