Gary Guyer: Mercer University Athletics

Gary Guyer

Title:	Head Coach
Phone:	(478) 301-5625
Email:	guyer_gl@mercer.edu

Coach Gary Guyer assumed the reins of the Mercer women's golf program on an interim basis in the spring 2007 season and took charge of the Bears on a full-time basis in July 2007. Since that time, Coach Guyer has consistently worked to develop a top-tier program with a goal of becoming a Top 50 team. Coach Guyer is the winningest coach in Mercer women’s golf history leading the Bears to five tournament victories.

"The team and the program really improved during the 2010-11 season. We won two tournaments and had very solid performances in the rest of our schedule. We played some of the top teams in the country and held our own; even beating a few. Our ranking has improved over 80 spots in the past four years and we need to get in the Top 50 to secure an NCAA bid. That's our ultimate goal," says Guyer. "Getting top players into our program is essential and we have accomplished that. This past season we had three players average in the mid-70’s in scoring for the year. In the A-Sun Championship, we took two freshman and three sophomores and placed 6th. We shot 300 the first day and Kimmy Graff had the individual lead with a score of 70. Our team continues to work hard to improve each day while we bring in some of the best talent in the country."

In 2010, Mercer once again played host to the annual EAT A PEACH Collegiate in Macon. This tournament has a unique format in that every woman’s golf team in Georgia is invited to compete. Mercer played well and won the tournament shooting a record breaking two-day total of 594. Lacey Fears, a rising sophomore at Mercer, shot a 1-under 143 to win the medalist honors.

"Mercer University has always placed a premium on academics and athletics. I tell my players and recruits to look at academics as your mother and athletics as your father. You love them both the same," emphasizes Guyer. "This year we had two Academic All-Americans and seven of our eight student-athletes made the A-Sun Academic A-Conference. Our team GPA was 3.51."

Coach Guyer's philosophy is to place a strong emphasis on building individual relationships with his players and finding what motivates each player. Practice sessions focus on individual skill development within a competitive and supportive team environment. Each practice, whether it is on skills or a playing lesson, is geared towards game day.

"Most of our focus is on preparing for competition. We must be physically and mentally prepared for every tournament. It comes down to having a complete strategy on how we are going to play the course and then being in a state of mind to where we can execute that game plan. Executing the ordinary in an incredible manner wins championships," affirms Coach Guyer.

Coach Guyer served as the director of the Georgia Golf Ministry, which was associated with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, from 1997 until his appointment at Mercer. He is co-founder of D1 Golf which was created to educate, equip and inspire America's teaching professionals, golf coaches and their student-athletes. Guyer attended the University of Georgia and graduated from the Terry College of Business. Until 1997, Guyer worked as an Investment Banker in the securities industry. He is married to the former Barbara Basinger of Athens. The couple has two daughters, Lane and Allison, and two sons, Lath and Rhett. Lath played baseball for the Mercer Bears from 2005 – 2010 where they won the 2010 A-Sun Championship and went to the NCAA’s.

Gary Guyer is a Level II PGA apprentice and is working towards his PGA certification.

The Guyer Era

Atlantic Sun Championship

2011- 6^th Place

2010- 6^th Place

2009- 8^th Place

2008- 6^th Place

2007- 3^rd Place

Tournament Wins

2012 Courtyard Classic at Jacksonville University

2011 EAT A PEACH Collegiate

2011 Coastal Georgia Invitational