Texas State Athletics

Mike Akers enters his tenth season in 2015-16 as the head women’s golf coach at Texas State. Since his arrival in 2006, Akers has steadily improved the program and added notoriety to the program, winning 13 tournaments. He has led Texas State to five NCAA Tournament appearances and the 2013-14 trip to the NCAA Tournament marked three straight trips and forr NCAA Regional play.

2013-14 marked the third straight season in a different conference for Texas State after being in the Southland and the WAC. The new league didn’t have any negative impact on the Bobcats as they placed four players on the All-Sun Belt Conference team. Mara Puisite and Lejan Lewthwaite were named to the first team while Iman Nordin and Lora Assad earned second-team honors.

Puisite came on strong at the end of the year, finishing inside the top-10 at the Rebel Intercollegiate before tying for the championship at the Sun Belt Conference Championship, the first win of her career.

The 2012-13 season marked the fourth time in the last five years he has led Texas State to the NCAA Tournament, previously accomplishing the feat in 2008, 2010 and 2012.

Off the course, Akers directed Texas State to earn national recognition from the NCAA, as the team received a perfect APR score of 1000. Krista Puisite also contributed to the high academic standards, becoming the first Bobcat to earn the CoSIDA Academic All-American award.

The 2012-13 season was the best in school history under his direction. The Bobcats had their best secoring average finishing position at 297.94 over their 33 rounds. Texas State also reached its highest national ranking to end the season at No. 26 in the country.

In 2011-12, the team had its highest finishing percentage at 73.2%, thanks to its school record three tournament championships. The team’s average score per round also was a then-school record this year at 299.45, the first time it has been below 300.

Following the 2011-12 campaign the Bobcats earned three players on the All-Southland Conference team, including freshman of the year, Iman Nordin. She was one of two first team selections the Bobcats had, joining junior Krista Puisite who set school records in scoring average (74.23) and rounds of par or better with eight.

In 2010-11, Akers led Texas State to its best season ever statistically. The team averaged 305.5 strokes per 54 holes and was also just 18.34 strokes over par. With wins at the Claud Jacobs Intercollegiate for the third straight year and the Sir Pizza Cards Challenge, it marked the fourth straight year an Akers squad won two tournaments. Perhaps more impressively was that of 10 tournaments the Bobcats competed in, they had top-10 finishes in nine of them.

In 2009-10, Akers and the Bobcats captured their second Southland Conference Championship in three years in record-setting fashion. The team overcame a 15-stroke deficit in the final round to fire a 292, for an 885. That qualified as the course, school and SLC record.

THE MIKE AKERS FILE
PERSONAL
Birthdate: Nov. 5
EDUCATION
Hays High School, Hays, Kansas
B.A. in exercise science, Fort Hays State, 1993
COACHING EXPERIENCE
Schools	Years
Fort Hays State (Associate Head Coach)	1995-2002
Central Florida (Assistant Coach)	2005-2006
Texas State University (Head Coach)	2006-present
HEAD COACHING RECORD
Schools	Record
Texas State University	632-466-12
COACHING NOTES
All-Southland Conference Selections	12
All-Sun Belt Conference Selections	4
All-Western Athletic Conference Selections	3
All-Americans	1
Tournament Championships	13
COACHING HONORS
Southland Conference Coach of the Year	2008
Southland Conference Coach of the Year	2010
TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
Jim West Challenge	2013
Chris Banister Classic	2012
BYU Entrada Classic	2012
Claud Jacobs Challenge	2012
Johnie Imes Invitational	2011
Sir Pizza Cards Challenge	2011
Claud Jacobs Intercollegiate	2011
Southland Conference Tournament	2010
Claud Jacobs Intercollegiate	2010
Claud Jacobs Intercollegiate	2009
Koasati Pines Collegiate Golf Classic	2009
Southland Conference Tournament	2008
Chip-N-Club Invitational	2007

Texas State also earned an automatic bid to the NCAA West Regionals in Stanford, California. Akers was named 2009-10 Southland Conference Coach of the Year, Krista Puisite was named SLC Freshman of the Year and earned All-First Team honors along with classmate Valdis Jonsdottir. Caitlin Bliss earned Honorable Mention accolades and Gabby De Reuck was named an All-Southland Conference Academic selection.

During the fall of 2009, Akers led Texas State to four top-10 finishes, including a third-place finish at the Challenge at Onion Creek. The Bobcats top-three performance was better than six of the seven nationally-ranked teams at the tournament, and a second-round score of 283 shattered a Texas State single-round record by 12 strokes on the par 70 course.

In the 2008-2009 season, Akers led the Bobcats to one of their best finishes in school history when Texas State claimed second place at the 2008 Challenge at Wolfdancer Tournament that included a field consist¬ing of six Big 12 teams and four Big 10 teams. Overall, the Bobcats won two tournament championships, defeated six Big 12 teams and placed eight members on the Southland Conference All-Academic team.

Akers came to Texas State in September 2006, and his successful tenure began right away. In May 2007, Texas State’s recruiting class was ranked among the nation’s top-five by The Golf Channel. The class quickly made an impact as Texas State captured the University of Nebraska Invitational with five freshmen in the lineup.

Texas State finished the 2007-08 season with six top-five finishes and the five freshmen were ranked as the nation’s best class by Golfstat.com. Texas State capped off its successful season by winning the 2008 Southland Conference Championship tournament and qualifying to play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

The Bobcats also jumped an astounding 100 spots in the national rankings in 12 months after climbing from 148th in Oct. 2006 to 48th in Oct. 2007. Those achievements earned Akers Southland Conference Coach of the Year honors.

Besides successfully coaching the Bobcats, Akers has created one of the top intercollegiate tournaments in the nation. The first two tournaments were played at Wolfdancer Golf Club at the Hyatt Lost Pines resort before shifting to the Onion Creek Golf Club in 2009.

Akers came to Texas State after serving as an assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s golf programs at the University of Central Florida. Prior to his stint at UCF, Akers spent one season as a volunteer assistant for the women’s program at Middle Tennessee.

Akers was also the associate head coach at his alma mater, Fort Hays State in Kansas for eight seasons. There he helped elevate the program to the top of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

Akers also served as head PGA professional at the Smoky Hill Country Club in Hays, he was responsible for the club’s daily golf operations management. He is also the course-record holder at Smoky Hill, having fired a nine-under 62 on the par-71 course and became a PGA Class A professional in 1996,.

Additionally, Akers served as the assistant profes¬sional at Rio Pinar Country Club in Orlando, Florida for two years, where he assisted with the day-to-day operations of the private club.

He is the founder and co-owner of Precision Valley Golf Center in Kansas, a full-service golf training site that includes indoor and outdoor hitting areas as well as a pro shop.

In 2001, Akers produced and co-authored a golf instructional CD-ROM entitled "Build Your Dream Swing." The interactive CD covers the seven components of the full swing.

Akers earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise science from FHSU, where he was a member of the Tiger men’s golf team. He recorded three tournament victories during his collegiate career in Hays.

He and his wife Tamara reside in New Braunfels. Akers has two sons, Drew (14) and Eddie (3 years).