Gary Bissell becomes the latest men’s golf coach at DU; his NCAA DII Grand Valley State team won 10 times last season and went to national quarterfinals
By Gary Baines – 8/18/2023
The University of Denver men’s golf team will have its fourth head coach of the 2020s as the school announced this week that Gary Bissell will be taking over the program with the new season starting next month.
Bissell succeeds Logan Goulding (2021-23), who succeeded Trake Carpenter (2020-21), who succeeded Erik Billinger, who resigned in June 2020 after six years at the helm.
Bissell comes to DU from Grand Valley State in Allendale, Mich., where he spent nine seasons and earned the Golf Pride Grips NCAA Division II Regional Coach of the Year honors for the last two years. Last season, GVSU won a program-record 10 tournaments and advanced to the DII national quarterfinals in medal-match play. Overall in Bissell’s time at Grand Valley State, the team posted 30 victories and landed three berths in the NCAA DII national championship.
“Simply put, Gary Bissell is perfectly suited for the University of Denver as our next head men’s golf coach and I am thrilled that he will be joining our Pioneer family,” DU vice chancellor for athletics Josh Berlo said. “Gary is a proven winner and is widely considered to be one of the most talented teachers in college golf.”
Gary Bissell spent nine seasons at Grand Valley State.
Said Bissell in the same release: “I am grateful for the opportunity to be the next head coach of such a prestigious program. Denver golf has competed at a high level for many years and I look forward to continuing that tradition.
Last season, GVSU’s Charles DeLong earned the NCAA Jack Nicklaus Division II Player of the Year award.
Bissell played his college golf at DII Ferris State.
Goulding, the 2022 Summit League Coach of the Year, resigned last month in order to pursue a career as a caddie on the PGA Tour.
DU has one Colorado resident on its 2023-24 roster: sophomore Nic Pevny of Aspen.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. He was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com