Friday, July 1, 2022
by Western Washington Athletic Communications

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Western Washington University director of golf Luke Bennett has been selected as the 2022 Golf Pride Grips Division II West Region Men’s Golf Coach of the Year by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

In his ninth year as the men’s golf coach at WWU and third also overseeing the women’s program, Bennett helped lead the Viking men to the GNAC Championships title and earned the No. 1 seed in the West Region. WWU fell short of a trip to nationals, but extended its string of advancing to the NCAA Division II Championships for the 23rd consecutive season.

Bennett earned his fourth men's GNAC Coach of the Year honor adding to his collection from winning the award in 2016, 2017 and 2019. He was also the GNAC Women's Coach of the Year in 2021 and 2022.

During the 2021-22 season, the Vikings appeared in 10 tournaments and recorded a team scoring average of 291.75 (+4.61 to par) to rank 3rd-best in program history. WWU dominated the All-GNAC team with five selections to the all-conference team, led by Player of the Year Aidan Thain and first-team selections Jordan Lee and Devin Andrews. Thain and Andrews were also selected to the PING All-West Region team for the second consecutive year.