Hall of Fame
Francis Marion University athletic officials have announced that former Patriot All-American golfer Gary Bennett and former left-handed pitcher Scotty Keefe will be the newest inductees into the FMU Athletic Hall of Fame on Jan. 29, 2000.
Bennett, a native of Florence, attended the University of Houston and Memphis State University, before returning home to Florence and Francis Marion. In his second and final year on the Patriot golf team (1973), he and a teammate became the school's first All-Americans.
Bennett earned a B.S. degree in psychology in 1974, and is currently golf course superintendent at the Harbor Oaks Golf Club in Pine Bluff, Ark. He resides in White Hall, Ark., with his wife Debbie and his four children.
Prior to taking his current position two years ago, Bennett worked at the Country Club of South Carolina, Deer Track Country Club in Surfside Beach, Wildwood Country Club in Columbia, Crickentree Golf Club in Blythewood, S.C., Indian Creek Golf Club in Miami Beach, Fla., and the President Country Club in West Palm Beach, Fla.
While at Crickentree Golf Club, he was named the South Carolina Golf Course Superintendent of the Year in 1992, and that same year won the National Golf Course Super-intendents' Championship, a tournament held at the TPC at Sawgrass near Jacksonville, Fla.
As a collegiate player in 1971-72, Bennett led the Patriot squad with a 74.9 stroke average. He helped Francis Marion to a 16-3 record and a second-place finish at the Little Six Golf Tournament. Individually, he tied for second at that tournament.
The next year, the Patriots compiled a perfect 21-0 team record and finished second in both the Little Six and NAIA District Six Tournaments (behind eventual national champion Wofford College). Francis Marion went on to finish fourth in the state tournament and advanced to the NAIA National Championships, where the squad tied for seventh place.
In addition to earning All-America honors that year, he helped the Patriots place eighth overall (and first among small colleges) at the prestigious St. Andrews International Collegiate Team Championship Tournament, played on the famed Carnoustie and the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland.
