A former All-American golfer for OSU, Mike Holder, took over the OSU coaching post on July 1, 1973, and during his tenure (until 2005), his teams set student-athlete standards that were unequaled.
While he coached 112 All-America selections, including 38 first-team choices, and had numerous former players competing on the PGA Tour, overseas and on mini-tours,
Holder saw to it that his players also excelled in the classroom. During his years as coach, OSU produced three Ben Hogan Award winners, which was based on academic and athletic excellence nationwide. Kevin Wentworth earned the honor in 1990, Trip Kuehne claimed the prestigious award in 1995 and Hunter Mahan was named the 2003 recipient. Kuehne was OSU's outstanding male graduate in 1995 as well.