Kevin Gilster ’87 will be honored with the 2025 O.D. Bounds Award at the Alumni Medal Awards Dinner on Oct. 24. A former member of the golf team, Kevin now drives TXWES athletics forward through his work on the O.D. Bounds Committee and his commitment to raising vital funds for the golf program.

Kevin Gilster grew up in the states of Nebraska and South Dakota.  After graduating High School in 1982, Kevin was a four-year letterman on the Texas Wesleyan College men’s golf team.  He played first under the late O.D Bounds and finished up under coach Bobby Cornett.  Kevin graduated with bachelor’s degree in business in 1987.

After graduation from TWC Kevin spent for the most part of 16 years in the Industrial Maintenance and Financial industries in sales and marketing.  Kevin then joined his old college roommate at TWC, Charlie Claffey with Claffey Pools.  He spent the next 20 years helping them grow into a $52M+ company and #2 pool builder in the country.  Kevin recently joined The ML Group/Travis Homes whose successes lie in the architecture and custom home building business.

Kevin has been a part of the Texas Wesleyan family for the past 43 years.  He was on the first committee in 1997 when the O.D Bounds golf classic was established.  He served eight years and then took a short sabbatical.  Kevin returned to the committee in 2017 and is now co-chair of the now Texas Wesleyan O.D. & Maurice Bounds Golf Scholarship Endowment Committee.    Kevin was also instrumental in developing a second endowment in Bobby Cornett’s name.  This endowment supports academic and athletic scholarships for the men’s and women’s golf programs.  These efforts led by Kevin are funded by a Write-A-Check campaign, which has been held every year since 2018 and has raised just under $300,000 year-to-date.

Kevin has been married to Sandy for 28 years and together have two adult boys Miles, 27 and William, 25 who also played golf for Bobby Cornett at Texas Wesleyan.        

About the Alumni Medal Awards 

Each year, Texas Wesleyan University honors distinguished alumni and friends. Their achievements and contributions are amazing reflections of the University, and we are honored to celebrate and recognize them.

This year’s Alumni Medal Awards Dinner will be held in the Martin University Center on Friday, Oct. 24. The reception begins at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and program at 7 p.m.

The event is open to all alumni, friends, family, faculty and staff. Tickets are $60 per person and sponsorship opportunities are available. Register online to reserve your seat, and be sure to check out other homecoming weekend activities as well.

Questions? Contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 817-531-6548 or alumni@txwes.edu.