EMORY, Va. --- Emory & Henry College is pleased to announce that men’s and women’s golf will be added as the College’s 15th and 16th intercollegiate sports. The teams will begin competition in the 2016-17 academic year.
“I am so excited and pleased that we are bringing back men’s golf and adding women’s golf,”commented E&H Director of Athletics Myra Sims. “Having a full-time coach in place for the entire year before starting play allows us to build the program the right way. We want to give both teams the best chance for competitive success. We hope to establish relationships with the local golf community including the premier courses in the region.”
E&H last sponsored men’s golf in the 2007-08 season and will give the Old Dominion Athletic Conference 11 competing members when it reenters the fold. Men’s golf was one of the original 10 sports sponsored by the league when it was created in 1976.
The Wasps are embarking on a new journey with the addition of women’s golf and will become the seventh school to sponsor the sport in the ODAC. The first conference championship for women’s golf was awarded in 2013, bringing the total number of sports to 23 prior to the addition of men’s swimming in 2015.
Emory & Henry has the luxury of being the only school in the ODAC with a golf course on its campus in Lynch Links, named for Charles V. Lynch, Sr. ‘42. Discussions are currently underway with the Lynch family about various possibilities to optimize it for the use of the College community.
“The administration of the College is positioning the institution for growth which is evident by the new School of Health Sciences, the acquisition of Intermont Equestrian and the creation of the marching band,” Sims noted. “Adding men’s and women’s golf to the athletics program is one more step towards increasing enrollment and enhancing the visibility of the institution.”
A nationwide search for the program’s first-ever, full-time coach is currently underway. The new coach, who will be selected and arrive on campus this fall, will be tasked with planning and recruiting during the 2015-16 academic year. The first competition for the programs is set to take place in the fall of 2016.
--- This release is courtesy of the Emory & Henry College sports information department. ---
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