Ronnie Choate joins GCAA Hall of Fame Monday
12/6/2009 7:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Ronnie Choate has gone from "low man on the totem pole" to the hall of fame.
Choate, a football coach who was given the assignment back in 1962 to start Sam Houston State's golf program, will be inducted into the Golf Coaches Association of America's Hall of Fame on Monday night.
Currently in his 36th season as head golf coach at Sam Houston, Choate says he is honored and excited to be joining some of his friends and colleagues in the hall that honors the nation's most successful college golf coaches.
"This is quite a thrill for me and my wife," Choate said Friday, a day before he and his wife, Janice, flew to Las Vegas where the induction ceremony will take place at the Riviera Hotel and Casino. "We put our hearts and our souls into the golf program.
"The bottom line is, this was a job I was not qualified for, or prepared to do," Choate added with a chuckle. "Back in about 1961 or '62, our football coach, Red Pierce, told me you're it. I didn't have a choice. The golf job was one nobody else wanted, and I was the low man on the totem pole."
Choate said he didn't know the first thing about starting, or running, a college golf program.
"Coach Pierce told me, 'You'll learn,' and I guess I learned something. I learned to get good players, leave them alone and get them to the golf course on time."
Choate learned pretty well.
After a few rocky seasons in which SHSU offered no scholarships and had little money in the budget for golf, Choate got serious about his new job. He started raising money and getting people interested in the Bearkats' program. He also began recruiting some of the best young golfers in the state.
Using that formula, Choate directed the Bearkats to four consecutive NAIA national championships from 1978 to 1981. He was honored as national coach of the year each of those seasons. He won nine conference titles during his 33 years as coach before retiring in 1994.
Choate returned as head coach in the spring of 2008 and directed the Bearkats to a runner-up finish in the Southland Conference that spring. His 2008-09 Bearkat squad won five tournaments and one of the Bearkats advanced to the NCAA Division I regional for only the sixth time in Sam Houston history.
In his career, Choate has coached 21 All-Americans, including Robert Thompson, Lee Singletary, Bill McEntire, Jim Phenicie, Jeff Bellnap, Mark Dees and Donnie Massengale. The Bearkats, under Choate's guidance, have won 11 conference individual medalist titles and two national individual championships.
In 1994, Choate and his son, Dean, swept the Southland Conference's golf awards. The elder Choate was named Coach of the Year in the conference, while his youngest son Dean earned Golfer of the Year honors. Ronnie and Dean Choate are also the only father-son combination who have been inducted into the Sam Houston Hall of Honor.
"That ranks way up there," coach Choate said of the rare father-and-son accomplishments he and Dean pulled off together.
Dean adds, "When I was in college, I didn't think it was that big of a deal. It was more about playing golf rather than who I was playing for. But now I look back at it and it was very special for both of us."
The head professional at Huntsville's Raven Nest Golf Club, Dean Choate said he was thrilled to hear that his father was going to inducted into the Golf Coaches Association of America's Hall of Fame. The Bearkats coach will be in the hall alongside University of Houston coach Dave Williams, Texas' Harvey Penick and Jimmy Clayton and Stanford coaches Bud Finger and Wally Goodwin.
"I'm very proud of him," Dean said of his dad. "This is a tribute to all of his accomplishments. He's now in there with the best college golf coaches."
The job that was forced on him, the elder Choate says, turned into his best assignment ever. He's had a blast coaching the Bearkats, hanging around talented and eager men and women. He's also had fun watching hundreds of young people grow up and go out into the world.
"All of the conference championships were very special, along with the national championships," Choate said Friday. "The thing that's most important, though, and the thing that makes me the most proud is what those guys from our championship teams have done after Sam Houston. They have all been very successful in their careers and with their families.
"I share this hall of fame honor with those players. They tell me that Janice is the one who had the most influence on them, so I have to give her a great big hooray, too."
The GCAA Hall of Fame class of 2009 includes Maxie Boles, O.D. Bounds, Devon Brouse, Steve Loy, Delnor Poss and Ben Thompson.
Boles led Central Alabama to national junior college championships in 1990, '96 and '97. Bounds is considered the father of the NAIA men's golf championship, serving as coach while working as a professor at Texas Wesleyan from 1946-85.
Brouse led North Carolina to 19 NCAA Championship appearances in 21 seasons. Loy's teams won two NJCAA national titles before moving on to Arkansas (1983-87) and Arizona State (1987-1992).
Poss has been the coach at Midland College since the program's inception in 1978, with his teams winning four NJCAA national titles. Thompson was the first golf coach at Yale, where he oversaw the Bulldogs' program from 1926-42, winning five NCAA titles.
"Several of the other inductees are old friends and longtime rivals," Choate said. "It is indeed an honor to be included with such an outstanding group of coaches."
Choate has been involved with Sam Houston athletics most of his life. He played quarterback for the Kats from 1956 to '59 on teams that posted a combined 25-13-1 record. He served as assistant football coach, worked as a fundraiser and completed his career as director of athletics from 1992 to 1998.
