Scott Vandegrift

Today we feature Scott Vandegrift, head golf coach for both the men’s and women’s teams at Millersville.

Q. How long have you been the golf coach at Millersville?
I’ve been with Millersville since 1984, a year after I got married.  I began working as an assistant/volunteer with Dr. Dolton Smart, who was the golf coach and professor in Industrial Arts. In 1985 I became the official part-time coach and have been in that role ever since. I only had one semester off in the fall of 2012 when I was recovering from cancer.

Q. Do you have one season in particular from your time as coach that has been most memorable?
Probably the men’s team that advanced to the nationals in 2003; the only team that made it to the nationals. They had a tremendous finish to the season, won the NCAA regional tournament to advance to the national tournament.  We were at the top of our game.  But, as golf can be, we came home, the next day was the last day of classes, then finals the following week and then a plane ride to Oregon. The magic was gone.  But – the nice thing is that whole group continues to interface with each other and they’ll always be able to say they played in the national tournament.

Q. How long have you been playing golf yourself? Do you still play?
I learned from my father.  He was an excellent athlete, a school teacher and he coached four different sports.  He leased a driving range and miniature golf course and I tagged along with him. As long as I did my chores, I was 4 or 5-years old, I was allowed to hit all the balls I wanted to. I loved it from the start.

I played on the top high school team in Delaware. We were never beat.  Players had a 7 handicap or lower.  I also gave up a scholarship down south to play golf for West Chester University – smartest move I ever made. I played under Dr. Edwin Cottrell. He, besides my parents and my wife, is the most influential person in my life.  He was a perfect mentor for me. He understood how dedicated I was to the game, even though down deep he knew I didn’t have the talent to play on the tour – he never burst my bubble.  Dr. Cottrell is now 93 and is still my mentor. When he met my wife, he said, “it’s one of the smartest decisions you’ve ever made. You have an ace.”

Q. How did you become interested in coaching for MU?
I was married in 1983 and that summer I was called by the sports information director of Duke who asked me to apply to be the head coach of golf at Duke. At first I thought it was one of my friends from college pulling a prank, but it turned out to be real.  They were recruiting nationally for this position and it came down to three of us. I found out that Dr. Cottrell had recommended me.  He taught at Duke’s summer golf camps.  Dan Brooks beat me out and is still there today – he won six national championships. The reason I didn’t get it is because, even though I had coached high school kids, college kids and their coaches at golf courses, I had never taught at a high school or at a college. The day I found out I drove to the high school and Millersville and became a volunteer coach.  Shortly after, I became the coach at MU and Dr. Gene Carpenter became my first boss.  Because of my wife’s graciousness, I was able to coach all of these years and she took care of everything else.

Q. You were marred 26 plus years.  Tell us about your marriage.
My wife allowed me to live and breathe golf. She died in 2009 of appendix cancer.  She fought it as long as she possible could.  She had a misdiagnosis in Lancaster, but we had a great physician at Johns Hopkins. She worked until the day before she died.  She taught us how you can live life.

Q.  You are a three time survivor of cancer.
Yes. It happened right around the time when I thought I was going to play on tour.  I had started playing a lot and won a tournament or two.  But, at age 50, I was diagnosed with cancer.  I got through it, but it came back two more times.  I’ve been clear now for several years.

Q. Will you be assisting when the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open occurs July 6-12 at Lancaster Country Club?
I was too late to get involved; too busy with our teams here at MU.  But – being a golf professional, I’m able to show my card and I will attend a day or two.

Q.  Have you played the course at the Lancaster Country Club that will be played in the tournament?
I played there many times.  Without a doubt, it’s the toughest golf course around. It wouldn’t be my pick, if I’m going to play – I’d play from the men’s tees, not the championship tees.  It’s a very difficult golf course.  I’ll be curious to see how the ladies do.

Q. What advice do you give to your players before they begin a game?
It’s two-fold; first you are working with them as a team, talking to them about goals for the team and how to achieve them, while balancing their academic lives.  You also deal with the players individually.  Each player is different where they are in the game and where they are as students; what technical aspects do they have to work on.  My best coaching is done in my office working with them one-on-one.  I’ve become a better coach, because I’ve become a better listener.

Q.  What are your goals for the MU golf teams going into the 2015-16 season?
The men will still be very young, but the team had great improvement this year with 4 or 5 freshmen on the team. I expect them to improve and march into the NCAA regionals again – even a better chance to win the state championship.  On the women’s team, the ladies this past year won four times.  If we’re ever going to get our women into a NCAA regional, we have to play in the bigger tournaments. So, going forward, the quality of the tournaments and size of fields will be dramatically changed next year. They’re ready for bigger challenges.  The character of these young ladies is, that even if we start finishing 8th out of 16, I don’t think that will discourage them. I think they’re ready.

Q. How much longer are you going to coach?
I’ll coach until the day that I feel like I’m not relating to the young people and trophies and scores become too important. I love to win, but I love to watch the young people grow. 50% of what I do during the week is going to watch my players play.

Q. What do you to relax?
I’m probably as relaxed as when I’m teaching or coaching my players – that’s my relaxation. Also, any chance I have to be with my own children; I have two daughters and one son and they’re all very successful.

Q. Favorite food?
Salmon.

Q. Favorite movie?
Love movies; “American Sniper” was one of most unique movies I’ve ever been to. I’ve never seen an audience stunned – no clapping, no crying, no words, no one moved after the movie ended. I was paralyzed.  Also, “Unbroken” was very inspiring.