Jim Bennett
Groose Ile High School
Impact Statement
“I really enjoy being with the kids. And they listen well and they pay attention and to see them improve is a great feeling.” -Jim Bennett
Biography
Bennett retired following the 2004 season after 30 seasons as the boys’ golf coach at Grosse Ile. That year his team finished sixth in the Division 3 state tournament and he coached an individual state champion. That followed on the heels of an incredible six-year run that saw the Red Devils win five state titles in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003 – and a second-place finish in 2001.
In 2007 Bennett returned to coaching as head coach of Grosse Ile’s girls’ team, for which he had served as an assistant coach for seven seasons, and led the Red Devils to a 12th-place finish in the state tournament that year.
A past president of the Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association (MIGCA), Bennett was the organization’s Division 3 Coach of the Year in 1998 and its Region 3 Coach of the Year in 2003, and was inducted into the MICGA Hall of Fame in 2005. He is a finalist for the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Coach of the Year this year.
In 2016 Bennett was inducted to the National High School Athletic Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame.
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