men's golf Coaches

Now in her 11th season as the head coach of St. Lawrence men's and women's golf, Mary Lawrence has built both programs into highly competitive teams and took both teams to the NCAA Division III Championships in just their fourth season as varsity sports. The Saint men's team has made two NCAA Division III tournament appearances since being resurrected as a varsity sports in 1999-2000, while the Saint women's team has made three tournament appearances since being added as a varsity sport in 1999-2000, including back-to-back appearances in 2008 and 2009.

A Canton native and a LPGA professional, Lawrence won the first Women's Senior Golf Tour qualifying school tournament last spring and played on the tour during the summer. She competed on the LPGA tour from 1978-83 and was the winner of five professional events.She was named  LPGA Teaching and Club Professional Northeast Coach of the Year in 2006.

Prior to turning professional, she was the winner of the New York State Junior Championship in 1973 and in 1977 was New York State Women's Champion, a USGA Women's Amateur medallist and a Florida Intercollegiate Champion. A graduate of the University of Miami and a first-team All America in 1977, she was part of two NCAA National Championship teams at Miami. She has played in nine USGA Women's US Opens and was LPGA Teaching Division Western Section champion in 1993 and played in the 1994 Women's British Open.

Frank Mittiga, who has been PGA Pro and course manager at the Potsdam Town and Country Club for the last six years, has been named manager of the St. Lawrence University Golf Course and assistant golf coach for the Saint men's and women's golf teams.

Mittiga will oversee the operation of the University's 18-hole Oliver D. Appleton Golf Course and will work with Saint men's and women's golf coach Mary Lawrence as assistant in the collegiate program.  He has an outstanding background in golf course management, golf shop operations, tournament operations and golf instruction. He began his career in professional golf as PGA Pro and manager of the Lighthouse Golf Course in Sacramento, CA and spent 11 years in that position before spending a summer as assistant golf professional at the Hermitage Gold Club in Virginia.

Dr. Brian Chezum will serve as the men's and women's golf team's Faculty/Staff Mentor for 2010-2011.

Education History:
B.A. - Coe College
Ph.D. - University of Kentucky

"In life, there are seminal moments that unexpectedly define the path our lives lead."

So it was for Dr. Chezum when one day as a first year student, during football practice a coach asked what he was planning on taking for courses in the coming semester.  Responding with uncertainty, the coach who turned out to be the chair of the economics program convinced him to take an economics course.  It was during this course that Dr. Chezum first found a true passion for learning. 

The coach ultimately became a friend and mentor and it was this relationship that led Dr. Chezum to his chosen career as a professor of economics at a selective liberal arts college.  It was his own time studying in a similar institution which led Dr. Chezum to understand that it is not what he as a professor or the student does individually but the things professors and students do together that makes the difference.