University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's golf coach Mark Guhne announced his retirement Thursday after 16 seasons leading the program at his college alma mater.
The Cleveland High School graduate's success at UTC included the Mocs being ranked No. 1 in the country twice. In addition, they won an NCAA regional team championship, earned five of the program's six Southern Conference titles and made two team trips to the NCAA finals under Guhne's lead.
Individually, during Guhne's tenure the Mocs had 2012 United States Amateur winner Steven Fox, 2014 Scottish Amateur champion Chris Robb and three players who won Tennessee Amateur crowns in Derek Rende (2008), Fox (2013) and Wes Gosselin (2016), as well as Tennessee Match Play wins from Rende and Oliver Simonsen (2018). Stephan Jaeger, who shot a 58 as a pro and is currently on the PGA Tour, played for Guhne, too.
Assistant coach Miles Moseley will lead the team on a interim basis, with the Mocs returning to competition in the Bahamas on Feb. 14-16 at Albany Golf Club in New Providence. The program plans to conduct a national search for Guhne's replacement at the end of the spring semester.
"It was always an honor to lead a program at your alma mater," Guhne, a 1984 UTC graduate, said in a UTC release. "You rattle off those honors and wins and accomplishments and frankly, it's very humbling. We had so many great players come through, but most importantly, great people. I have an immense pride in all we accomplished.
"Our goal was always to bring a national title to Chattanooga. I'm proud of every student-athlete and staff member we had here who fought to meet those expectations. This was an amazing journey for (wife) Kelly and me. I'm most thankful for her support through it all. I look back at our champions, all-conference, all-region and All-American performers, but especially our long list of scholar All-Americans. There are too many people to name, but I appreciate all of them and their commitment to our program."
Compiled by Gene Henley. Contact him at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.