Northland College Notes

More local swingingAnother Bay Area hiring to the coaching staff at Northland College was made on June 17 when Ken Bartelt accepted the position of Head Golf Coach for the upcoming 2024 fall season. Bartelt joins new local hires in mens and womens soccer, basketball, and cross country, as Northland seeks to fuel its athletics programs with more Northern Wisconsin, Minnesota, and UP recruits to add to its traditionally strong national and international efforts. Athletic Director Dan Schumacher is pleased with the selection of Bartelt, who has established a record of success in coaching numerous sports at the high school level, including a trip to the WIAA D3 boys state basketball tournament in 2019 while guiding the Northwestern High School Eagles.

“I am excited to announce Ken Bartelt as Northland’s Head Golf Coach,” Schumacher said. “He will be a great fit here and we eagerly anticipate the positive impact he will make.”

Bartelt is ready to start swinging to build a golf team which recently featured some stellar female players — most notably Mikayla Santjer and Maddy Bloedel, both of whom placed high in conference championship tournaments multiple times — and has family ties to Northland.

“I am very much looking forward to the new challenge and to help out the college that my wife, Annette, graduated from,” said Bartelt. “It’s a beautiful campus that also has a simulator on site for practicing after the weather turns ugly. The Chequamegon Bay Golf Course is in tremendous condition so we have a great place to practice and get better. I’m looking forward to meeting the returning players from last year and perhaps get a few more out to build some depth on both teams.”

An accomplished golfer himself, Bartelt won the 2023 Chequamegon Bay Golf Course club championship in Ashland. His son Reece has been featured by the Ashland Daily Press as a national calibur, elite PGA teaching golf professional and player.

Northland College contributed to this article.