(Story courtesy of the Oglethorpe University website)
DUBLIN, Ohio – The Golf Coaches Association of America, in conjunction with diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation, today announced the six outstanding collegiate golf coaches receiving the Dave Williams Award presented by Eaton Golf Pride as national coaches of the year. Oglethorpe University head men's golf coach Jim Owen earned the honor among all D-III coaches.
Owen guided the Stormy Petrels through a magical 2011-12 season that culminated with the program winning their second NCAA Championship in just four years. After a fall season that featured three top-five finishes, Owen settled on a spring lineup of a freshman (Anthony Maccaglia), two sophomores (Hayden Jones and Anthony Amodeo), a junior (Eric Quinn) and a lone senior (Matt Rebitch). That quintet proved nearly unbeatable, winning three of six spring events while narrowly settling for second place in the other three.
The Petrels won the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) for the 10th time in April when they led wire-to-wire en route to an easy 21-stroke victory at the Tunica National Resorts in Mississippi. Less than a month later, Owen's squad duplicated the feat, this time on the biggest stage of them all at the NCAA Championships, on their way to a convincing 20-stroke win at the Mission Inn Resort in Florida.
In addition to the 2012 NGCAA Coach of the Year (COTY) honor, Owen has been named SCAC Men's Golf COTY twelve times. He'll be looking to guide his program to their 13th straight trip to the NCAA's when the 2012-13 season gets underway this fall as the Petrels join the Southern Athletic Association.
The award marks the 15th time that an SCAC coach has received a national Coach-of-the-Year honor and the first since 2007 when DePauw University's Kris Huffman was named both the DIII News and D3hoops.com Women's Basketball National Coach-of-the-Year following her team's national title run that same season.
