Trio Set for 2019 GCAA Hall of Fame Inductions

NORMAN, Okla. — The GCAA will induct two coaches and another for contributions – Dan Rogas of Lamar University who will be honored posthumously, Tommy Snell of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, and Prominent Rules Official Bob Hooper into its 2019 Hall of Fame Class. The trio will be officially inducted at the GCAA Hall of Fame Reception and Awards Banquet Monday December 9th in Las Vegas.

A coach for more than 30 years, Rogas began his coaching career with Lamar’s football program, where he served on staff from 1955-1971. In 1963, he also accepted the role of head golf coach, and began the process of building a powerhouse. In his first season on the links, Rogas led his squad to a Lone Star Conference title. The following year, the Cardinals moved into the Southland Conference and began a run of dominance that has not been equaled since. The Red and White never lost an SLC title from 1964 – 1973 – the Cards won more titles during that 10-year stretch than any other SLC school has won in its history. Rogas wrapped up his career being named Southland Conference Coach of the Year in 1981. That season marked the second time in his career that he received the league's individual honor, and the 12th time he guided Big Red to a conference title. Under Rogas' direction, the Cardinals won two Division II national titles reaching the pinnacle in 1967 and 1968. During that dominant stretch, Rogas was twice named the College Division National Coach of the Year.

Tommy Snell has built a golf dynasty at Mississippi Gulf Coast, with his program coming off its ninth consecutive NJCAA Region 23 Championship and third straight top-four finish at the NJCAA Tournament. He has sent more than 40 golfers to four-year schools. Snell has been at Perkinston since 2000, and he was inducted into the NJCAA Men’s Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2015. His teams have also won seven MACJC championships and been runners-up six times, and he was the Mississippi Association of Coaches Community College Coach of the Year. Gulf Coast has sent golfers to the national tournament every year since 2002, and Snell was named Golf Pride Grips Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2018. Snell is very active on the national golf scene as a United States Golf Association rules official and committeeman. He is a frequent rules official at NCAA championships and is on the NCAA Division I national championship committee. It allows him to develop contacts for his far-reaching network of college coaches that enables Gulf Coast to send its golfers to the next level. Snell is on the Golf Coaches Association of America National Advisory Board, and he’s a weekly columnist for the Sun Herald. He was a U.S Open qualifying medalist in 1980 and winner of several amateur and professional tournaments.

The 2005 winner of the Joe Dey Award, which recognizes an individual’s meritorious service to the game of golf as a volunteer, Hooper has had a long and illustrious career in the game. Hooper’s interest in the Rules of Golf came about after losing the Newark (Del.) Country Club men’s club championship because he didn’t know a Rule that would have won him the title. That led Hooper to attend USGA workshops on the games Rules and his success caught the attention of officials within the organization. A retired dentist, Hooper worked the inaugural U.S. Mid-Amateur in 1981 and then the 1982 U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open. He has worked as a Rules official at multiple Open’s since. He has also done 22 Senior Opens, along with several U.S. Amateurs, and Arnold Palmer Cup’s.

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