Calvin University

Dr. Jerry Bergsma is in his 23rd year as head coach of the women's golf team. Bergsma's women's golf teams have received the MIAA's Team GPA Award 10 times in the last 12 years for maintaining a cumulative team grade point average of 3.30 or above.

During the 2023-24 season, he led Calvin to a third place league finish, matching the second-best finish in program history. The 2023-24 season marked a new format for the MIAA which included four fall rounds and a pair of spring rounds for the final league standings. Bergsma and the Knights followed that season by taking fourth in 2024-25 with a total of 2003 strokes over six MIAA events. 

In the spring of 2021, he helped Calvin finish with third in the final MIAA standings with two of his golfers landing spots on the All-MIAA First Team. At the 2019 MIAA Spring Tournament, he led Calvin to a second place finish.

Bergsma has served on the Division III National Women's Golf Committee. The committee is responsible for championship field selection and the event management of the annual championship from 2011-2013 and from 2015 to present.  

In addition, he has previously served as a committee chairperson for the LPGA Meijer Classic for Simply Give. For the second consecutive year, the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give was recognized as the “Best Tournament” on the LPGA Tour.

In 2016, he was the coach for a group of female college golfers representing USA Athletes International who traveled to St. Andrews, Scotland to compete in team events against local club teams.  

A 1990 graduate of Calvin, Bergsma was a member of the Calvin men's volleyball club team as a student where he earned All-Midwest Volleyball Association accolades. After graduating from Calvin, he coached one year of junior varsity volleyball at Grandville Christian High School. Bergsma then taught two years at Timothy Christian School in Barrie, Ontario, before returning to Grand Rapids to work on his graduate education.

A native of Brampton, Ontario, Canada and a graduate of Toronto District Christian High School, Bergsma received his master's degree in physical education from Western Michigan University in 1996. In 2011, he completed his Doctorate in educational leadership at Western Michigan University. He has served as a faculty member in the Calvin Kinesiology Department over the last 14 years and is a full professor in the department.

Bergsma has also served as the interim head coach of the Calvin women's volleyball team, leading the Knights to an MIAA Tournament championship and a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament. Bergsma also previously served as the women's tennis coach at Calvin, a position he held for 11 years.