BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- The Ohio Valley Conference has named the
annual women's golf Coach of the Year award for former Tennessee
Tech player and coach, the late Bobby Nichols. The honoring of
Nichols for the yearly award came out of the league's annual
meetings that concluded Friday in Nashville.
Coincidentally, Nichols was honored Friday at the league's annual
Awards Dinner with induction into the OVC Hall of Fame.
"Naming this award for Bobby is something that would have brought
him tremendous pride," said Mark Wilson, TTU Director of Athletics.
"I would say it would have put a big smile on his face, but Bobby
seemed to always have a smile on his face, anyway. He was one of
the true gentlemen of the Ohio Valley Conference, a great
competitor, an outstanding coach, and a fantastic person.
"Each coach who receives this award throughout the years will
recognize the contributions he made to the league, to his sport,
and to all who had the honor to know him," Wilson said.
The meetings ran June 1-3 and items of business that highlighted
the meetings included web streaming, the reinstatement of in-person
coaches’ meetings, naming of the Women’s Golf Coach of
the Year award, and SIU Edwardsville’s eligibility to win
regular-season championships in the 2011-12 season.
It was approved to name the OVC Women’s Golf Coach of the
Year award for Nichols, who took over the Tennessee Tech
men’s golf program in 1979 and was responsible for
establishing the Golden Eagle women’s team in 1986. During
the 1990 season he guided the TTU men's golf squad to the 1990 OVC
Championship, the first for the program in 35 years.
Nichols passed away in March 2008 from complications in his fight against cancer. A member of the TTU Sports Hall of Fame, Nichols was the region's greatest advocate for his sport, and was recognized as one of the most successful players and coaches in Tennessee.
Nichols was in his 32nd season as coach of the Golden Eagles. He guided the Golden Eagles to the 1990 Ohio Valley Conference championship, earning Coach of the Year honors, and had his team in contention nearly every year. He was elected to the Tech Sports Hall of Fame, coordinated and hosted numerous collegiate and regional golf tournaments, hosted several junior golf clinics and had an active playing career.
Nichols was named Tennessee Player of the Year in 1970 and 1976
and was runner-up in 1992 (second only to Craig King whom he
coached at Tech). He played in the U.S. Senior Open in Birmingham,
Mich., in 1991 and in Bethesda, MD., in 1995.
Bobby served as pro at both Ironwood and the Cookeville Country
Club, and in 1989 became owner of Ironwood. In the fall of 1979, he
returned to his position as Tech's golf coach and painstakingly
rebuilt the program.
In 1990, Nichols' Golden Eagle golfers captured their first OVC
championship in 35 years and helped tech clinch its first-ever OVC
All-Sports Trophy.
In other league business completed at the meetings:
* The Conference office was charged to work with an outside firm
to conduct a technical assessment of the current web streaming
equipment and staffing issues with a long term goal of establishing
a comprehensive approach to conference-wide web stream. The
conference has been offering fans live and on-demand content on
OVCSports.TV for the past five seasons. After bringing back
in-person media days for football and basketball last year, the
budget was approved to reinstate in-person coaches’
meetings.
* The coaches for football and basketball will meet in-person on
an annual basis while coaches in all other sports will meet
in-person every other year with conference calls to supplement the
meeting schedule.
* It was confirmed that SIU Edwardsville will play an OVC schedule
in those sports that have a regular-season champion. The Cougars
will be eligible for OVC postseason play in 2012-13. SIUE
officially joined the conference in 2008 and has been in the
reclassification process since becoming a member of the league. The
Cougar softball program, which was the school’s women’s
sport designee to be fast-tracked to Division I, earned a spot in
2011 OVC Softball Championship in its first year of
eligibility.
* The administrators in attendance also took part in educational
sessions on gender equity, enforcement and on the financing of
Division I athletics.
* With the addition of Belmont University into the league
beginning in the 2012-13 season, the constituent groups began
discussing the various transitional issues and formed a
subcommittee to further address related issues.
* It was also announced that next year's Chair of the Board of
Presidents will be Dr. Tim Hall from Austin Peay State University
while the Chair of Board of Athletic Directors for 2011-12 will be
Austin Peay’s Dave Loos.
