ChipMcDaniel

Former Wildcat Chip McDaniel begins his second season as assistant coach of the Wildcats in 2024-25.

During McDaniel’s first season coaching at UK, the Wildcats nabbed their best finish at the SEC Championships since 2021, placing 11th among 14 teams. Alex Goff had a standout individual season, becoming the first All-American for Kentucky since McDaniel himself was selected in 2016.

A four-year letterwinner for the Wildcats and a 2018 graduate, McDaniel comes to Lexington after a year as an assistant coach for the men’s and women’s golf programs at Eastern Kentucky.

Prior to his coaching career, McDaniel spent four years playing professionally, making 43 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour and 11 on the PGA Tour. McDaniel notched seven top-20 finishes on the Korn Ferry Tour and highlighted his PGA Tour experience with a tie for fifth at the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship in 2019 prior to making the cut at the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

As a Wildcat, the Manchester, Kentucky, native played 133 rounds over 45 career tournaments, tallying a 72.02 scoring average. McDaniel, a 2016 PING Third-Team All-American and Second-Team All-SEC selection, also was an Academic All-SEC selection as a senior. Dating back to the 1993-94 season, McDaniel’s career scoring average ranks second in program history, behind current Wildcat Alex Goff, and his 71.82 scoring average in the 2016-17 campaign is the third-best in that era. McDaniel won the individual title at the Grove Intercollegiate as a sophomore, participating in three NCAA Regionals and the two NCAA Championships.

McDaniel earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Kentucky in May 2018. A graduate of Clay County High School, McDaniel was named Kentucky’s Mr. Golf in 2011. A two-time winner of the Kentucky State Amateur, McDaniel was a three-time Kentucky PGA Junior Player of the Year, a four-time Kentucky Junior Am champion and 2013 Junior PGA champion.