Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Announces 2nd Annual John Piper Intercollegiate
March 03, 2002 | Men's Golf
March 3, 2002
Bowling Green, Ohio - Bowling Green State University men's golf coach Garry Winger announced today that his Falcons will host the second annual BGSU John Piper Intercollegiate on Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 16-17, 2002, at the Stone Ridge Golf Club in Bowling Green, Ohio. The course is 6,900 yards long and is a par 72.
Winger and his Falcons will host several other teams yet to be determined for the tournament.
Bowling Green won last year's innagural John Piper Intercollegiate, defeating 10 other teams with a score of 882.
The Falcons begin the 2002 spring season this Saturday, March 9, at the Big Red Classic in Ocala, Florida.
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Piper was the Falcon golf coach for 13 years, posting three Mid-American Conference titles during his tenure. He guided the Brown and Orange to conference crowns in 1972, 1973 and 1978, earning MAC Coach-of-the-Year honors following the '78 campaign.
During his tenure, Piper's teams won 20 tournament titles, and posted a winning percentage of .671, based on matches and tournament finishes. He took the three MAC-championship teams to the NCAA Tournaments while sending individuals in four other years. In the decade of the 1970's, the golf team was the most successful of all BGSU sports teams in MAC competition, posting a runner-up, one third place and one fourth place finish in addition to the three titles.
In addition to his coaching duties at BGSU, Piper served two terms as the elected Secretary-Treasurer of the NCAA Golf Coaches Association (1979-83). An associate professor emeritus in the school of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at BGSU, he was selected as a finalist for the school's University Master Teacher Award by the BGSU Undergraduate Alumni Association on five occasions. In 1990, he was one of three BGSU faculty nominees for the National CASE Undergraduate Professor of the Year Award.
A 1958 graduate of Mount Union College, Piper received his Master's of Education degree in 1961. He then coached golf, basketball and football at the high-school level before becoming BGSU's freshman golf coach in 1967. Piper took over for the retired Forrest Creason as head coach three years later.
Piper currently works as a motivational speaker and consultant. He and his wife, Sylvia, have one son, Mark. Mark is a U.S. Air Force F-16 pilot.
