Paris begins his first season as the full-time head coach at Gannon after a very successful stint as the interim head coach during the 2009-10 season. The Golden Knights recorded four top-five finishes and eight top-10 finishes under Paris’ guidance. The squad won the Kenyon Fall Classic, placed second at the Gannon Invitational and finished third at the Mercyhurst Invitational.
Last year, Paris helped senior Drew Deimel produce one the best golf seasons in school history. Deimel qualified for his second consecutive NCAA Division II National Championship last year, finishing 11th out of 108 golfers. He qualified as an individual by finishing fourth out of 108 golfers at the NCAA Division II Atlantic/East Regional. Deimel’s loaded 2010-11 resume included PSAC Player of the Year, All-PSAC first team, PSAC Scholar-Athlete, Division II Athletic Directors Association Academic Achievement Award and Capital One Academic All-District II men’s at-large team.
Paris has a decade of instructional experience. Most recently, he served as a Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Level II assistant golf professional (2003-05) at the Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida. He assisted in the production and organization of two PGA Tour sanctioned tournaments during that time. In addition to being the lead instructor for weekly ladies and junior swing clinics, he worked with the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) to facilitate its national golf tournament and several high school golfers who have furthered their golf careers at the NCAA Division I and II levels. One of those golfers has since turned professional.
The Erie, Pa., native also served as a golf instructor at the Arnold Palmer Golf Academy from 2003-05. Paris assisted with individual and corporate golf instruction, led short game and full swing clinics and helped facilitate the Brad Faxon Junior Clinic during the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Paris began his professional career as a PGA Level I and II first assistant golf professional at Lake View Country Club in Erie, Pa. His duties included participating in the First Tee Program as an instructor, taping 30-second golf instructional commercial spots on WSEE TV-35, directing junior clinics and skills competitions and training individuals on the V1 swing analysis system.
