A Coaching Career Above Par
glasgow golf & country club, glasgow-barren county, golf, recreation,
Mike Harris is looking forward to watching his daughter, Laura Beth, play college golf in 2009.
Laura Beth’s gain is Glasgow High School’s loss.
Harris was the girls’ golf coach at Glasgow High for 22 seasons, and the team won 14 regional championships during his tenure. In addition, the Scotties’ golf squad won five Kentucky state championships – in 2008 as well as four in a row from 1997-2000.
Harris coached his daughter at Glasgow High for four years ending in 2008, and she will now compete for University of the Cumberlands beginning in 2009.
He has stepped down from the head coaching position at Glasgow High to watch his daughter compete in college.
“I am also assistant principal at the high school and will remain in that position, but I want to follow Laura Beth to all of her college matches,” Harris says. “So 2008 was my final year as golf coach for the girls, and I enjoyed every season.”
Harris and Glasgow High’s five Kentucky golf titles are tied for the all-time lead with Louisville Sacred Heart, a large all-girls school with an enrollment of 1,500.
“We are a small school of 540 students that competes against all of the large schools, and our girls have always worked hard to make our program successful,” Harris says. “I’ve had great parental support and couldn’t ask for better kids to work with. The girls in my program have excelled both in the classroom and on the golf course.”
Through the years, Harris coached four first-team all-state players, and seven girls who advanced to play college golf. Two of his former players – Taryn Durham and Whitney Wade – are also currently playing professionally on the Futures Tour, which is a step away from the LPGA Tour.
“I was lucky enough to watch both Taryn and Whitney compete at the U.S. Women’s Open – that proves just how good they both are,” Harris says.
Glasgow Golf & Country Club is the home course for the Glasgow High girls’ team, and Harris says the club members have always been generous to allow the team to play there.
“Playing at such a quality club is just another aspect of how good the game of golf has been to the girls at Glasgow High,” he says. “But I am especially proud of how the girls who I’ve coached – no matter what their level of talent – have always been better people than they are golfers.”
Story by Kevin Litwin
