COLLEGE GOLF: Former Lakeland High star Bayley named assistant WSU golf coach

PULLMAN — Washington State men's golf has named former student-athlete Derek Bayley as the program's assistant coach, men's head coach Dustin White announced Wednesday.

"First off, I want to thank Kevin (Tucker) for his six years with our program," White said. "We've done some neat things along the way, and he's helped put a solid foundation in place for Derek to come in and build on. Derek brings invaluable playing experience, having played right here at WSU and then continued onto the professional game.

"His knowledge of what it takes to compete at an elite level will resonate with our guys and give them a great resource in both practice and tournament play," White continued. "Above all, he's a genuine guy who cares about people, will serve our players and do things the right way. I'm excited for him to get back to Pullman and begin working with him to keep pushing our program to new levels."

Bayley, the former Lakeland High star, spent four years in the Crimson and Gray (2014-18), finishing his Cougar career with a career scoring average of 73.04, tops in school history, and remains sixth all-time entering the 2024-25 academic year. He twice posted the team's lowest scoring average in both 2016 and 2017, while also setting the WSU freshman scoring record at 72.36. That mark also ranked fifth all-time for lowest scoring average in program history when he concluded his WSU career.

During his sophomore season, Bayley led the Cougars to a record-breaking victory at the Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, earning his first collegiate title of his career and tying the tournament record with a three-round score of 201 (-12). For his career, he posted nine top 10 and 23 Top 25 finishes, while tying for the third-lowest 3-round score in program history, twice shooting 201 (-12), once in 2015 then again in 2018. Both scores are also tied for fifth-lowest all-time upon his graduation.

Additionally, as a collegian, Bayley twice captured the Rosauers Open in Spokane, including firing a 59 enroute to the 2016 title.

Following graduation, Bayley pursued a professional career, earning full status on both the PGA Tour Latinoamerica and PGA Tour Canada in 2019. He led the Canadian Tour that year in par 3 scoring and that year made it to the second stage at the Korn Ferry Qualifying School. In 2020, he captured the Reno Open which came with an automatic entry in the PGA Tour's Barracuda Championship in Truckee, Calif., his lone PGA Tour event. Over the span of the 2019 and 2020 seasons, he posted 18 top 10 finishes across both Asher and Dakota Tours.

He followed that with a victory at the 2021 Lake Havasu Open on the Outlaw Tour, now the Asher Tour. Most recently, in Sept. 2023, Bayley captured the Idaho Open at Quail Hollow Golf Course in Boise.