UMPI’s Hotham
gains Coach of the Year honors from USCAA
University of Maine at Presque Isle golf coach Dan Hotham has been named the inaugural USCAA Golf Coach of the Year.
Hotham has been the face of UMPI golf for five years. He has been an exceptional mentor to the student-athletes and easily the most successful coach within the school’s athletic department during that time. This year, his team won three team tournaments and finished second twice out of the eight events.
Under Hotham’s guidance, senior Reynold Brown has played at an All-American level this year, as evidenced by Brown’s 75.8 stroke average, good enough to rank him third in the USCAA.
In four years of USCAA play, Hotham’s Owl squads have taken 11 first-place finishes out of 31 events. The Owls have also finished second six times in that same time period and registered a seventh-place finish at the 2012 USCAA national tourney.
In 2010, Hotham’s first season, the Owls won the now defunct Sunrise Conference title and he was named Coach of the Year. Mike Balmer, Hotham’s first recruit, won both conference Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year honors and Hotham placed four golfers on the all-conference squad.
Each year, Hotham has donated his salary back into the golf program that spends 95 percent of its allotted budget on travel. Without that donation, Hotham’s teams would not have the equipment needed to operate the first-class program that he has developed. Hotham also willingly drives his squad to matches to keep the costs of running his program at an efficient level.
To highlight his coaching excellence, it must be noted that other than Hotham’s victories on the golf course, the Owl other sports teams have had only two winning seasons in the same four-year span that the golf program has won 11 of 31 events.
“Dan is a first-class gentleman and the mentorship he has provided his student-athletes has been exceptional,” said Doug Carter, UMPI’s sports information director. “Dan has a sincere passion for the game of golf and an equal want of providing his athletes with the best possible playing experience.
