Jeff Bardel moved from North Carolina to attend RHEMA Bible Training Center in 2002. While he was a student, he competed for the RHEMA Eagles on the links and also served as the team captain.

Before attending RHEMA, Bardel earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Appalachian State University with a minor in Business. After graduating from ASU, he worked as a newspaper reporter in his hometown of Laurinburg, North Carolina.

Bardel was a baseball player and planned on playing at ASU until a tragic industrial accident took his right arm (and nearly his life) four days before his college orientation. Turning his attention to golf, Bardel won the arm division in two amputee golf tournaments prior to attending RHEMA. Since attending RBTC, he won the arm division in the Oklahoma Amputee Tournament in 2005 and was the overall tournament champion in 2009, shooting a final round 74 to win by one. In 2005 and again in 2006, Bardel broke a world record for the longest drive of a golf ball hit with one arm. His second record-breaking performance landed him at #6 in ESPN’s Top 10 Plays of the Week.

“Coaching the golf team has been rewarding as I get to see growth in the guys during the year, not only on the golf course, but more importantly in their walk with Christ,” Bardel said. “I have a lot of fun working with and practicing with the team each year.”