JP van der Walt enters his third season as the assistant coach for the College of Charleston Men’s golf program in 2023-24. After stints at Augusta University and Columbus State University, van der Walt joined the CofC staff with more than seven years of collegiate coaching experience at the Division I and Division II levels.
In his first year on campus, van der Walt played a crucial in the Cougars' unprecedented success. In 2021-22, the Cougars won a second consecutive CAA Championship, clinched a ninth NCAA Regional berth in program history and finished fifth in that Regional to advance to the NCAA National Championships for just the second time in program history and the first time in 21 years.
Van der Walt spent the previous five seasons from 2016-21 at Augusta as the assistant coach for the Jaguars’ men’s and women’s golf programs. During his tenure, Augusta’s men’s team captured four conference championships and three straight NCAA Regionals from 2017-19. Meanwhile the women’s team earned NCAA Regional berths in 2017 and 2019, climbing as high as No. 45 in the national rankings.
Under his tutelage, the Augusta men’s squad reached the 2018 NCAA National Championships in Stillwater, Oklahoma, with a program-postseason best 270 at the NCAA Raleigh Regional. Van der Walt helped guide senior Broc Everett to the school’s first-ever NCAA Individual National Championship that season.
Van der Walt began his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Columbus State, where he was instrumental in CSU’s 2016 Peach Belt Conference Championship run. He competed at Columbus State as a student-athlete from 2007-09, securing medalist honors at the 2008 Rollins Invitational and helping CSU finish third at the Division II National Championship.
