Women's Golf Adds Rob Bennett to Coaching Staff
July 27, 2021 | Women's Golf
Rob Bennett, who spent three seasons at Abilene Christian, has been named the assistant women's golf coach at the University of Louisville, head coach Whitney Young announced on Tuesday.Â
"We're excited to welcome Coach Rob Bennett to our coaching staff," Young said. Â "His vision, passion and experience will help us continue taking steps towards future success. We look forward to him making a positive impact on our student-athletes with his dedication, work ethic and competitive nature."
Bennett got his start at the Division I level at Abilene Christian where he helped the Wildcats rise immediately in the national rankings. Under Bennett's tutelage, the Wildcats rose over 60 spots in the national rankings and set school records for scoring average (288.86), low single-round score (19-under par), and low tournament score (44-under par).
During Bennett's tenure, the Wildcats recorded a pair of tournament victories and eight other top-five finishes. Five Wildcats earned All-Conference honors, including the 2021 Conference Student-Athlete of the Year, and nine Wildcats earned GCAA All-America Scholar honors.
Before joining the ACU staff, Bennett served as the head men's and women's coach at Seminole State College in Oklahoma for one semester in 2018. During that period, he coached two NJCAA Women's National Championship qualifiers and one NJCAA Men's National Championship qualifier. He also coached two Academic All-Americans at SSC and won the Mark Laesch Award given by the Golf Coaches Association of America to the coach and team that made the biggest improvement in stroke differential from the previous year.
Before his term at Seminole State, Bennett spent four seasons as the head men's and women's coach at St. Gregory's University where he led both teams to a combined four wins, five runner-up finishes, four 3rd-place finishes, and 13 other top-5 finishes. He coached one men's Ping All-Region player, one men's Sooner Athletic Conference All-Conference player, and the runner-up in the 2015-2016 SAC Women's Freshman of the Year race. He also coached four individual champions and had one graduate play on the PGA Tour Canada.Â
Starting at St. Gregory's with team's ranked as low as 177th, Bennett was able to lead the men to a top ranking of 26th in the nation and the women to a top ranking of 48th.
A native of Stillwater, Okla., Bennett played collegiately at Southwestern Oklahoma State University where he earned both his bachelor's degree in psychology and his master's degree in community counseling.
Bennett and his wife, Whitney, have been married since June 2012 and have one son, Royce, and a dog, Millie.
