CHRIS YOUNG ENTERS GCAA HALL OF FAME
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
LAS VEGAS, Nevada - Hutchinson Community College men's golf coach Chris Young was enshrined into the Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Monday night.
The GCAA Hall of Fame Class of 2022 was announced on Monday at the GCAA Hall of Fame Banquet at the Planet Hollywood resort.
Young, along with former Colorado State and current Louisville head coach Mark Crabtree, Oklahoma Christian coach David Lynn, and TCU head coach Bill Montigel were enshrined into the GCAA Hall of Fame.
Now in his 23rd season as the head coach of the Hutchinson Community College men's golf team, Chris Young took a struggling Division II program and transformed it into a nationally elite NJCAA Division I powerhouse.
The last two seasons have been the most impressive as the Blue Dragons won the 2021 and 2022 NJCAA Division I National Championships. The 2022-23 Blue Dragons are currently ranked No. 2 in each of the two major men's golf rankings.
The 2021 Blue Dragons captured the program's first national title at The Rawls Club in Lubbock, Texas.
The Dragons defeated Odessa by nine strokes for the team championship. Ben Partridge defeated teammate Harry Crocket in a four-hole playoff to the win individual national championship. Along with Partridge and Crockett, Cameron Rios-Ceballos earned All-America honors.
One year later, the Blue Dragons went wire-to-wire for the second straight year and never looked back for a 20-stroke victory at the Odessa Country Club in Odessa, Texas. The Blue Dragons posted the largest winning margin in nearly 30 years and shot six strokes better than 2021 with a 72-hole total of 1,130.
A record four Blue Dragons earned All-America honors: Dominic Clemons, who lost a two-hole playoff for the individual national title, and Blake Saffell and Partridge were first-team All-Americans. Crockett was a third-team All-American.
In Young's tenure, the Blue Dragons have won 10 Jayhawk Conference championships, nine Region VI titles, three District III titles and two national championships.