The Saint John's University golf team is now an established national power, having advanced to the NCAA Division III national tournament 21 times in the past 25 years – including back-to-back national titles in 2007 and '08.
But that certainly wasn't the case when Bob Alpers took over as head coach in the fall of 1993.
"I think we had seven or eight guys during my first season coaching," said Alpers, the Johnnies head coach from 1993 to 2021, and again from 2022 to 2023.
"We had fewer than that try-out, so I actually got a list from admissions of the guys who had played golf in high school and I was calling them up, asking them to come out."
Gradually, though, the numbers and talent pool began to expand.
"I knew I had to recruit really hard," Alpers said. "I was fortunate to have had Smitty (Jim Smith) as my athletic director and Gar Kellom (as vice president of student development). They told me to find out what it took to run the program the right way. My first year, our budget was $2,500 and we used that up in the fall. We had nothing left for the spring.
"Back then, the thought was that if you had no shot at getting to nationals, there was no need to play a spring season. I thought that was a chicken-and-egg kind of thing. Gar and Smitty told me they'd find the money. They also knew I was pretty frugal, but we needed to be able to play two teams at tournaments and play a full schedule."
Alpers, in turn, found the players – including a mid-1990s recruiting class featuring names like Matt McGovern and Robert Cliff (who went on to become All-Americans), and fellow classmates Chris Shearen, Shane Stork and Gus Kellom, who helped form the nucleus of the Johnnies' squad that captured an MIAC title in the fall of 1999.
It was just the program's second conference championship overall, and its first since 1969.
"Winning the conference was the goal we were working toward," Alpers said. "I walked by that one golf conference champion trophy from 1969 sitting there in the trophy case and hoping and praying for another.
"Recruiting was the key, and it was hard at first. There were dads who wouldn't even let me talk to their sons. They'd say 'Saint John's golf isn't any good. We want him to go to a real golf school.' Places like Gustavus or Central (Iowa) and Nebraska Wesleyan. But bit-by-bit, we kept plugging away. Getting that incredible class with McGovern, Cliff and the rest of those guys made a big difference."
The progress Alpers was making at SJU didn't go unnoticed by others in the Division III ranks, including at reigning conference titan Gustavus.
"Bob is an ultra-competitive guy," said Scott Moe, who has coached the Gusties men's golf program since 1996. "He watched the teams he was competing against and figured out what he needed to do to get to that level. He pounded the recruiting trail, and some of those recruits he added in the late 1990s and early 2000s really laid the pathway to the success he's had.
"He really went out and nailed it."
As a result, the Johnnies earned their first invitation to the NCAA Division III national meet in the spring of 2000 and made quite the first impression, finishing seventh overall out of 24 teams – just one point back of sixth-place Gustavus.
And that finish could have been even better had not rain washed out the fourth and final round with SJU already on the course.
"We were making a real run," Alpers said. "I think there's a good chance we could have won it if the rain hadn't come and flooded the course, canceling the final round."
But the finish served notice that the Johnnies had arrived on the national scene.
"All of a sudden, we started getting invitations to play in things like the (prestigious) Gordin Classic (in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina) where we got to go against all the top teams in Division III," Alpers said.
It was at that tournament, in the fall of 2000, that SJU finished second overall – beating national titan Methodist (North Carolina) for the first time.
"That is my favorite memory from my time at Saint John's," recalled McGovern, who was inducted into the Hall of Honor in 2023. "We beat Methodist, who was ranked No. 1 in the country at the time. Bob and I walked past their van while their coach was yelling at their players. We looked at each other and smiled. We knew we were at the start of something big."
Indeed, the Johnnies kept building – finishing third in the nation in 2003, then eventually breaking through and winning national titles in 2007 and 2008, led by All-Americans like Clinton Dammann and Joe Schoolmeesters.
"You can ask the boys, I'd never said this before," Alpers recalled. "But (before nationals in 2007), I told them we were going to win. I was 100 percent sure we were the best team in the country, and I told them to just go out there and play. Not to worry because it was going to happen."
Alpers guided SJU to 20 NCAA appearances and 13 MIAC titles as head coach. His players earned All-American honors 34 times and GCAA Scholar All-American honors on 49 occasions.
"He was an incredible mentor to me," McGovern said. "He was really a father figure when I was in college. He's the best motivator I've ever met. He had the ability to get the best out of his players in any situation."
Which is why he was named MIAC coach of the year 14 times and Central Region coach of the year six. He was the 2007 Eaton Golf Pride National Coach of the Year in 2007 and a 2010 inductee into the GCAA Hall of Fame.
Not bad for a guy who'd only played the game recreationally before taking over as head coach at SJU.
"Like with so many things, I was fortunate to have good timing and to have been able to coach so many talented players," he said.
Which is not to say that Alpers was not a standout athlete. Far from it. The Burnsville High School graduate played basketball all four of his seasons as a student at SJU, and was an All-MIAC pick and team MVP during his senior season in 1982.
After spending three years teaching and coaching at Park Center High School, he joined Smith's coaching staff in 1986 while teaching history at Saint John's Prep and remained there through the 2005-06 season.
He was also an assistant coach in soccer and baseball early on during his time at SJU.
Then, in 2016, he was named the school's athletic director, leading a department that collected 19 regular-season conference titles, five playoff championships and 20 NCAA appearances before his retirement at the close of the 2024-25 school year.
He also oversaw the Athlete-to-Athlete program promoting healthy lifestyles and sexual misconduct prevention, the annual Kids Fighting Hunger meal packing campaign, the Go Johnnies Challenge and the improvement of numerous athletic facilities on campus, including branding and the addition of video boards, the expansion of the baseball field complex and construction of the new clubhouse, upgrades in the Donald McNeely Spectrum and much more.
In addition, he helped the Saint John's J-Club create the Hall of Honor in 2018.
"The AD job is tough," he said. "Thank goodness we have a tremendously supportive alumni base. It is through their incredible generosity and love for Saint John's that we have been able to provide our athletes with a great experience and have success. I don't know where Saint John's would be without our alumni support, including the amazing J-Club Board.
But it's not his many accomplishments Alpers cherished most about his time at SJU. It was the relationships he built with those he coached and worked with.
"I think about all the guys I coached," he said. "Without having a history or tradition in golf here, they trusted me. I was so lucky to get to work with terrific guys and enjoy our time together through corny jokes and music. Having a little success along the way sure didn't hurt either.
"Then I think about the alumni who supported us. Without them, none of our success would have been possible either. They funded our travel, uniforms, meals…you name it."
"I have been profoundly touched by the hundreds of emails, texts and phone calls I've received in the past few months," he added. "I've always said we educate men better at this school than anywhere in the country, and I'd say the same thing for Saint Ben's when it comes to women. I'm proud to have played a small part in that. These two institutions are truly special places to be part of."
