University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Sign New Zealand Standout Meenhorst
December 21, 2016 | Men's Golf
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee men's golf program has signed international recruit Jake Meenhorst to the 2017 class and he will enroll in January and be eligible to compete this spring, as announced by head coach Jim Kelson on Wednesday. He is the third player to sign with Tennessee for 2017 and the first player to enroll early.
"Jake sent us some video and he looked very impressive technically," Kelson said. "This coupled with his impressive resume sold us on Jake."
Meenhorst currently has a minus 3.5 handicap and is ranked seventh on the New Zealand Amateur Order of Merit with a 72.40 scoring average and he is the No. 2-ranked U19 player in New Zealand. In 2016 alone, he captured one tournament title, two second place finishes and 12 other top-10 placements.
"To be honest, I was not even thinking about starting university in the States until next fall," Meenhorst said. "I got started late in the process of contacting schools. I think I contacted Coach Kelson around the end of October and he told me there was a chance that a player might transfer in January of this year. The next thing I knew, I began working on the application process to see if it would be possible for me to enroll at Tennessee in January. I am really excited about becoming a Volunteer."
The former Massey High School standout took home the 2016 North Island Stroke Play title and placed second at the 2016 New Zealand U19 tournament. In 2015, Meenhorst placed third at the NZ U19 event.
Competing as an amateur in two 2016 New Zealand pro circuit events, the Akarana Open and the Muriwai Open, Meenhorst placed fourth and fifth, respectively. He also placed fourth in the New Zealand Stroke Play tournament in 2016.
In 2014, Meenhorst led the Massey High School golf team to a championship title. He was then named the ASB Young Sportsman of the Year for golf and the Senior Sportsman of the Year after a stellar campaign in 2015.
Players Mentioned
