Bobcat golf coach resigns

GC&SU Head Golf Coach Jimmy Wilson announced his resignation on Sept. 17. Wilson has coached the golf team for the past nine years.

Coach Jose Martinez Medrano, who graduated from GC&SU in 2004, will take Wilson’s place as the Bobcats’ interim head coach for the remainder of the 2005-2006 season.

“I’ve always enjoyed coaching the golf team, and I’ll still be active with them and help them out when they’re at the course. I just won’t be going out on the road with them anymore,” Wilson said.

Wilson said that the reasons for his resignation are based entirely on his need to be with his family. Wilson and his wife of 17 years, Colleen, have three children, Drew, 14; Matt, 11; and Sarah, 5.

“I have always been big on family, and I’ve always felt that the kids who play here were part of my family, but I need to spend more time with my real family,” Wilson said.

Traveling with the golf team to various games and tournaments over the last nine years has left Wilson with little time to spend as a husband and father.

“It’s not just something you can put down and leave,” Wilson said. “These guys need and deserve somebody they can turn to full-time, and I just don’t think I would be able to do that for them anymore.”

Wilson’s resignation has been in the works since last spring, when he and GC&SU Athletics Director Stan Aldridge first discussed the idea.

“He understood my situation, and we had talked about it several times throughout the year,” Wilson said. “I’m really thankful that he supported my decision.”

Since Wilson started coaching the golf team in 1996, he has led the Bobcats to many significant accomplishments.

In 2000, GC&SU won its first-ever Peach Belt Conference golf championship, and Wilson also won the league’s prestigious Coach of the Year Award that same year.

In addition, the team made it to the NCAA Division II National Tournament five times during Wilson’s reign, where they finished 5th in 1998, 10th in 2000, tied for 5th in 2001, 10th in 2004 and 15th in 2005.

“It was awesome because GC&SU had never done any of that before,” Wilson said.

Although the Bobcats have accomplished several goals under the guidance of Coach Wilson, the players themselves have been the highlights and the focus of Wilson’s career at GC&SU.

“One year we had three guys make the All-Conference team, and one year we had two out of five players make All-American, but I think the main highlight has definitely been getting to know these guys and hanging out with them,” Wilson said. “When these guys finish their time at GC&SU and they’re better people than they were when they got here, then I’ve done my job. That has always been my goal.”

Wilson played golf for GC&SU and graduated in 1986 as the last student to ever receive a degree in municipal recreation.

Wilson is now the director of golf at the Little Fishing Creek Golf Course in Milledgeville.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 30 2005. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry