Coaches Honored at GCAA Hall of Fame Banquet
NORMAN, Okla. ? Kent State?s Herb Page, Larry Penley of Clemson and East Tennessee State?s Fred Warren have been selected for induction in the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame. Dr. Ed Cottrell received the Honor Award, the highest honor given by the GCAA.
Page has been the head men?s golf coach at Kent State since 1978 and was named the program?s director of golf in 1997. He has led his teams to 11 Mid-American Conference Championships and has qualified for NCAA Regionals in 13 of the last 15 years. Kent State also won two Central Regional Championships - 1993 at Ohio State?s Scarlet Course in at Karsten Creek in 2001. The Flashes? best NCAA finishes during that time have been ninth in 2003 and 13th in 1994. Page has coached 19 All-Americans - including British Open Champion Ben Curtis - and 13 All-America Scholars. In 1991, Brian Bridges was honored with the Ben Hogan Award. A 13-time Mid-American Coach of the Year and eight-time NCAA District 4 Coach of the Year, Page was inducted into the Kent State University "Varsity K" Hall of Fame in 1985. Page has raised over $1 million dollars to completely endow Kent State?s men?s golf scholarships at Kent State.
The 2003 Eaton Golf Pride Dave Williams National Coach of the Year, Penley has spent the past 20 years as the head coach of the Clemson golf program. He led the Tigers to the 2003 NCAA Championship and his teams have finished in the top five seven times and in the top 20 on 17 occasions. Penley?s squads have also won seven ACC titles and six NCAA Regional crowns. He has coached 46 All-Americans - including 13 first-team selections - and 10 All-America Scholars. Penley has been named the ACC Coach of the year and District Coach of the Year five times each. In 2003, Penley?s Tigers became the first program in NCAA history to win its conference, regional and national championship in the same year. Clemson was the nation?s top-ranked team by the Precept Coaches poll the entire 2003 season and captured a school record six team titles.
Warren has been a head coach for 20 seasons, first at TCU and currently at East Tennessee State. He came to ETSU in 1986 and has led the Bucs to 10 NCAA Championship appearances and 11 Southern Conference Championships. His best NCAA finish was third in 1996 and ETSU won the 2001 East Regional with an NCAA record 36-under. Nine Bucs have been named Southern Conference Player of the Year since 1989 and eight have won conference medallist honors. Warren has coached 18 All-Americans, one All-America Scholar and an ETSU Student-Athlete of the Year. He coached the men?s and women?s teams while at TCU from 1979-84. Twice Warren?s teams at TCU advanced to the NCAA Championships and he coached three men?s and three women?s All-Americans and led the women?s squad to an NCAA title in 1983. Named Southwest Conference Coach of the Year in both men?s and women?s golf, he was inducted into the TCU Hall of Honor in 2000. The ETSU Golf Center was named The Frederick B. Warren-William B. Greene Jr. Golf Center, in his honor earlier this year.
In his 21-season hall of fame career, Cottrell led West Chester to 196 wins and won two PSCAC Championships. Four of his golfers - Ed Kenyon, Larry Moore, Mike Daugherty and Gary Daniels - claimed individual conference titles. Known as Cottie to his friends, he also served as head coach of West Chester?s tennis team for one season, as well as the freshman football coach and assistant baseball coach, and was a professor and associate dean of health and physical education. An instructor at the Duke University Golf School for 17 years, Cottrell has been an active member of the National Golf Foundation. The recipient of several honors - including the Joe Graffius and Don Rossi Awards - he has been inducted into both the West Chester and Slippery Rock Halls of Fame. A fighter pilot during World War II, Cottrell flew in 65 combat missions and was awarded the Air Medal with eight clusters and the European Theater Combat Medal.
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