Chris Yoder was born in Iowa City, Iowa, the son of Dr. Stephen & Peggy Yoder, moving to Ashland, Ohio at age 1. Chris grew up with the Ashland Country Club in his backyard. His Dad took him on the golf course for 1 to 2 holes after dinner almost nightly. At a very young age, he fell in love with the game of golf. He worked with Dan Priest, golf professional at Ashland Country Club and Dan became a mentor to Chris throughout his high school career. Through golf, Chris connected with Bobby Castor, John Locke, Kevin Priest and Steve Paramore. This group played together all summer long and basically lived on the golf course and was the same group that won the state high school championship his senior year.

After his freshman year, Chris played the #1 position on the high school golf team. He lettered all four years. He was Division I District Champion in both 1997 and 1998. He finished 7th at the OHSAA State Golf tournament as a freshman, was State runner-up as a junior and finished 4th as a Senior at the state tournament. In 1998, during his senior year, the team claimed a state title. Chris had the low stroke average on the team in all four of his high school years (1995 - 1998) and still holds the AHS all-time record for low stroke average of 35.8 (per the New Arrow Addendum Website).

Chris competed in many national AJGA, PGA and junior events during his high school years. He had 5 top 5 finishes in AJGA events in 1998 and in 1999, he finished 2nd at an AJGA event and tied for 4th at the Western Junior. Chris was ranked 19th in the nation by GolfWeek at the time of high school graduation as a junior golfer.

Chris was recruited by Wake Forest University legendary Head Coach, Jerry Haas, and played collegiate golf at Wake Forest from 1999 to 2003. He was a four-year letter winner, participating in all four ACC tournaments finishing as high as 11th in 2003. He helped lead the Demon Deacons to three appearances at the NCAA championships with a 4th place finish during his senior year. During his senior season, he was named a Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) All-America Scholar.

After graduating from Wake Forest, he became the assistant golf coach at Wake Forest. He coached and recruited for six seasons. Chris helped recruit some of the most talented golfers in the country, coaching three future PGA Tour players - Bill Haas, Kyle Reifers and Webb Simpson. During his years as assistant coach, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons won nine tournaments, including three victories at the NCAA regional and a 3rd place finish at the NCAA championship. During his tenure, Wake had seven All-Americans, 11 AII-ACC selections, two ACC players of the year, one ACC rookie of the year and an individual champion at the ACC tournament.

After leaving Wake Forest, Chris was the associate Head Men’s Golf Coach at The Ohio State University and in 2011, he transitioned to Scioto Country Club and entered the PGA and started a teaching career.

Chris Yoder is currently entering his thirteenth season at Scioto Country Club. Chris, a certified US Kids golf instructor, has been coaching and teaching golf for eighteen years. Chris is currently the Director of Youth Player Development and oversees the entire junior program at Scioto, including implementing many new junior programs. Today, he has over 200 junior golfers in his program. Due to the success of these programs, Chris was recognized worldwide as he was named 2021 & 2022 Top 50 Kids Coach by US Kids Golf. In 2023, he earned the honor of being named Top 50 Master Kids Coach. Additionally, during the summer of 2021, Chris became the first teacher in Ohio history to coach both the Ohio Junior Champion, Tyler Sabo, and the Ohio Amateur Champion, Max Watson, in the same season. Chris was awarded the 2022 Southern Ohio PGA Teacher/Coach of the Year. Chris was named Top 100 Growth of the Game Teaching Professional by GRAA in 2022 and 2023. In 2023, Chris coached Harrision Young to the Drive, Chip and Putt Finals. He traveled to Augusta with Harrison coaching him to a 1st place finish in the drive competition. Most recently, Chris was awarded the Southern Ohio PGA Youth Player Development Award for 2024.

For the past four years, Chris played in the Southern Ohio PGA “Play Yellow Birdie Bash” fundraiser benefiting the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. This year, a total of $230,000 was raised by the southern Ohio teams and Chris and his teammate raised over $66,000 of this.

Chris married his middle and high school sweetheart, Melanie Kelley. They live in Dublin, Ohio and have three children, Christian, William and Isabelle. Chris credits much of his success to his wife and family, as well as the Ashland golf community and the ongoing support of both of his parents.