Ket Preamchuen Vanderpool, a Kennesaw State alumnus and decorated Owl, was officially named the fifth women’s golf coach in KSU history on Aug. 18, 2025.
Vanderpool takes the reigns of a program just two years removed from an Atlantic Sun Championship. In 2024-25, the Owls featured four true freshmen and just one upperclassman as they battled to a seventh-place finish at the Conference USA Championship.
“Owl Nation, help me welcome Coach Vanderpool back home to the Nest!” Director of Athletics Milton Overton said. “Ket knows how to be a champion on the golf course and in the classroom. She embodies the spirit of Kennesaw State Athletics, understands what it means to be an Owl, and is deeply committed to the success of our student-athletes. We are thrilled to have her leading our women’s golf program into an exciting new era.”
A two-time Kennesaw State graduate (B.S. in sport management – 2014; M.S. in applied exercise and health science and sport marketing – 2017), Vanderpool is the first KSU alumnus to serve as the Owls’ head coach.
“I am thrilled to be back at Kennesaw State,” Vanderpool said. “This place is like home to me. I came to Kennesaw State in August 2009 as a student-athlete. Sixteen years later, I received the opportunity to come back as the head women’s golf coach. I am excited to start working with the team to prepare for the upcoming season.”
She continued, “I would like to thank Milton Overton and Brad Ledford for the opportunity to be back at Kennesaw State. Go Owls!”
Prior to being named Kennesaw State’s head coach, Vanderpool spent six years with the Georgia State women’s golf program – first as an assistant coach (2020-23) before being named head coach in August 2023.
With the Panthers, she helped coach GSU to some of their most successful seasons in recent years, including nine top-five team finishes and 10 top-10 individual finishes – with four tournament victories.
Prior to Georgia State, Vanderpool spent two years as a graduate assistant coach at Kennesaw State from 2015-17 after playing professionally. Working with the team and recruiting, both domestically and internationally, she helped guide the Owls to the 2015 Atlantic Sun Conference championship and a berth in the 2015 NCAA Regional.
Before starting her coaching career, Vanderpool played professionally on the Symetra Tour. She finished tied for second in the 2019 Georgia Women’s Amateur and then advanced to the match play Round of 16 in the USGA Women’s Mid-Amateur in September, earning her the 2019 Player of the Year Award from the Georgia State Golf Association.
During her collegiate years, she was a four-year standout for the Owls from 2009 to 2013 as one of the top players in program history. A three-time, first-team All-Atlantic Sun Conference and National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) All-America Scholar honoree, she led the Owls in stroke average, top-20 finishes, top-10 finishes and rounds of par or better during her first three seasons at KSU.
Vanderpool helped lead the Owls to the program’s first-ever Atlantic Sun Conference Championship and NCAA Regional appearance in 2012. She was presented the 2013 Dr. Dave Waples Total Person Award by the Kennesaw State athletics department, which is awarded to an upperclassman who exemplifies athletic and academic achievement, character, leadership, and community service.
For her career, she totaled 20 top-20 finishes, 14 top-10 finishes and 22 rounds of even par or better, posting the seventh-best career stroke average in school history at 74.94 career stroke average.
On the administrative side, Vanderpool has worked as an intern with both the American Junior Golf Association and the Georgia State Golf Association.
A native of Chachoengsao, Thailand, Ket is married to Matt Vanderpool.
