Women’s golf has its first new coach in over 26 years in Kim Kester.

Kester is looking forward to her opportunity at NIU and wants to create her own legacy. Last year, former coach Pam Tyska retired.

“Pam did a great job while at NIU and created a great program during her tenure,” Kester said. “I hope to live up to all the accomplishments that she had. You will never have the two exact same coaches, and [you] have to make it your own somehow. I want to do well here.”

Kester comes to NIU after spending the past three seasons as a graduate assistant for the women’s golf team at her alma mater, Toledo. She helped lead the Rockets to a third-place finish at the MAC Championship in 2010 and 2012.

During her tenure at Toledo, Kester served as academic coordinator and assisted in the recruiting duties for the Rockets.

Kester believes her work with Toledo will help her transition to NIU quite easily.

“I absolutely believe my experience in the MAC will help me coach here at NIU,” Kester said. “I am very familiar with the courses they play, especially in conference play, and I am familiar with the teams they play and what each team brings in.”

A standout golfer for the Rockets, Kester is a two-time second-team All-MAC honoree and posted the second-lowest single-season stroke average in school history with her 76.5 mark in her junior campaign. That season, she led Toledo with six top-five finishes and tied for the team lead with eight top-10 showings.

She also helped the Rockets post a school-best runner-up finish at the 2006 MAC Championship and in 2007 was named the Rocket’s MVP.

Senior Allie Parthie that the coaching style and attitude of Kester differs in a number of ways compared to the way Tyska ran the team last season.

“Coach Kester is obviously a lot younger than Pam and has a little more structure when it comes to practicing,” Parthie said. “But nothing against Pam. Kim works on us with our short game and we work on our long game. She instructs us on everything which is beneficial for everyone on the team, while Pam wasn’t quite the same. Kim works on us after rounds for a few hours on whatever we need to work on that day. I really like Kim. She is young and hip.”