Herb Page Inducted Into Ontario Golf Hall of Fame
5/10/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Kent State Head Coach honored as part of Class of 2012
UXBRIDGE, Ontario – The Golf Association of Ontario (GAO) formerly inducted Kent State Director of Golf/Head Coach and Markham native Herb Page as one of the 2012 inductees into the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame on Wednesday evening (May 9).
The cornerstone behind Kent State golf for the past 30-plus years, Page was joined in the 2012 Ontario Golf Hall of Fame class with Stephen Ross, the former Royal Canadian Golf Association executive director, and Graham Cooke, the former amateur golf standout and golf course designer. Ross, Cooke and Page become the 58th, 59th and 60th members of the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame, which was established in the year 2000 to help perpetuate the memory and acknowledge the contributions and accomplishments made by Ontarians to the game of golf.
A fixture in Kent, Ohio since his days as a three-sport letter winner, Page has been tireless worker with his players, on the recruiting trail, as a fundraiser and as an ambassador for the game of golf. But even after more than 30 years of monumental accomplishments under his direction, the Golden Flashes golf program continues to reach new heights every season.
Just this past week, the long-time Golden Flashes head man guided his team to a fourth straight Mid-American title with a 40-shot victory at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill. The victory marked the 17th conference championship won under Page in his 34-years at the helm. Ranked 18th in the country this season, Kent State's five team wins on the year are tied for the fourth most in the nation. The success has transcended into even more accolades for the already well-decorated Page who was tagged as the 2012 Kermit Blosser MAC Coach of the Year, an award he has now won 19 times.
The success of Page's Kent State program has transferred into the postseason. Having already earned the third seed in next week's NCAA Regional at Michigan May 17-19, the Golden Flashes front man will have the team looking to add another top 20 finish at the NCAA Championship.
By tying for 19th at the 2011 NCAA finals, the Golden Flashes are among an elite group of only 10 schools that have finished top 20 at the NCAA Championship each of the past two seasons (Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, Augusta State, Arizona State, San Diego, Texas A&M, USC, UCLA and Illinois). The 19th place finish was the fifth best showing in school history.
To date since taking over the program in 1978, he has guided Kent State 77 tournament titles all the while mentoring 87 All-MAC golfers, 21 All-Americans and 19 golfers who have been selected as All-America Scholar-Athletes. Page was also the recipient of the 2008 GCAA Labron Harris Award.
A member of the Northern Ohio PGA Hall of Fame, the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame, the Varsity "K" Alumni Association Hall of Fame and the Portage County Sports Hall of Fame in 1994, Page told Hayakawa of the special meaning this latest honor has to him.
"This one (Ontario Golf Hall of Fame) is special because of my roots in Markham and the people who started me out in the game when I was 12 or 13," said Page. "I left Markham when I was 18 and a lot of people have helped me to where I'm at now."
"I am truly thankful to so many people for choosing me for this honor. None of it would be possible without the support from the great people here at Kent State and all the talented golfers from Ontario that have made their way here and helped our program accomplish so much."
