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Jeff Roope (pronounced ROOP) enters his eighth year at the helm of the Toledo men’s golf program and has coached a UT golfer to a spot on the All-MAC First Team each of the last six years.
Roope recruited and coached Barend Botha, who graduated in 2024 and is one of the most decorated players in Mid-American Conference history.
Botha became the first individual in 34 years to win back-to-back outright MAC titles and the second Rocket to earn First-Team All-MAC honors four straight years. He was also named the MAC's Men's Golfer of the Year for a second straight year, joining former Varsity T Hall of Famer Brad Heaven as the only Rockets to receive the award on multiple occasions. Botha also was named to the PING All-Midwest Region Team and participated in the NCAA Regionals for a second-straight year.
Botha departed Toledo holding the program's records for lowest season (70.5) and career (71.9) stroke average. He also shared the 54-hole record of 13-under par 203 with Palmer Yenrick at the 2023 Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational.
The 2022-23 season saw the Rockets finish third in the MAC Championships under Roope. Botha also became the fourth Rocket ever to earn first-team All-MAC honors on three occasions and tied the program’s 54-hole record with a 12-under par 204 at UNCW's Seahawk Intercollegiate.
The 2021-22 campaign featured Roope receiving Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year after guiding Toledo to a runner-up finish at the 2022 Mid-American Conference Championships.
Roope played a key role in three Rockets receiving all-conference honors in 2021-22, the first time since 2002 a Toledo trio was honored in the same season. Sophomores Barend Botha (1st team) and Jamie Tofte Nielsen (2nd team) joined graduate transfer Lukas Clark (1st team) as all-conference honorees last season. Botha earned first-team All-MAC and MAC Freshman of the Year honors in the 2020-21 campaign as well.
In Roope’s third season at the Rocket helm, Toledo registered a third-place showing at the 2019 MAC Championships. Another highlight for the Midnight Blue and Gold in 2019 was senior Duncan McNeill earning MAC medalist honors and tying for 12th place at the NCAA Louisville Regional.
Academics have also been a top priority for the Rockets under Roope with the men’s golf program registering the athletic department’s best grade-point average (3.660) in the Spring 2021 semester. The team performed even better in the 2022-23 academic year with a program-record 3.819 GPA ln the 2022 fall semester followed by a 3.734 GPA in the 2023 spring semester. Toledo then registered a 3.700 team GPA or higher in each of the next four semesters to give it six straight terms with 3.700 marks or higher.
Roope arrived at Toledo following a decorated decade as the men’s and women’s golf coach at Wittenberg University. Since being hired in July of 2017, Roope has worked relentlessly to establish a new culture with the goal of turning the Rockets into a program that can compete with the nation’s best.
During his 10 years at Wittenberg, Roope propelled the Tigers to new heights unreached prior to his arrival. The men’s program captured its first NCAA Division III Championship in 2017, as well as finishing third nationally in 2015 and 2016, and fifth in 2014. The women’s program placed second at the NCAA Championships in 2015 and 2017 and third in 2016.
Between the men’s and women’s programs, Roope helped Wittenberg secure 70 team championships, 67 all-conference accolades, 48 individual medalist honors, 31 Academic All-Scholar Awards, 22 All-Americans, 11 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) championships, 10 league medalist recipients, seven NCAC Player of the Year honorees and two Academic All-Americans.
Almost immediately after arriving at Wittenberg in 2007, Roope turned both programs into perennial contenders for conference championships and NCAA Division III Tournament bids. The men’s team made big strides in his first two years, moving quickly up the ranks in the NCAC, and both teams re-wrote the school record books for team and individual scoring.
The breakthrough for the men’s team took place in 2010, starting an eight-year run atop the NCAC. Wittenberg advanced to the NCAA Division III Championships in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, finishing sixth, 21st, seventh, 13th, fifth, third, third and first, respectively. Roope was also named NCAC Men’s Golf Coach of the Year seven times (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017), and he added Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year accolades on four occasions (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017).
Individually, Tiger men’s players won the NCAC’s Bob Nye Award as the conference’s individual medalist six straight years, with Craig Osterbrock becoming the program’s first All-American in nearly 20 years with back-to-back awards in 2010 and 2011. Other individuals who earned All-America recognition included David Wetterich in 2012, Alex Andrews in 2013, 2014 and 2015, John Chaney in 2014 and 2015, Ben Hogenkamp in 2014, Garrett Brickley in 2016 and 2017, Sam Geise and Isaac Hartley in 2016 and Sam Stilwell in 2015 and 2017.
Roope also garnered two Great Lakes Region Women’s Coach of the Year awards (2013, 2015) as the Tiger women’s program rapidly ascended over the same time period, ranking in the top 25 nationally at the conclusion of six straight seasons. After taking second place in three of the first four NCAC Tournaments, Roope guided the team to three-consecutive league titles. The three-time reigning NCAC Coach of the Year also propelled the Tigers to the brink of a national championship, finishing second in 2015 and third each of the last two years.
Individually, Jane Hopkinson-Wood and Macy Hubbard garnered a spot on the All-America Team each of the last three years.
Prior to working at Wittenberg, Roope spent four years as a women’s golf assistant coach at Otterbein College. The Cardinals the won three Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) championships during his time at OC, capped in 2006 when all five golfers finished in the individual top 10 to earn All-OAC honors. Otterbein women’s golf won 19 team titles and recorded 18 individual titles in tournament play over four years, and Cardinal players earned 17 all-conference honors in that span.
Before joining the Cardinals, Roope served as girls’ golf coach at Upper Arlington High School in Columbus for the 2002 and 2003 seasons. His teams won back-to-back Mid-Ohio Girl’s Golf League (MOGGL) championships, and he was honored as the league’s Coach of the Year in 2002.
In addition to coaching, Roope previously worked as an assistant tournament director with the Florida State Golf Association and as an assistant caddiemaster at the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, site of the Professional Golf Association’s (PGA) annual Memorial Tournament. He has successfully completed the PGA/USGA Rules of Golf School and the PGA of America’s Playing Ability Test, required for certification as a teaching professional.
Roope is a former chair of the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) All-Region and All-America Selection Committee, as well as being a member of the GCAA Palmer Cup and Jack Nicklaus Award Selection Committee. In 2011, he was named to the Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) Board of Directors, where he served two terms as the Division III representative. Roope was also a member of the NCAA Women’s Great Lakes Regional Advisory Committee, the GCAA All-Region and All-America Selection Committee, and he successfully completed his fourth USGA/PGA rules of golf school in 2015.
Roope also competes as an amateur golfer in local and regional events. He has posted several top finishes in recent years, including a Top 10 finish in the 2008 Franklin County Amateur Championship.
A native of Grove City, Ohio, Roope earned a bachelor’s degree in sport management from Bowling Green State University in 1993 and a master’s degree in sport administration from Ashland University in 2006. He and his wife Nicole have a daughter Madeline.
