BVU Graduate Guides Lake Mills to State Title
Interim trip to examine marketing opportunities in Phoenix led to this Beaver’s career in hockey, then golf
Travis Laudner, a 2001 Buena Vista University graduate, coached the Lake Mills High School boys’ golf team to a championship in the Iowa High School Athletic Association’s Class 1A state tournament in May.
Laudner serves as General Manager at Rice Lake Golf & Country Club in Lake Mills, where he resides with his wife Jayece (Olson) Laudner, also a 2001 BVU graduate, and their five children, who range in age from nine to five-year-old twins.
“We do have a busy house,” Travis says with a laugh. “We had five children under the age of five when our twins were born.”
Jayece, who was a biology and Spanish double major at BVU, is now a Physical Therapist specializing in pediatrics.
Travis, a business major who studied marketing, sport management, and communications at BVU, has served as a PGA Golf Professional for 11 years. He got into the business after relocating to Phoenix, Ariz., upon his graduation from BVU.
“During my senior year, we did an Interim trip with Dr. Scott Anderson (Professor of Marketing) to Phoenix, and I made as many connections as I could during that trip,” Travis remembers. “I earned a position with the Phoenix Coyotes (now called the Arizona Coyotes, and a member of the National Hockey league) and worked there for four years.”
Travis served at a golf course on the side. He eventually discovered a passion for golf and, specifically, teaching the sport. Four years ago, when the family relocated back to Iowa, he began coaching the girls’ team at Lake Mills High School. In 2021, he helped coach the boys’ team, which finished in third place in Class 2A.
“The team lost by two shots in 2021 and that lit a fire,” he says. “The boys put a ton of work in and this spring we set some lofty goals, a state championship being the top goal.”
The team earned its state title at Ames Golf and Country Club, winning by 16 strokes, claiming the first golf title in school history and just the second team title of any sport for Lake Mills High School. Medalist Bennett Berger, a senior, would go on to place fifth the following week at the Lake Creek Amateur, held at the Buena Vista University Golf Course at Lake Creek.
Lake Mills went undefeated during the spring, claiming the Top of the Iowa Conference and earning Coach Laudner a Coach of the Year award in his first season as Head Coach of the boys’ team.
“It was amazing to see all the hard work the boys put in result in them reaching their goals of a state title,” Travis says. “I was simply thrilled to be a part of it.”