Bailey Clark | Staff Writer

During this COVID-19 filled season head golf coach and associate athletic director Jimmy
Wilson was able to shine as he claimed the Peach Belt Conference coach of the year.

Coach Wilson has done amazing things as the Bobcats golf coach. In his 21 seasons of coaching
golf since 1997 he has claimed three previous PBC coach of the year honors. During his tenure
with GC Wilson coached golf every year from 1997 to 2015 and has maintained high standards
for his squads claiming a top-20 regional finish every season. This includes two first place
finishes in the PBC coming in the 2000 and the 2010 seasons. After the completion of the 2015
season Wilson left the golf scene to step into more administrative goals. He was brought back to
his old stomping grounds in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season.

So far this season coach Wilson had led the Bobcat golf team to two wins. The first one came
Bearcat Classic which took place March 8 and 9. There were 20 teams in the tournament and the
Bobcats scored a -8 par with 856 points. The next win was in the Bobcat invitational which took
place March 22 and 23. There were 12 teams in the tournament with GC having a score of +7 par
and 847 points.

Coach Wilson is extremely humble about receiving this award.

“I’m a firm believer that coaches don’t win this award, the student athletes win the award for their
coach,” Wilson said. “To be recognized was quite overwhelming but as I said the coach of the
year award is an award won by the student athletes. These guys have worked very hard this past
fall and spring to make their season a success.”

In addition, senior Alex Wells received all-PBC first team honors as the regular season came to
an end. Wells transferred to GC from Georgia Southwestern University as a sophomore.

This season playing under coach Wilson, Wells has recorded two top five finishes as well as two
top 10 finishes in 15 rounds of play. Walls averages around 71.67 points a tournament and is
currently breaking even in pars.

“[The award] means so much to me and my family,” Wells said. “ This is my first honor from the
Peach Belt and hopefully not my last.”

When asked about coach Wilson, Wells said that he is a great asset to the team and he really
helps Wells a lot with his mental game. Wells previously played at Georgia Southwestern and he
said that he is extremely blessed to be able to play under two incredible coaches. Wells also mentioned that he has a close working relationship with coach Wilson as he visits him whenever he’s in town.

Bobcat golf is ranked No. 16 nationally and revived their regional birth. They are ranked six in
the region as they will travel to Streamsong resort in Florida to battle for the region title. They
are accompanied by five Peach Belt schools as well as two non-PBC schools. Each region has
eight teams and a select few will be selected on the individual and the team level to compete at
the national level.