One of the best stories of the 2020-21 college golf season ended with some hardware after all.
On Wednesday the Golf Coaches Association of America and Golf Pride Grips announced the six 2021 Dave Williams National Coach of the Year Award winners, with Sam Houston State’s Brandt Kieschnick taking home Division I honors.
The Bearkats were forced to complete the Stillwater Regional without leader and star player, William Holcomb, due to COVID-19 contact tracing. His teammates rallied without him to punch their ticket to the NCAA Championship, the first in program history. Sam Houston made the first cut but lost out on a spot in match play by seven strokes.
“I am so humbled to receive this award and words can’t express how thankful I am,” Kieschnick said. “To be recognized by your peers is truly an honor. I’m so proud of this program and our team. This is a reflection of the hard work that was put in by our guys and our coaches, Tommy Chain and Robert Thompson. Everyone shares in this recognition.”
The other winners were Arkansas Tech’s Luke Calcatera (Division II), Illinois Wesleyan’s Jim Ott (Division III), Dalton State’s Ben Rickett (NAIA), Hutchinson’s Chris Young (NJCAA DI) and Parkland’s Corbin Sebens (NJCAA DII).
