Golf ( Men )

From GWUEncyc

Article

Golf has long been a very popular activity for men and women GW students. Although golf has an eighty year history at the University, a varsity squad was not organized until the 1946-47 school year. That year a notice went out asking "all men interested will turn their name in to Jim Hayes, the student golf manager." The following year the GW team was playing at Kenwood Country Club and led by Captain Bill Griffin.

Team captain Tad Lindner '51 was inducted into the GW Athletic Hall of Fame in 1973. Jay Randolph, '57 led the Colonial golfers to the first Southern Conference Championship in the history of the school. That year the team won the Richmond, Virginia tournament with the low team score of 608. In 1978 Randolph was inducted into GW's Athletic Hall of Fame, and for many years was a broadcaster for NBC Sports.

Golf has remained as an active GW sport. Last season the Colonials qualified for the Eastern Intercollegiate District II Golf Tournament and the ECAC Championships for the first time in GW history. Returning to lead the Colonials will be juniors Tae-Sik Hong, Bobby Snyder and Scott Lutz. Hong gave GW consistent play in the spring of 1994, placing ninth individually at the Atlantic 10 Championships. The Colonials' program is also beginning to reap the benefits of the GW Links Club. The Links Club is a support organization made up of alumni and friends of GW golf.

Keith Betts became Head Coach in July 1991 after having served as assistant men's soccer coach at the University for six years.

Scott Allen [1] became Head Coach in 1994.

Now in his 14th year as head coach of The George Washington University golf team. Simply put, Allen is the winningest coach in the 80-year history of GW Golf. In 2006 Allen led the team to their first NCAA berth in 60 years. He tallied his 1,000th career head-to-head victory at the 2005 Bethany Beach Invitational and his 1,270 career wins are four times more than any other GW golf coach. Allen has coached the Colonials to 13 tournament victories and 41 top-three finishes, both more than all other GW golf coaches combined. Over the past four seasons, GW has posted a .632 winning percentage.

Allen has led the team to it's two highest finishes in the 50-school Mid-Atlantic Region, eighth in 2004 and seventh in 2005. He tallied his 1,000th career head-to-head victory at the Bethany Beach Invitational last spring. Allen has coached the Colonials to 10 tournament wins and 30 top-three finishes, both more than all other GW Golf coaches combined. GW has forged a .669 winning percentage over the past two seasons alone. Allen graduated from GW in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in political science and minors in history and economics. He earned a master's degree in international affairs in 2000. Starting his collegiate career at the University of Delaware where he redshirted his first season, Allen transferred to GW and lettered in golf four times, started all four years and was team captain for three years. While at GW, Allen led the team to what was then its highest finish ever in the NCAA Division I Mid-Atlantic Region, when the team finished 12th in his fourth year. He was MVP that year and led the Colonials in scoring average and top-five finishes in his last two years. He had four second-place finishes, including two at the Pinehurst Sandhills Intercollegiate. When Allen's playing career ended in 1994, he held the school record for rounds played with 67 (currently 10th) and was second in top-5 finishes with seven (currently fourth). He holds the unique distinction of being the only Colonial with more than 30 rounds played to have his score count in every single start. Allen has served as Chairman of the NCAA Mid Atlantic Region Regional Advisory Committee for the past four years, the group that is responsible for selecting the teams that participate in the NCAA Championship. In addition to his duties as golf coach, Allen is GW's Recruiting Coordinator, a Class A member of the PGA of America and serves as the Executive Director for the First Tee of Washington, DC. He continues to play competitively within the Middle Atlantic Section of the PGA. Allen and his wife, Alicia, live in Reston, VA.

See also GW golf: [2]

Document Information

Images: 0
Photographic Credit: n/a
Author or Source: Cherry Tree; GW Sports Media Guides; Sports Information Office
Document Location: University Archives
Date Added to Encyclopedia: December 21, 2006
Prepared by: G. David Anderson, University Archivist and Historian

For more information about GW history

Contact:

Special Collections Research Center [3]
The Melvin Gelman Library [4]
The George Washington University [5]
2130 H Street, NW Suite 704
Washington, DC 20052
202-994-7549
mailto:archives@gwu.edu
Please send us your questions and comments about the encyclopedia.
This site is maintained by the Special Collections Research Center and the Web Development Group.