Cindy Vaios
| Title: | Head Women's Golf Coach/Senior Women's Administrator |
| Phone Number: | 404-364-8479 |
| Email Address: | cvaios@oglethorpe.edu |
Cindy comes to Oglethorpe with over 20 years experience in the golf industry. After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1984, where she was a member of the first women's golf team and a 4 year starter on the Women's basketball team, she played 5 years on The Futures Golf Tour. Turning her focus to the business and teaching sides of the golf industry, Cindy is one of a small number who has held membership in both the PGA of America, being the first recipient of the PGA of America's Apprentice of the Year Award, and the LPGA Teaching and Club Professional Division. After serving as Head Golf Professional at Wyndemere CC in Naples, Fl. and Director of Women's Programs for The Academy of Golf at PGA National resort and Spa she decided to turn her focus onto coaching.
Jackie Cannizzo
| Title: | Director of Women's Golf Instruction |
Jackie Cannizzo, Class A PGA Professional, Director of Instruction and Junior Golf Director at the Country Club of Roswell. I have been at the Country Club of Roswell for over 9 years. I am originally from Syracuse, NY. I played college golf at Florida State and University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where I received a BA in Communications. I have played golf for over 30 years, playing professionally for the last 18 in PGA Section events, The Futures Golf Tour, The European Golf Tour, The United States Women's Open (where I was the first PGA member to play in the Women's US Open), and various professional events. I have been a PGA member since 1989 and have been teaching and coaching golf throughout that time. My experience with teaching and coaching has been at Private Clubs, Resorts (United States & International), and Golf Schools. I teach various age ranges & levels from beginners, to tour players and believe that with good coaching, anyone can play this great game of golf. I have been actively coaching juniors for over 15 years with players competing at all levels in local, state and national tournaments. I am currently President of the Georgia Junior Golf Foundation Board and served on the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Board in Atlanta. I was recently awarded the Georgia PGA Assistant of the year in the North Chapter, the PGA Junior Golf Leader in the North Section, and the PGA Junior Golf Leader for the entire Georgia PGA Section. I am ranked (by my peers) in the top ten list of best teachers in the state of Georgia by GOLF DIGEST magazine and have been selected as one of the Top 50 Teachers for juniors by US Kids Golf.
Jim Owen
| Title: | Director of Men and Women's Golf, Senior Associate AD |
| Phone Number: | 404-364-8420 |
| Email Address: | jowen@oglethorpe.edu |
Coach Owen is in his 30th year at Oglethorpe University. This
season marks Owen's 18th year coaching the men's golf team and
8th year with the women's program. Owen, a 1981 graduate of Berry
College, arrived on campus in the summer of 1981 as a graduate
assistant basketball coach and intramural director. At Berry,
Owen was a three year starting guard and was named basketball team
MVP his senior season. He was named Most Outstanding Senior
Athlete at Berry College later that spring. He served as an
assistant basketball coach from 1981-1997 before assuming the head
coaching responsibilities from 1998-2003. During his tenure,
Oglethorpe joined the NCAA Division III and the Southern Collegiate
Athletic Conference (SCAC) and expanded the sports programs offered
at Oglethorpe from six to fifteen.
In 1993, Owen took two individual male golfers to the SCAC
Conference Golf Championship in Jackson, Mississippi. Those
two golfers began the program that has developed in the last twelve
years into one of the most respected in the nation. Since
2000, a span of 11 consecutive years, the Stormy Petrel men
have been ranked inside the top 10 in the nation. They
have also finished in the top 10 at the NCAA
Championships during that span. Owen has coached 36
All-SCAC performers including four in 2009-2010 when
Oglethorpe's Scott Pugh, Matt Rebitch, Craig Stevenson and Eric
Quinn were honored at the SCAC Championship in Stone Mountain,
Georgia.
Owen has coached nine men's SCAC Championship teams in the past 14 years including four in a row from 2000-2003. He was named SCAC Coach of the Year in 11 of the last 14 seasons. Owen was honored as the South Region Coach of the Year in 2002 and was a finalist for 2002 NCAA National Coach of the Year.
In 2009, Owen guided the Stormy Petrels to the school's first ever NCAA Championship in any sport when the team dramatically rallied to claim the title at the PGA Villages in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
He has coached eight SCAC Player's of the Year including Tolliver Williams (1996, 1998), Robert Fink (2001), Chris Summers (2002), Trent Erb (in 2003 and 2004), Taylor Urbanski ( 2008) and Scott Pugh (2009).
On the regional and national level, Owen had 13 of his 17 teams represented at the NCAA National Tournament. The Stormy Petrels have had 13 Academic All-Americans and sixteen NCAA Division III All-Americans since the 1998 season. In 2003 Joe Green was honored with Oglethorpe's first National Freshman of the Year Award. In 2007, Taylor Urbanski completed a rare feat by being named to both the academic and athletic All-American teams. In 2011, Eric quinn and Craig Stevenson were named to the prestigious twelve member All-South Region team bringing the total to 16 All-Region players honored from Oglethorpe in his tenure. Owen has served three terms on the NCAA South Region National Selection Committee.
Oglethorpe, in partnership with the Central Florida Sports Commission, hosted the 2005 Men's NCAA Division III National Tournament at the Mission Inn Golf and Tennis Resort near Orlando, Florida. In 2006 and 2007 Oglethorpe was awarded the Women's NCAA Division III National Championships. Oglethorpe hosted the NCAA Women's Championship in the spring of 2011 and is set to host the men's side in 2012.
In the fall of 2003, Owen retired from his basketball coaching duties and officially began the women's golf program. The women's team has been an off again on again process since its inception in 1998 with five different coaches in the last six years. Owen has brought increasing continuity to the women's program and consistency in recruiting. In 2006, the women broke through with a spectacular 2nd place finish at the SCAC Conference Championship. In 2007, the women's team finished third and in 2008 placed fifth.
The Stormy Petrels fielded teams that competed in the SCAC tournament in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 with their best finishes being fifth place in 1998, 1999, and 2001. In 1999 and again as a senior in 2001, Kristi Wright earned 2nd Team All-SCAC for her play at the Spring Festival.
In 2004 and again in 2005 the Stormy Petrel women finished fifth in SCAC Conference Championship play. At the Renaissance PineIsle Resort golf course hosted by Oglethorpe University in 2004 on beautiful Lake Lanier Heather March earned second team SCAC honors. In 2005 in Arkansas, freshman Julia Gates and junior Mallory Pusch both earned second team SCAC honors. This past season, Katie Dale earned her fourth All-SCAC Women's Golf finishing seventh overall and became the first women's golfer to earn Academic All-American honors at all four of the NGCA banquets. She is the first four-time Academic All-American in school history.
In 2008, Oglethorpe said goodbye to two-time All-American and four-time All-SCAC honoree Julia Gates. Julia finished the 2007 NCAA Championship in 18th place and returned in 2008 as a senior and finished in 13th place earning her Oglethorpe's first All-American women's golfer.
Owen was inducted in May of 2001 into the Oglethorpe Athletic Hall of Fame for his twenty years of dedicated service to the University. Owen lives in Suwanee, Georgia with his wife Anjie and their children Jayce, 19, and Michaela, 14.


Men's Golf


