Shannon Glidwell

A lifelong golf fanatic, girls’ varsity golf coach Shannon Glidwell has been a golf player for years and is now pursuing it both as a recreational sport and as a way to teach his students about the significance of golf.

“My grandfather taught me to play when I was nine, I learned on a little par three golf course in West Texas when I would go see my grandfather in the summer time,” Glidwell said. “He’d just take me to the course in the morning and I’d play all day and I loved it.”

Glidwell pursued golf as a team player in high school and in college before starting his career as a high school sports coach and teacher.

“It was one of the many sports I played,” Glidwell said. “I played on the high school golf team for all three years of high school and then I played two years of collegiate golf at Texas Wesleyan.”

While he is not a part of a competitive team at the moment, busy coaching a regional champion team and managing his school schedule, Glidwell still hopes to incorporate golf into his athletic agenda.

“I still try to play competitively, I just don’t play as well as much as I used to competitively,” Glidwell said. “I’m going to try to, now that I’m older, compete in senior events, so I’m just going to try them out and see if I fit in any.”

Glidwell believes golf is more than just a sport; it builds character as players learn to shape their skills and refine their hits.

“It teaches you a great deal about honesty, integrity, patience, it’s a very humbling game” Glidwell said. “It teaches you not to live and die with every single moment because your highest can’t be too high and your lowest can’t be too low. There are a lot of ebbs and flows in golf and you have to learn how to stay steady.”

As a coach focused on improving his players as they grow, Glidwell sees his students mature from the game and take away valuable life lessons from understanding their plays.

“My most favorite thing is seeing golfers become better people and become better golfers in the sense that they become more mindful,” Glidwell said. “I see kids become more tolerant and more patient.”

Glidwell is proud of how his students have developed as people and as athletes, believing that the strategies learned in golf and the life lessons that come out of competing positively shape student athletes in their every day lives.

“I enjoy watching all the kids in the golf team grow into young ladies and young men that are courteous and respectful,” Glidwell said. “They develop as strong young adults, they have manners and etiquette and they are courteous. The world needs more of that and golf teaches that.”