Lander University

Mark Riddle is entering his seventh season as Lander's head golf coach. Riddle was hired as the second golf coach in Lander history in December of 2017.

2023-2024 saw the Bearcat Golf Programs build off the strong 2022-23 seasonas the men's and women's teams each picked up a win during the season and had a total of 11 top-five finishes at tournaments. RIddle was named PBC Co-Coach of the year for Women's Golf for the second straight season as the women's program had three All-Conference Selections and the PBC Freshman of the Year in Josefine Winkle. Winkle qualified for the NCAA Regional as an individual alongside teammate Kajsa Lindqvist, and the freshman was able to secure a bid to the NCAA Division II Women's Golf Championship with a sixth place finish, the first individual qualifier for Lander since Hannah Stephenson in 2022.

On the men's side, Linus Jonsson was named the PBC Player of the Year, was named a second team All-American, was the first Lander athlete since 2009 to be named the PBC Scholar Athlete of the Year, and became the first two-time CSC Academic All-American since 1997.

The 2022-23 season was a historic one for the Lander golf program as the Lander's women won their first Peach Belt title since 2013 and first since the revival of the program in the fall of 2018 winning by six strokes over Flagler. During that championship, Sakurako Tanaka became the first member of the Bearcat Womens team to win the individual Peach Belt title as she shot a 227, winning by a single stroke. In the ten regular season tournaments the Lander women competed in, they only finished outside the top-ten once; including a win at the Savannah Lakes Invitational. These performances helped Riddle become the first Lander coach to be named PBC Coach of the Year since Chipper Bagwell in 2014-15. The conference championship earned them a bid into the NCAA South Regional where they finished tied for seventh, led by Hannah Stephenson who ended the year earning second-team All-American honors

The Lander Men never finished outside the top-ten in any tournament during the 2022-23 season and earned a bid into the NCAA South/Southeast Regional for the first time since 2018 where they placed 16th. Linus Jonsson earned first-team All-PBC honors as well as being named the Elite 18 award winner for having the highest GPA at the PBC Championship. He also added first-team All-American honors and became the first Lander golfer to be named a CSC Academic All-American.

During the 2021-22 campaign, Riddle coached the men’s and women’s teams to five top-five finishes a piece with the Men winning at the Copperhead Championship and the Women winning the Converse Spring Invite.  The win at the Copperhead Championship vaulted the Men’s team into the top ten in the national rankings.  Seniors Maxime Legros and Hannah Stephenson were both named First-team Peach Belt Conference selections. Legros became the second Bearcat ever to be the medalist at the Peach Belt Conference Championship as he shot a 206 in the three-round tournament, winning by three strokes. The season wrapped up with two Bearcats, Legros and Stephenson, qualifying for the NCAA South/Southeast and South Regionals respectively as individuals.  Stephenson advanced to the NCAA National Championships where she finished 14th.  Riddle coached three Division II All-Americans during the 2021-22 season. 

In his first season with the Bearcats, Riddle led the women's team to three top-five finishes while guiding the men's program to four top-five results. On the men's side, Jon Parker qualified for the NCAA South/Southeast Regional as an individual. In Riddle’s first four seasons at Lander he coached his teams to six wins and 31 top-five finishes, ranking as low as 10th in men’s and 18th in women’s rankings. 

Before taking over the Bearcat golf program, Riddle spent 24 years working in television as a creator and executive producer. He was the creator and executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning children's television shows "Dooley and Pals" and "BJ's Teddy Bear Club and Bible Stories." Riddle also served as the executive producer of the 2016 musical drama "Divine Will." He started Little Heart Entertainment in 2002 and has served as the company's president for the past 16 years.  

Riddle spent two seasons as an assistant coach for the Emerald High School boys and girls golf programs from 2015-16. The Viking girls qualified for the South Carolina 3A State Tournament in both years, finishing ninth in 2015 and sixth in 2016.  

A 1984 graduate of Lander, Riddle and his wife, Sheila, have one daughter, Morgan, and one son, Hunter. Morgan played soccer at Erskine for two seasons, while Hunter played soccer at North Greenville and Winthrop.