John Kennaday was appointed the San Jose State University men's golf coach in April 2005. His hire 19 years ago, marked a return to his alma mater, where as a senior he was a 1987 All-American.
Kennaday has engineered the Spartans’ program to fit today’s student-athletes’ interests and needs. Under his watch, San Jose State opened a 15-acre on-campus practice facility in 2017 that allows players to work on every facet of one’s game.
As the head coach of the Spartans, Kennaday led SJSU to NCAA Regional Championship team appearances in 2011, 2012 and 2019. In 2012, he was named the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Coach of the Year after leading the Spartans to a conference championship and three more tournament victories that season. He was also named Coach of the Year in the WCC in 2000.
His players won a 2012 conference championship individual title; earned 16 all-conference honors, two of which were WAC Player of the Year awards; and received three PING all-region honors.
Academically, the 2019 and 2020 Spartans were recognized with a GCAA Outstanding Team Academic Award. Individual academic honors included five Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholars, 14 all-conference and one Arthur Ashe, Jr., Sports Scholar awards.
Kennaday has engineered the Spartans’ program to fit today’s student-athletes’ interests and needs. Under his watch, San Jose State opened a 15-acre on-campus practice facility in 2017 that allows players to work on every facet of one’s game.
As the head coach of the Spartans, Kennaday led SJSU to NCAA Regional Championship team appearances in 2011, 2012 and 2019. In 2012, he was named the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Coach of the Year after leading the Spartans to a conference championship and three more tournament victories that season. He was also named Coach of the Year in the WCC in 2000.
His players won a 2012 conference championship individual title; earned 16 all-conference honors, two of which were WAC Player of the Year awards; and received three PING all-region honors.
Academically, the 2019 and 2020 Spartans were recognized with a GCAA Outstanding Team Academic Award. Individual academic honors included five Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholars, 14 all-conference and one Arthur Ashe, Jr., Sports Scholar awards.
For years, Kennaday pursued upgrading the college game through live television and saw his vision become a reality in 2019 with GOLF Channel’s unprecedented daily live coverage of the 73rd Western Intercollegiate presented by Topgolf. The Western Intercollegiate, founded by San Jose State in 1947, is played at the Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif. The Western Intercollegiate has been televised anually by GOLF Channel since 2019, with the exception of the 2020 tournament which was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Highly respected and acknowledged by his peers, he is in his seventh year on the Golf Coaches Association of America’s (GCAA) National Advisory Board. For the 2020-21 and 22 academic year, he is the GCAA’s president, the first San Jose State University coach to serve the organization in that capacity. During his time as president, he created the 2022 GCAA Summer Series to give collegiate golfers the ability to play when regular season was cancelled. Previously, he also served a full three-year term as a member of the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Committee.
Kennaday returned to San Jose State after spending seven seasons as the head coach for the Santa Clara University men's golf team. The once-dormant program became competitive in the West Coast Conference (WCC) and regionally under Kennaday. In 2001, he was named the WCC Coach of the Year.
Kennaday manages and directs The Western Intercollegiate, the longest running men's college golf tournament west of the Mississippi River.
He was the personal coach for Arron Oberholser, a two-time Spartan All-American, winner of the 2006 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AM, a former top-50 ranked player in the world, and a current analyst for The GOLF Channel.
As a player, Kennaday was a two-time Coast Conference Most Valuable Player at Monterey Peninsula College before transferring to San Jose State. He was a 1986 and 1987 first-team All-Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA) pick, and helped the Spartans to a 12th-place tie at the 1987 NCAA Championships.
He went on to play professionally on the Canadian PGA, Nike and Golden State Tours for seven-plus years.
In the 2021-22 academic year, Kennaday led the Spartans to be recognized with a GCAA All-Academic Team Award. Individual academic honors included two Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholars, five Academic All-Mountain West and three Mountain West Scholar-Athlete awards.
The 2022-23 academic year yielded seven Academic All-Mountain West and three Mountain West Scholar-Athlete awards.
In the 2023-24 fall season, Kennaday and the Spartans shot an all-time low record of 816 (-36) at the Ka‘anapali Classic Collegiate Invitational.
Kennaday is a member of the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Committee for the 2023-24 year. The six-member committee is responsible for decisions regarding the selection of competing teams in the NCAA Championships. He will attend meetings with the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) regarding NCAA Championship format, media, scoring, and any factors influencing NCAA men's golf.
John and his wife, Christina, have two sons, Jack and Ben. The Kennaday family resides in San Jose.