Mike Green will lead Claremont High School's girls golf next season.
Coach Green served as assistant coach last spring.

Dynamic duo forms team for girls golf

Two familiar faces will soon be seen on the green coaching girls golf—the assistant coach for boys golf this past spring, Mike Green, and the PGA pro at the Claremont Golf Course, Bruce Thompson.

“Bruce has been around for a long time and our personalities are the same,” Coach Green said of his friend. “He's been educating kids for so long that's he's educating me.”

When Stu Gornbein recently retired as the boys coach, Coach Thompson was going to hang up his clubs. But, when Coach Green stepped forward to take on the job, Coach Thompson decided to stay.

“We laughed and said, ‘Hey, if we could hang out here for the rest of our lives, it'd be OK,'” said Coach Green, chuckling.

Although golfing has been a part of Coach Green's life since he was young and played through college, he opted for a communications/TV/radio/film degree from California State University, Fullerton.

When he graduated in 1987, he went to work for Paramount Studios—first in the mailroom, then as an accountant, a driver and a camera crane operator. 

He had a side job in marketing for a packaging company when he met his wife, Andrea, and her 3 children. Although he became a local salesman for a hazardous waste company, his job took him out of town and on the road.

He was seated at an airport when, suddenly, he fell ill and was later diagnosed with diverticulitis, which had burst in his colon. 

“I was out for a year and it gave me a long time to think about what would be best for us,” said Coach Green, who had a fourth child with his wife. “We decided to make a change.”

That change was for Coach Green to go back to school and get his master's degree in physical education and ultimately work as a coach—something he had always joked about being when he retired.

The illness fast-forwarded his dream. Already he's taken 9 of 15 classes he must complete for his master's and is interning with Wolfpack football coach Mike Collins.

Coach Green said the intensity that Coach Collins has for his players is something he wants to emulate.

“I learned a lot from Stu who is very organized and ran the golf team very successfully,” said Coach Green, opening up a notebook filled with writing. “So if I can build on that, I want to take it up a notch.”

That notch means developing an attractive package for students even mildly interested in the golf team. Coach Green and Coach Thompson already have ideas of taking the 15-member girls team to Hawaii to play and bring on LPGA pros such as Brandie Burton, a player that Coach Thompson is familiar with.

“She's made a good living from playing golf,” Coach Thompson said. “Her second place was over $100,000 for a weekend of golf. Not a bad way to make a living—chasing a little white ball around.”

Coach Thompson, who has spearheaded a junior golf program at the Claremont Golf Course for more than 20 years, said the trip the boys golf team took to Myrtle Beach last season gave the team new hope.

“This year they've got that carrot in front of them,” he said. “They knew this was what it was all about. It's good when players can see the big picture.”

The duo is also looking ways to get the players adequate equipment. The road trips and the clubs all have to do with budget availability. Already, Coach Green has met with booster parent Bill Daub, father of Mary Beth Daub, a senior who pitched softball last year who has signed up this year for girls golf.

“We have some money but we're not as rich as the boys team,” Coach Green explained. “So we need to so some things to generate money. We want the girls to get a good insight on what a good living or life style a professional golfer could make.”

Another notch Coach Green is looking to raise is what the players will do after graduating.

“Stu had such a good program with all of his golfers being academic champs with a 3.75 GPA,” he said. “But what I noticed was there wasn't one scholarship. If they excel in academics, it's my job as the coach to try and help them find a good college. If they can play their sport and do what they're supposed to in school, maybe we can find opportunities that they hadn't found in the past.”

Coach Green said he heard that 3000 girls golf scholarships go unclaimed.

“So I want to help these kids have this opportunity,” he said. “If we're moving the kids into good colleges, then the program will reap the benefits.”

Wolfpack Athletic Director Rick Dutton said he is pleased with the enthusiasm of the pair.

Bruce Thompson, a PGA pro at Claremont  Golf Course, will team up
with CHS girls golf coach Mike Green next spring.

“Mike is a very energetic, passionate and really has a lot of high hopes for the program, and we're fortunate he was at the right place at the right time,” Mr. Dutton said. “Bruce has been helping boys program for years, and obviously the experience he brings to the table will be a lot of help to Mike.”

Coach Thompson said he started his junior program by distributing flyers. Now, it's popular simply by word of mouth. He and Coach Green believe this will happen with the girls golf team as well.

“If we do fun things and keep it fun, then people will enjoy themselves,” Coach Green said. “The program will grow.”

—Rebecca JamesCourie