Joe Jensen will be leading the University of Wyoming Cowboy Golf program for his 25th season as head men’s golf coach in 2025-26. In addition to serving as the head coach of the men’s golf program, Jensen will be in his 21st year as the Director of UW Men’s & Women’s Golf programs. He was named head coach on Dec. 7, 2001, and was named Director of Golf on Aug. 18, 2005. In addition to his coaching duties, Jensen manages and is the head golf professional at the Glenn “Red” Jacoby Golf Club at the University of Wyoming.
Jensen has directed the Cowboy golf program during one of the most competitive eras in UW men’s golf history. Under Jensen’s direction, the Cowboys have set school records for low individual round and event score, as well as low team round and event score. He has coached four individual NCAA Regional Qualifiers, three All-Mountain West Conference selections and was named the MW Golf Coach of the Year in 2016. Five of his golfers have earned MW Player of the Week honors, with the most recent being Jimmy Dales during the 2021-22 season.
Jensen’s teams have had phenomenal success academically during his time as head coach. At of the end of the 2024-25 season, 48 Cowboys had earned All-America Scholar honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). During Jensen’s tenure as head coach and for 16 consecutive seasons Wyoming was named an All-Academic Team by the GCAA, having achieved a team GPA of 3.00 or higher. At the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, Wyoming was one of only 74 NCAA Division I men’s golf programs to achieve the prestigious President’s Special Recognition award from the GCAA. The award recognizes men’s golf programs who have achieved a team grade-point average of 3.50 or higher. It marked the third time in Wyoming school history that the men’s golf program had received that honor. Jensen also has had 122 individuals earn Academic All-Mountain West honors and 68 earn MW Scholar-Athlete recognition through the end of the 2024-25 season.
The 2024-25 season saw Jensen and the Cowboys place 10th at the Mountain West Conference Championships. That was one of eight top 10 finishes throughout the year with a high-water mark of a runner-up finish at The Duck Invite. Kristof Panke owned the best individual finish of the season, taking second in Eugene, Oregon. Individually speaking, Wyoming had eight top 10 placers throughout the season.
The 2023-24 season saw Jensen and the Cowboys qualify for their second consecutive National Golf Invitational (NGI). This occurred on the heals of a seventh-place finish at the Mountain West Conference Championships. Jensen coached 15 Cowboys to a top-25 finish in 2023-24 with the high-water mark being Kristof Panke with a pair of sixth-place finishes, one at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate and the other at the NGI. Jaren Calkins also finished sixth at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate.
In the 2022-23 season, Jensen coached the Cowboy Golf program to a berth in the inaugural NGI postseason tournament where the Cowboys tied for second with Penn State in a 13-team field. Wyoming also posted its second highest finish in a conference tournament in school history, placing fifth out of 11 teams at the Mountain West Conference Championship. The Cowboys won two team titles during the 2022-23 season, capturing the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational and the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate. Eight different Cowboys combined for 35 Top 25 individual finishes during the season, led by sophomore Patrick Azevedo, who posted nine Top 25 tournament finishes. Pokes Jaren Calkins and Jimmy Dales both advanced to the final qualifying round for the 2023 U.S. Open. Dales also qualified for and competed in the greatest amateur golf tournament in the world, the U.S. Amateur. Two Cowboy golfers earned Academic All-America honors from the College Sports Communicators (CSC). Graduate Kirby Coe-Kirkham earned Second Team Academic All-America honors and senior Jimmy Dales earned Third Team honors. The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) announced its All-America Scholars for the 2022-23 season, and the University of Wyoming men’s golf team led all NCAA Division I programs in the nation with six individuals earning the honor. The six Cowboys named All-America Scholars were: Patrick Azevedo, Jaren Calkins, Coe-Kirkham, Dales, Kristof Panke and Tyler Severin. Out of 297 NCAA Division I men’s golf programs, Wyoming’s six individuals tied UW with Harvard for the most individuals from a single NCAA Division I program to earn the honor for the 2022-23 season. For the 14th consecutive season, Wyoming was named an All-Academic Team by the GCAA and for the second time in program history, Wyoming achieved the prestigious President’s Special Recognition Award for the 2022-23 academic year. The President’s Special Recognition Award is presented to college golf programs that have achieved a 3.50 cumulative grade-point average or better for the past academic year. Wyoming was one of only 54 NCAA Division I programs to receive that recognition for the 2022-23 season out of 297 Division I programs in the nation. Eight Cowboys earned Academic All-Mountain West honors and five were named MW Scholar-Athletes.
