Golf awards to be named for Bloomington native Laesch

Posted on May 19, 2017
Arnold Palmer and Mark Laesch
Mark Lasech (right), picture with golfing legend Arnold Palmer, created Golfstat. (Photo courtesy Golf Coaches Association of America)

By WJBC Staff

NORMAN, Okla. – A new award in college golf will be named in honor of Bloomington native Mark Laesch who died in March.

The Golf Coaches Association of America and Women’s Golf Coaches Association will award the first annual Mark Laesch Awards following the NCAA Division I Women’s and Men’s Golf Championships.

Laesch was considered one of golf’s top innovators. He created Golfstat which became one of the top resources for college golf analytics.

“We’re both excited and humbled to present these awards that honor a man that had such a great passion and impact on college golf and also recognize a program’s improvement from one season to the next,” said GCAA President Andrew Sapp and WGCA President Kristi Knight in a joint statement. “Mark Laesch was such a positive person that it seems appropriate that an award that acknowledges improvement be bestowed in his honor.”

The Mark Laesch Awards will be presented to the team that showed the greatest improvement from the previous season in adjusted stroke average after the conclusion of their national championship. For the GCAA, programs will be recognized from the NCAA Division I, II and III levels, along with NAIA and NJCAA. NCAA Divisions I, II and III will be honored by the WGCA.

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