Pam Tyska, PGA/LPGA Teaching Professional
Northern Illinois University - DeKalb, Illinois
Buena Vista Golf Club & Golf Schools for Women - DeKalb, Illinois

In her thirteenth season as Head Women's Golf Coach at NIU, Pam Tyska knows exactly how to teach the secrets that lead to success.  A former assistant professional at St. Charles Country Club, Pam was named Huskie coach in September 1986.

Prior to taking the helm at NIU, Pam served as a rules official and assistant tournament director of the FUTURES Ladies Professional Golf Tour in 1984, moving on to become a physical education teacher at the University of Chicago Laboratory School later that year.  As a Class A member of both the LPGA Teaching & Club Professional Division (T&CP) and the PGA of America, Pam owns a host of regional and national awards as well.  She was named 1991 NGCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year, and is a two-time recipient of the LPGA T&CP Central Section Coach of the Year.

Pam has earned the respect of her peers, being selected to the elite group of clinicians for the NCAA's Youth Education through Sports (YES) Clinics in 1993, 1995 and 1996.  The clinics help potential collegiate golfers in their development, with discussions on the role of academics, goal-setting and mental skill development on and off the course as well as recruiting and admission requirements.

Pam earned four varsity letters in golf at Illinois State University, gaining Illinois Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (IAIAW) honors three times. The Hinsdale, IL native also was a member of the ISU badminton team which placed seventh at the AIWA national championship meet in 1981.  She received her undergraduate degree in physical education with a coaching emphasis from ISU in 1983.

She sat on the NCAA Midwestern Regional Selection Committee, and the NCAA Awards Committee in 1992-93, and is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA).  She is a member of the National Association of Golf Educators, on the Board of Directors for WWGA (Women's Western Golf Association), the Illinois Junior Golf Assn., and The Fairway Network.

Through Pam's teaching abilities, NIU's women's golf team won two tournaments and placed in the top five an amazing ten times in twelve tourneys during the 1986-87 campaign.   The Huskies notched three tourney titles in 1989-90 and 1991-92, adding a pair each in 1988-89 and 1990-91. In total, NIU has fourteen titles, seventeen runner-up finishes and sixty-one top-five showings in 117 tourneys under her leadership.

Pam's expertise goes well beyond the coaching tactics, extending to her skill as a recruiter.  That resume includes Nicole Jeray, selected the Player of the Year by both Ram Golf and GolfWeek magazine in 1990-91. Jeray won eight individual medals for the Cardinal and Black between 1989 and 1991 before joining the LPGA Tour.  Pam also tutored Shelley Wendels, winner of the Western Kentucky Ladies Invitational, 1992 WSGA Alumni champion, 1994 Huskie Sportswoman of the Year, and three-time MVP for NIU.  Shelley earned her LPGA card and qualified for the U.S. Women's Open in 1997.

But the Huskies achievements are not limited to the golf course.  In each of the last two season, NIU has placed four players on the National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) Academic All-America list, adding the latest chapter to an honor roll which includes a host of Huskies sporting grade point averages of 3.0 or higher. For further information, contact Pam Tyska at (815) 753-1548.