Wyoming’s 2021-22 team featured three Cowboys on the roster who qualified for and played in a U.S. Amateur Championship. Bryce Waters played in the 2019 U.S. Amateur and Kirby Coe-Kirkham and Jimmy Dales played in the 2021 U.S. Amateur. Coe-Kirkham won the U.S. Amateur Qualifier held at Jacoby Golf Course in Laramie, Wyo., on July 6, 2021, to earn the one qualifying spot out of the Jacoby qualifier. Dales captured medalist honors at the U.S. Amateur Qualifier hosted at the Walnut Creek Country Club in South Lyon, Mich. Dales was invited to and played in the prestigious Genesis Open Collegiate Showcase in February 2022. During the 2021-22 college season, Wyoming finished among the Top Six teams in five tournaments and six different Cowboys posted a total of 19 Top 25 individual finishes led by Dales six Top 25 showings. Wyoming captured it own inaugural Wyoming Desert Match Play event in February. Dales and Patrick Azevedo finished in seventh and ninth places, respectively, at the 2022 Mountain West Championships, marking only the second time in the history of the Mountain West that Wyoming had two individuals finish in the Top 10 at the championship. The Cowboys tied for sixth as a team, matching the second-best finish by a Cowboy team at the MW Championship and the third best team finish at a conference championship in school history. For the 13th consecutive season, Wyoming was named an All-Academic Team by the GCAA and four Cowboys were named Srixon Cleveland Gold All-America Scholars. Those four were: Coe-Kirkham, Dales, Jared Edeen and Tyler Severin. Eight Cowboys earned Academic All-Conference honors and five achieved Mountain West Scholar-Athlete.
When the Cowboys returned to action in the spring of 2021 for eight tournaments, four different Cowboys posted a total of nine Top 25 finishes. That group was led by Severin, who had four Top 25 finishes. Following the 2020-21 season, the Wyoming Cowboy Golf team received one of the most prestigious academic awards in college golf, earning Presidents Special Recognition honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). A team has to have achieved a team grade-point average of 3.50 or above to receive the recognition. Wyoming was one of only 41 NCAA Division I programs recognized for the 2020-21 academic year. Wyoming was named an All-Academic Team by the GCAA for the 12th consecutive season. Five Cowboys were also honored by the GCAA as Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholars for the 2020-21 season. The five Cowboys named All-America Scholars were: Jared Edeen, Dan Starzinski, Coe-Kirkham, Severin and Waters. It marked the second consecutive season that five Cowboys earned the honor in the same year and tied for the most Cowboys to win the honor in a single season in the history of Cowboy Golf. In February of 2021, Waters was invited to and played in the Genesis Open Collegiate Showcase and the Wyoming group of Jensen, donor Rick Gasser and PGA tour pro Peter Malnati won the $50,000 donation from the Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase in a competition against representatives from six other collegiate programs that included: Kentucky, Minnesota, Oakland University, San Diego State, University of San Francisco and USC. Ten Cowboys earned Academic All-Conference honors and eight were named Mountain West Scholar-Athletes.
In the summer of 2020, Cowboy Starzinski finished as the runner-up at the 2020 Wyoming State Amateur, and Edeen advanced all the way to the semifinals of the 2020 Wyoming State Match Play Championship. While the 2019-20 season was shortened due to COVID-19, the Cowboys enjoyed one of the best seasons in school history. The Pokes placed among the Top Five teams in four of the eight tournaments they played. Wyoming’s 20-under par round of 844 at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational ranked as the second lowest tournament score in school history. Cowboy Coe-Kirkham set a new school record for season scoring average at 71.50 strokes per round. Fellow sophomore Severin won his first collegiate tournament at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate. Coe-Kirkham was invited to and played in the prestigious Genesis Open Collegiate Showcase in February 2020. The 2019-20 season marked the 11th consecutive season that Wyoming was named an All-Academic Team by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and five Cowboys earned GCAA Srixon/Cleveland All-America Scholar honors (Coe-Kirkham, Edeen Starzinski, Underwood and Waters). Seven Cowboys earned Academic All-Mountain West Conference honors and three were named Mountain West Scholar-Athletes, and Coe-Kirkham was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Men’s At-Large Team. In 2019, incoming junior college transfer Waters qualified for the 2019 U.S. Amateur Championship, and Coe-Kirkham and Edeen were part of the state of Wyoming’s three-man team that competed at the Pacific Coast Amateur played in Albuquerque, N.M. Edeen also won the 2019 Wyoming State Amateur.
The 2018-19 season saw Wyoming have two individuals place in the Top 10 at the Mountain West Championship as senior John Murdock tied for fifth and junior Starzinski tied for eighth. Both Murdock and Starzinski were also invited to and played in the prestigious Genesis Open Collegiate Showcase in February 2019. Wyoming finished second at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational in the fall of 2018. Starzinski won the individual title at the Ram Masters Invitational, and Murdock tied for first at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic. In the summer of 2018, Murdock became only the second amateur in the 62-year history of the Wyoming Open to win the event. Murdock also finished as the first alternate in the U.S. Amateur Qualifier hosted at Wyoming’s Glenn “Red” Jacoby Golf Course. It was the first time a U.S. Amateur had been hosted at Jacoby.
