Van Johnson Sr., coached golf for the Dowagiac Union school system (Southwest Michigan) for more than 35 years. On March 9, 2014 he was inducted into the Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association Hall (MIGCA) Golf Hall of Fame for Boys Golf. He becomes the first Black coach to receive this honor.
“I am pleased, proud and honored just to be considered, but then to get in on the first try is kind of unbelievable,” Johnson said to Leader Publications earlier this year. “I have had some help there along the way. I had a couple of good assistants who helped with what we were trying to do and, of course, we had some really good players here who wanted to succeed in the game of golf. Without them, this honor certainly wouldn’t be possible.”
Johnson was joined at Eagle Eye Golf Club in Lansing (MI) during the Hall of Fame and Coach of the Year luncheon by Michael Soltysiak of DeWitt, Jean Holbert of Clio and Al Kebl of Bloomfield Hills. During the course of his 35 years, Johnson’s teams have won 1,303 matches, five conference titles, played in 26 invitationals. Won four times and finished in the top four 13 times. Johnson has coached the girls team for the past 10 years.
(L) Ryan Johnson, youngest son, elementary education teacher and (R) Van Johnson, Jr., eldest son, works in for Volvo in Maryland as a Sr. Manufacturing Engineer, enjoy the awards function with their father Van Johnson Sr.
Throughout his three-plus decades, the Chieftains have played in six MHSAA state finals including seven MHSAA regionals and one district tournament. Johnson also coached the girls team for the past 10 years, has been named conference coach of the year five times, MIGCA District Coach of the Year twice and Regional Coach of the Year in 2004. He as served on the state championship rules committee, worked with the minority youth golf program, conducted Elks golf clinics for kids and served on the Southwest Junior Golf Tour board.
“It’s been a heckuva ride here,” Johnson said. “When I came to coach here I kind of inherited the boys team. When we decided to start a girls program, I had to get out of track. After three years of really good numbers they decided to make it a varsity sport.” Johnson, 67, was born in Marion, Ind., and works in the Pro-Shop at Indian Lake Hills Golf Course while splitting his time between Dowagiac, Mich., and Ocala, Fla.
Johnson’s eldest son, Van said, “The life of our father has impacted us as men in many different ways. Growing up we were fortunate enough to experience a very respectful and loving relationship between a man and a woman for 30+ years. My father is the kind of man who would speak few words, but would lead by example. He had the ability with just a simple look to convey something very meaningful. He grew up in a different time and was presented with limited opportunities. Whether it was track, wrestling, golf camps in the summer, advanced tutoring, and vacations to non-traditional places, we had more exposure than most. He and my late mother (Linda Johnson) removed many roadblocks and valued education which attributed to many of our future successes. The expectation we were presented with as children was to achieve our potential, anything less would not be acceptable. That expectation will be passed down to our families as well.”
(L) Chris Craft, former player, college student and (R) Jordan Crandall former player and Sales Rep at FootJoy with Van Johnson Sr. (center)
Sons Ryan and Van Jr., present their father with a special trophy recognizing his hole-in-one that was made a few months prior to the induction ceremony.
