Lakeland University has named James Keck as its new head men's and women's golf coach, Director of Athletics
Dan Artamenko has announced.
Keck was a former four-year collegiate golfer at Lakeland's Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference foe Benedictine University and also comes to Lakeland with coaching and administrative experience. He come to Lakeland for his first collegiate head coaching job after serving as assistant sports information director for the last two years at Illinois College in Jacksonville, Ill.
"I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to begin my coaching career at Lakeland," said Keck. "My wife and I are excited for this new chapter, and I'm thankful to get back to my passion while helping build something special with the golf programs."
Keck played golf at Benedictine from 2020-24 and was a regular in the lineup all four years. He led the team in stroke average as a senior, when he finished in the top 10 in the NACC to earn all-conference honors, and also finished in the top 20 in the conference as a sophomore and junior.
Keck also was a three-time recipient of the NACC Scholar-Athlete Award and twice was named a Cobalt Golf All-America Scholar. While at Benedictine he also was a four-year student assistant for the Eagles men's basketball team, and he also worked three years as an athletic department and sports information assistant.
Keck received his degree from Benedictine in sports management in May 2024. He spent the past two years at Illinois College in the sports information department where he was involved in numerous athletics communications roles, including writing, serving as media contact and directing in-game media operations, and also oversaw live streaming production for home athletic events. He also is a licensed insurance agent and has been a property and casualty agent for Country Financial for the past two years.
Keck is a native of DeKalb, Ill., and a graduate of DeKalb High School. He married the former Kyra Grainger in Nov. 2025, and she is an elementary school teacher.
