Daniel Hayden begins his sixth season as head men's and women's golf coach.
During his tenure as golf coach, Hayden has been named Heartland Conference Coach of the Year (2018) and Golf Pride Grips NCAA Division II South Central Region Coach of the Year (2018).
He has led the Lions and Lady Lions to four-consecutive Heartland Conference Tournament appearances, and in 2018, he led the Lions to a runner-up finish in the tournament -- their second-best finish in the tournament.
The Lions qualified for the NCAA Division II South Central/West Region Tournament for the second-consecutive and third overall time in the program's NCAA Division II history this past spring.
Prior to joining the UAFS staff, Hayden was the head men’s and women’s golf coach at the University of Texas at Brownsville.
Hayden has an extensive golf background at the collegiate level and in the private sector. Hayden spent the past two seasons at the University of Texas at Brownsville, which has recently merged with the University of Texas Pan American to form the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
The Ocelots women’s team finished runner-up in the NAIA’s Red River Athletic Conference/Kentucky Intercollegiate Conference Tournament in 2014 and finished third this past spring. The Ocelots men’s team finished second in the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament in 2014 and finished sixth in the Red River Athletic Conference/Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament this past spring.
Prior to becoming head coach at the University of Texas at Brownsville, Hayden was the director of Junior Golf for the Sun Country PGA in Albuquerque, N.M. His duties included setting up and running Junior tournaments through the Sun Country Region, which consisted of New Mexico and El Paso, Texas.Â
Hayden began his coaching career as head men’s and women’s golf coach at the University of the Southwest, a NAIA school located in Hobbs, N.M. There, he helped lead the men’s program to a No. 17 national ranking in 2009.
Hayden played two seasons for Phoenix Community College (2000-02) and qualified for the NJCAA National Championship Tournament each season.
He went on to play at NAIA Wayland Baptist University, where he was a part of two national championship-contender teams in 2003 and 2004.
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