Murdock placed third at the 2018 Wyoming State Amateur. Starzinski won the 2018 Wyoming Match Play Championship in June. Both Murdock and Starzinski earned spots on the three-man state of Wyoming team that played in the Pacific Coast Amateur at The Olympic Club in San Francisco in July. In 2018-19 for the 10th consecutive season, Wyoming was named an All-Academic Team by the GCAA, and Murdock and Starzinski were both named All-America Scholars. All seven Cowboys on the active roster earned Academic All-Mountain West honors in 2018-19, and two Cowboys achieved MW Scholar-Athlete honors.
In the 2017-18 season, the Cowboys tied for their best finish at the Mountain West Conference Championship, tying for fifth place out of 11 teams. It was the first time since 2002 that the Pokes had finished that high at the conference championship. Wyoming captured the team title at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, and Murdock was the individual medalist. UW also won the Mackenzie Match Play event hosted by the University of San Francisco. Cowboy seniors Arron Lickteig, Quintin Pope and Glenn Workman and junior Murdock were all named All-America Scholars by the GCAA. Those four were joined by senior Drew McCullough, Starzinski and Underwood as Academic All-Conference selections. Murdock, Starzinski, Workman and junior Cole Bundy also earned MW Scholar- Athlete honors.
In 2016-17, Jensen coached senior Ryan Wallen to one of the most successful individual seasons for a Cowboy golfer in UW history. Wallen recorded the best finish ever for a Cowboy at the MW Championships, posting a three-round score of 209 (-7) to tie for third place and earned All-Mountain West Conference honors. Wallen qualified for the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Regional in Sammamish, Wash., becoming the first Cowboy golfer to advance to regional competition since Gabe Maier in 2011. Wallen tied for 38th overall, the best finish among individual qualifiers at the regional. The Cowboys had another successful campaign in the classroom, receiving an All-Academic team award from the GCAA, while Wallen, Lickteig, McCullough and Workman were each named GCAA All-America Scholars. Meanwhile, seven Cowboys earned Academic All-Mountain West distinction and four were named MW Scholar-Athletes.
The 2015-16 season saw Jensen earn Mountain West Coach of the Year honors after he led the Pokes to eight Top Five tournament finishes, six of which were in the top-three. UW’s sixth-place finish at the MW Championships was its best since the Pokes took sixth in 2005. Sophomore McCullough finished in the Top 10 at the MW Championship, tying for sixth. Wallen earned an MW Player of the Week honor and was named a GCAA All-American Scholar. Six Cowboys achieved Academic All-Mountain West. Those six were: Lickteig, McCullough, Murdock, Pope, Wallen and Workman.
In 2014-15, six Cowboys were named Academic All-Mountain West, including: Lickteig, Cameron Lindell, McCullough, Pope, Wallen and Workman. Lindell and Workman were also named MW Scholar-Athletes.
The 2013-14 season was another successful year for the Cowboys. Jensen guided the Pokes to a second-consecutive team victory at the Battle of the Tetons. Junior Kamrin Allen shot a 210 (-6) to earn his first individual title as a Cowboy. Lindell, Eric Parish, Eddie Stewart, P.J. Thomas and Wallen were named to the Academic All-MW team, and Lindell and Parish were selected MW Scholar-Athletes.
Jensen led UW to success on and off the course during the 2012-13 season. Success on the course included the Cowboys winning their first tournament since 2000 when they captured the Battle of the Tetons tournament. Also at that event, junior Eddie Stewart took individual medalist honors. Jensen directed the 2012-13 Cowboys to a Golf Coaches Association of America All-Academic team award for having a team grade point average of 3.0 or better. Parish was named a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar by the GCAA and was named a MW Scholar-Athlete. Brent Baylon, Parish, Stewart and Thomas were Academic All-MW honorees.
The 2011-12 Cowboys had a team GPA of 3.39. Cowboys Jake Hedge, Parish, Casey Ruff and Stewart earned Academic All-Mountain West honors. Parish and Ruff also earned MW Scholar-Athlete awards.
In 2010-11, Jensen coached senior Gabe Maier to his second consecutive NCAA Regional Tournament appearance. Maier was the first Cowboy since current PGA tour player David Hearn to earn consecutive NCAA Regional appearances. Maier earned Mountain West All-Conference honors and tied for seventh at the MW Championship in 2011. For the third consecutive season, Jensen helped lead the Cowboys to a Golf Coaches Association of America All-Academic team. Cowboys Phil Henzlik, Parish and Ruff earned Mountain West Scholar-Athlete awards. Wyoming Golf also had four student-athletes selected Academic All-MW, including Henzlik, Maier, Ruff and Zach Zaremba.
