The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) named Oglethorpe men’s golf head coach Jim Owen as the winner of the Division III Dave Williams National Coach of the Year Award Friday, marking the second time Owen has won the award in the last three years.
During the 2013-14 season, the Stormy Petrel men’s golf squad came within just a few strokes of winning their third national championship in six years, but came away with the program’s first national runner-up finish and fifth Top 5 finish in program history. Sophomore Anthony Maccaglia was named First Team All-America for the third consecutive year in 2014 and became the first Division III golfer selected to compete in the Palmer Cup. Senior Hayden Jones garnered Second Team All-America honors for his third consecutive All-America designation. In addition, sophomore David Kleckner received All-America honorable mention accolades.
Owen led the team to three tournament victories over the course of the season, including the Camp Lejeune Championship in Jacksonville, N.C., in April; the Callaway Gardens Intercollegiate in Pine Mountain, Ga., in March; and the Golfweek D3 Fall Invitational in Destin, Fla., in October.
Owen was named the South Region Coach of the Year at the GCAA awards banquet as part of the NCAA Division III Championship in Greensboro, N.C., in May. He also earned the SAA Men’s Golf Coach of the Year in April, marking the second consecutive season in which he’s earned that accolade and the 14th time in the past 17 seasons in which he’s earned a conference coach of the year award, dating back to when Oglethorpe was a member of the SCAC.
He was inducted into the GCAA Hall of Fame in December at the annual GCAA convention in Las Vegas and will be presented with his Dave Williams Award at the 2014 convention, which will again be in Las Vegas.