Bio

MARCH 2024

WALTHAM, Mass. – David Scholnick has been named the first head coach of the Bentley University women's golf team, which will make its debut as the university's 24th varsity sport this coming fall. The announcement was made Monday by Vaughn Williams, Director of Athletics at Bentley.

A Marblehead resident who played collegiately for legendary coach George Jacobson at Salem State University, Scholnick has been both the club champion and the senior club champion at Cranberry Valley Golf Course in Harwich.

"I'm excited for the opportunity and am looking forward to building the program," said Scholnick. "It's going to take time as it's different from taking over an established program. We need to build a roster and are eager to get the recruiting process underway."

"As we continue to recruit & attract woman students to Bentley University, it makes great sense for the division of athletics to expand its offerings when it makes sense," said Williams. "There is no doubt adding another popular and emerging sport to the Bentley Athletics family is exciting. Coach Scholnick is the right fit at the right time to build what we believe will be a very successful golf program.

Associate Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator Courtney Finn shares Williams' excitement. "David is a great addition to the Bentley Athletics family. He has a true passion for building this program and I can't wait to see it take off."

While this is Scholnick's first collegiate coaching position, he's been very involved with golf for decades. Self-taught as a player, he grew up as a caddie, played for arguably the premier Division III men's golf program in New England, and has competed and qualified in many Massachusetts Golf Association amateur events over the years.

"I'm passionate about the sport," said Scholnick, whose son Andrew graduated from Bentley in 2016. "I've been a student of the game and this is a great opportunity."

Scholnick stressed that adding a women's golf program is a natural fit for the university, which has led NCAA Division II in academic success rate for seven consecutive years.

"Bentley is a world-class business university and the pairing of business and golf have always gone together," said the new coach. "It's a perfect segue."

Bentley will be the seventh in the Northeast-10 Conference to field a women's golf team. It will be the university's first new varsity sport since the addition of women's lacrosse a quarter-century ago.