WEST CHESTER, PA - Current Exton, PA, resident and PGA member Michael Thompson has been selected as West Chester Universitys womens head golf coach. Thompson will assume the position beginning this fall after mens head coach Mark Maurer handled the reins of the program for the 2003-04 campaign.
A graduate of Bethlehem Catholic High School in Bethlehem, PA, Thompson is presently a resident of Exton and has spent more than 25 years in the golf profession as a player, teacher and coach. The Northeast Louisiana University graduate (1970) has also been heavily involved in junior golf and in golf operations.
Thompson is presently a teaching professional with The Golf Center at Irish Oaks. He has also spent time as a teaching pro throughout the Delaware Valley at the Whitford Country Club (1999-2001), the West Chester Golf & Country Club (1992-94), the Brandywine Country Club (1991-92) and the Springhaven Club (1989-91). He also served as the producer of the television show entitled Practical Golf.
As a player, Thompson was fourth in senior stroke average and eighth on the money list during the 2001 PGA Winter Series in Florida. In 2000, he was the first alternate at the U.S. Senior Open at Saucon Valley.
From 1981-83, Thompson competed on the international professional tours in Australia, South Africa, Europe and Asia, while he also played on the North Florida Winter Tour and Space Coast (Florida) Tour in the United States.
Thompson has an outstanding background in player development and junior golf. In 2001 he won the Junior Golf Leader award presented by the Philadelphia Section of the PGA.
The veteran golf professional has coordinated and instructed golf camps for the city of Philadelphia, served as the co-chair of the Philadelphia Section of the Junior Golf Committee (1998-2001) and participated in the Variety Clubs Golf Buddy program providing instruction to children with special needs. In 1998 the Variety Club presented Thompson with its Special Achievement Award in recognition of his service to the organizations children.
On April 28, 2003, WCU announced it was adding womens golf to its array of athletic programs because of the interest and growth in the sport. There are nearly 100 womens golf teams across the nation at the NCAA Division II level, including Kutztown University which became the first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference institution to add the program just a few years ago.
Recent research unveiled the existence of a WCU womens varsity golf program for one season during the 1962-63 academic year. The small squad consisted of three players - Sue Thompson, Mary Ellen Cope and Eleanor Hartman - and featured Barbara Coates as the head coach.
West Chester actually hosted the Eastern Intercollegiate Golf Championship that year and saw Cope - a freshman in 1962-63 - finish first. Thompson, playing as a senior, wound up taking second place.
The Golden Rams are expected to compete in matches during the fall and spring semesters.
