A Hole In One: Boys Golf Coach Brad Pendergast

The varsity boys’ golf coach has been coaching at Redwood for six years. This article covers the origins and aspirations of the building block that keeps boys’ golf together.

By Fabian Anguiano

Born and raised in Reedley, California, Coach Pendergast started playing golf in the Navy.

Who inspired Coach Pendergast to start coaching was his father, who coached football at the high school and college level. 

Pendergast’s father coached at every high school in Visalia, including Redwood, Mt. Whitney, Golden West, and El Diamante.

Coach Pendergast’s first coaching gig was right here at Redwood during the 2020 season, which was a great experience. “It was a great experience. The kids are all exceptional, never really had any issues,” says Pendergast.

Pendergast needed some assistance in his first year of coaching, which he got from girls’ head coach Ryan Cochran, who has helped him a lot.

Coach Pendergast’s coaching philosophy is very unselfish: “I’ll have a really big ego that I don’t think I know everything, so the more I can learn from other people that have been around, the better.”

Coach Pendergast has also coached Football, which is very much more intense than golf. “In golf, you have to kind of control your emotions. You can’t get too high and too low. So there’s a big contrast between coaching football and golf.”

Coaching at Redwood had kept Coach Pendergast on the course, as he has a great passion for teaching and coaching kids to get better.

The biggest thing Pendergast has grown in from his first year as head coach is managing time better and his patience. As with golf, you have to learn to settle your emotions and play at an even pace.

In which year of coaching has been his favorite so far, Coach Pendergast can’t really lay a finger on it. “I would say every year is different. I would say this year would probably be my favorite. If you asked me next year, I’d probably say this year is my favorite. They’ve all been good. I’ve always had really good kids and great experiences.”

Pendergast’s goal for this season is to win the East Yosemite League (EYL) and a valley championship. They have won EYL for the past three years, and ever since Coach Pendergast has been here, they have won five out of their last six.

The boys’ golf team this year is full of talent, as they have three seniors and three juniors competing. Though they only play six of the many golfers they have, there are at least eleven kids who have an opportunity to play in a varsity match.

Coach Pendergast’s goals as a coach for the future are the same as his goals for this season, and he does not believe that will ever change. “I think I always strive to have better relationships with the players every year. That’s always been my goal: to make sure the relationships are there so they’re able to come to me when they ever have any problems,” says Pendergast.

Pendergast’s favorite part about being the boys’ golf coach is as simple as it comes: being on the golf course.

The pros outweigh the cons of being a golf coach, as unlike football, where you have to pick and choose who out-performs the other, you just leave it up to the players themselves, “It’s not really a reliance on what the coach feels who’s better. It’s whoever’s playing the best at the time. So that takes a lot of pressure off a coach in golf” says Pendergast.

The impact that Pendergast has had on the program has been reflected in his players.

Varsity golf player Beau Krauss ‘27 shares that the most valuable lessons Pendergast has taught him are to work as a team, as there is no “I in team, so working as an individual, you know, it helps your team, but you just have to make sure you know you’re there for your guys. Making sure you know if you have a bad round or if you have a bad day, that you’re not impacting other people negatively,” says Krauss.

Pendergast has helped Krauss as a player by “Looking at the brighter things. Even if I had a good round, I’d always be looking at the tough things that happened during the round. So he’s definitely impacted me towards flipping my mindset.”

Coach Pendergast has also helped Krauss become a better person, as the mindset does not only refer to golf, but to any concept outside of golf.

Krauss will utilize these lessons in the future: “An example, if I become a business leader, I don’t want to only be thinking about the negative impacts that could happen in the company, but I need to be thinking about the positive aspects that you know could happen.”

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