The 2009-10 season was a banner year for the Cowboys as they sent their first golfer to the NCAA Regional Tournament since 2002, as well as being named a Golf Coaches Association of America All-Academic team. Cowboy Maier earned UW’s first NCAA Regional Tournament berth since 2002 with his 12th-place finish at the Mountain West Conference Championship. The Cowboys were named a GCAA All-Academic Team with a combined GPA of 3.18. Cowboy golfers Henzlik, Maier, Zaremba were named GCAA All-America Scholars. Those three plus Max Curnow and Ruff were named Academic All-MW. Curnow, Henzlik and Ruff also earned MW Scholar-Athlete Awards. In addition to the numerous school records, the Wyoming golf program added two individual tournament championships in 2009. Cowgirl Jonelle Martinez won the 2009 Mountain West Conference Championship and Cowboy Gabe Maier won the 2009 University of Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate.
In the summer of 2009, Jensen was involved in the Palmer Cup, which is college golf’s version of the Ryder Cup. The event, which pits 10 American college players against 10 college players from Europe, was played at Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver, Colo. For his efforts with the Palmer Cup, Jensen was recognized by the Golf Coaches Association of America in December of that year. At the 2009 Mountain West Championship, Henzlik tied for seventh. The 2008-09 season saw Curnow, Henzlik, Maier and Zaremba achieve Academic All-MW and Curnow and Henzlik added MW Scholar-Athlete honors.
Four Pokes were selected to the Academic All-MW team in 2007-08, including: Zach Fisher, Henzlik, Maier and Zaremba. Henzlik earned the first of his four MW Scholar-Athlete honors.
At the conclusion of the 2006-07 season, Cowboys Curnow, Nathaniel King, Ryne Paulson and Ruff were named to the Academic All-Mountain West team. Curnow, Paulson and Ruff also achieved MW Scholar-Athlete honors.
Silva led the way for the Cowboys academically in the 2005-06 season as he earned GCAA All-America Scholar accolades for the second consecutive season. In addition, he was named Academic All-MW and an MW Scholar-Athlete.
Silva earned his first All-America Scholar honors in the 2004-05 season. He was named an MW Scholar-Athlete selection and was joined by Cowboys Neil King and David Stewart on the Academic All-MW team. King was the lone Academic All-MW selection for the 2003-04 season.
The 2002-03 season saw sophomore Matthew Brunk tie for fourth at the 2003 Mountain West Men’s Golf Championship. King, Kurt Kowaluk and Silva achieved Academic All-Conference honors. King and Silva were MW Scholar-Athlete selections.
Jensen’s first season as head coach at Wyoming, his team enjoyed success on and off the field of competition. Senior Mike Urbatchka earned All-Mountain West Conference honors for the 2001-02 season and earned a spot in the 2002 NCAA Regional Championship. Sophomore Michael Mezei tied for sixth at the 2002 MW Championship. Kowaluk was a GCAA All-America Scholar. He and Mezei were both Academic All-MW and Mezei was an MW Scholar-Athlete honoree.
In 2003, his second as head coach of the Cowboys, Jensen initiated the UW/Cleveland Golf Cowboy Classic Collegiate tournament. The event is held each spring in Arizona and hosts many of the top college golf programs in the country.
In addition to the Cowboy and Cowgirl Classics held each spring in the Phoenix area, the Cowboys began hosting the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate tournament in 2008 at the Classic Club in Palm Desert, Calif. The Classic Club has also been the host course of the PGA’s Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.
Jensen added another unique event in the spring of 2022 when Wyoming hosted the inaugural Wyoming Desert Match Play event, also played at The Classic Club in Palm Desert, Calif. The Cowboys won the team championship at that inaugural Wyoming Desert Match Play.
A native of Lander, Wyo. and a former member of the UW golf team, Jensen earned his bachelor’s degree in arts and sciences from the University of Wyoming in 1998 and completed his M.B.A. at UW in December of 2006.
Jensen was a member of the Cowboy golf team during the 1992-93 season, turned professional in 1993 and became an assistant golf pro at the Jacoby Golf Club. During his six years in that position, he was responsible for the daily operation of the course. His duties also included serving as an assistant coach with the golf team.
In 1999, Jensen moved to the Pelican Lakes Golf and Country Club in Windsor, Colo., where he was a golf assistant. There he assisted in the daily operation of the golf course and coordinated a number of golf tournaments. He also taught group and junior golf lessons. In addition to his golf club duties, he was a financial representative for Northwestern Mutual Financial Network and later worked for the Bank of Colorado/Raymond James Financial Services in Fort Collins, Colo.
Jensen, born April 10, 1970, and his wife, Lacey, have a son, Samuel, and a daughter, Sydney.