By Staff
FLORENCE, S.C. -- Francis Marion University athletic director Murray Hartzler announced on Wednesday the hiring of Mark Gaynor of Edinburg, Texas, as the school's new head coach for men's golf.
Gaynor is a native of Niles and a graduate of Niles High School.
Gaynor, 30, succeeds Jonathan Burnett who resigned June 9 to take a position at the Country Club of South Carolina. In his final season, Burnett guided the Patriots to the NCAA Division II national championship, the first in the program's history.
Gaynor has been the head coach at the University of Texas-Pan American, an NCAA Division I independent, for the past three years. In 2002, he guided the Broncs to the National Minority College Golf Championship in Port St. Lucie, Fla. This past spring, his squad placed fourth at the 2003 championships.
His 2002-03 squad recorded six top-10 team finishes in 11 tournaments. The Broncs placed 11th at FMU's own Carolina First Intercollegiate Tournament, last September at the Country Club of South Carolina.
When Gaynor took over as the UTPA head coach in 2000, he became the Broncs' first full-time men's golf coach. He raised the program's Golfweek-Saragin (national) Ranking more than 75 positions during his tenure.
Prior to taking the UTPA position, he served as an assistant men's and women's coach at Furman University for three seasons, under the direction of Hall of Fame coach Mic Potter and Todd Satterfield. He also served as an assistant athletic academic adviser at Furman, monitoring the academic progress of student-athletes while handling advising and counseling duties. He worked as a group instructor at the Mic Potter Golf Academy for four summers.
Gaynor played collegiate golf at Michigan State University, where he earned a B.S. degree in physical education and exercise science. He later received a M.Ed. degree in sports management from the University of Georgia.
A one-time member of the Powerbilt Golf Tour, Gaynor has earned numerous amateur playing honors. He captured the 2000 Palmetto Amateur championship in Aiken, and participated in the 2000 USGA Mid-Amateur in Hot Springs, Va.
Gaynor is a member of the Golf Coaches Association of America.
FMU loses three seniors off this past season's national championship squad that compiled a 129-43-2 mark. The Patriots have advanced to the Division II national championship tournament three times in the past six years and have captured two of the last five PBC titles.
Francis Marion is a state-assisted institution with an enrollment of nearly 4,000 students located in Florence, S.C.