University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Men's Golf
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- roger.prenzlow@unco.edu
- Phone:
- 970.351.2075
Head men's golf coach Roger Prenzlow is now entering his seventh season as Northern Colorado men's golf coach. As the Bears head coach he has led the program to three conference title, American Sky (2014), Big Sky (2018 & 2019).
Prenzlow helped make it back-to-back championships for Northern Colorado in 2018-19. The Bears won their second straight Big Sky Championship, holding off Weber State's final round charge to win by two strokes and once again advance to the NCAA Tournament. UNC ended up in the Pullman Regional where they finished 12th. A trio of Bears earned All-Big Sky honors including Big Sky Golfer of the Year Joshua Matz. Coby Welch and Li Chen were also on the first team, while freshman Jack Castiglia made the honorable mention list. Once again Prenzlow was named the Big Sky Coach of the Year for his coaching in 2018-19. He led the team to an impressive streak dating back to the end of the 2017-18 season in which the team earned a top 10 finish in 11 straight tournaments, including winning the Pat Hicks Thunderbird Invitational.Â
During the 2017-18 season the young talent turned into champions. The Bears won their first ever Big Sky Championship by three strokes over Southern Utah to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Northern Colorado ended up finishing in 10th place at the College Station Regional, beating nationally ranked teams in Georgia and San Francisco. Prenzlow helped Joshua Matz win the Big Sky Golfer of the Year along with Andrew Romano winning the Big Sky Tournament individual title. The Bears ended up with two top 5 finishes and eight top 10. While Matz was the Big Sky Golfer of the Year, Coby Welch and Andrew Romano each earned second team All-Big Sky honors. Prenzlow was named the Big Sky Coach of the Year for the strong season by UNC.
In 2016-17, the season was spotlighted by the tremendous young talent brought into the program. Notably, Coby Welch played in all 10 tournaments throughout the year as a Freshman. He had eight Top 50 finishes throughout the season and he had four Top 20 finishes. He recorded a season low 66 at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invite in September in which he won the tournament. At the Big Sky Championships, Coby finished in 2nd place recording a 216 stroke total in three rounds for the weekend. Coby was named to the Big Sky All-Conference First Team…Most notably, Welch was named the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year.
The UNC head coach had a solid year in 2015-16. The Bears earned a fourth place finish in the Big Sky Conference Championship and had two players named All-Conference.
Outside of the links, Prenzlow’s golfers have been recognized for their work in the classroom. For three straight seasons the team has been named to the GCAA Academic All-American list. He’s also had four individuals named to the Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar teams.
Prenzlow led his team to an America Sky Conference Championship title in 2014Â before advancing to the program's first-ever NCAA Regional. He was awarded with Coach of the Year honors and helped three student-athletes to America Sky All-Conference honors.
The Bears and Prenzlow won the America Sky Championship while finishing 26 shots ahead of second place. Ben Krueger, Steven Kupcho and Julian Woodfork finished 1-2-3, respectively, at the conference tournament. During the regular season, UNC finished in the top 10 on eight occasions.
Prenzlow served as the head men's golf coach at Wyoming from 1982 through 2002 and has spent the past 11 years at the Old Baldy Golf Club in Saratoga, Wyoming, serving as both the head golf professional and then the general manager and director of golf.
While the head coach at Wyoming, the 1992 team became the first-ever to advance to the NCAA West Regional and he coached eight Academic All-Americans throughout his tenure.
At Wyoming, Prenzlow coached both the men's and women's teams from the time of his hiring in 1982 up until the 1992-93 season, then spent the next 10 years concentrating on the men's program.
Prior to Laramie, Prenzlow was the assistant golf pro at the Boulder Country Club in Boulder, Colo., from 1979-82.
A native of Boulder, Prenzlow first competed collegiately at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo. He later transferred to the University of New Mexico where he competed for the Lobo golf team.
Prenzlow graduated from the Professional Golfer's Association (PGA) Business School prior to joining the Boulder Country Club Staff in April of 1979.
