Longtime Laker Golf Coach Bob Gorden Honored At Detroit Country Club

Detroit Lakes, MN (KDLM) – Family, friends, colleagues, former coaches, and former and current players gathered at the Detroit Country Club on Sunday evening to celebrate the career of Laker Boys Golf coach Bob Gorden, who announced his retirement earlier this summer after 47 years of coaching…22 of those years as head coach of Laker golf.

Under Gorden, the Lakers won multiple Section championships, three Minnesota State championships, had two State runner-up finishes, multiple All-State players, All-State Academic teams, and a run of 22 consecutive Mid State Conference titles.

“Winning 22 straight conference championships doesn’t happen by accident,” said Vern Schnathorst, Gorden’s longtime assistant coach who will now take over as head coach.

The constant theme of the evening as current and former players shared stories of their time playing for Coach Gorden was how much he loved his athletes and loved sharing the game of golf with kids.

“We started that foundation to promote golf to kids and adults,” Gorden said. “It’s fun to see all these kids, that I guess are young adults now, that are still playing golf. And some of them have THEIR kids playing golf. That’s what it’s all about.”

“When you think about Coach Gorden, you think about not only the impact that he’s made on the high school team but at the youth level as well is unbelievable,” said former player Tanner Lane, who was on the 2011 State Championship team. “Year after year you see more and more kids out here, more and more Laker golf bags and that has everything to do with Coach Gorden.”

“I sat with the 2008 State Championship Golf team when Bob was inducted into the Minnesota Coaches Hall of Fame in 2016,” said Detroit Lakes AD Rob Nielsen. “The two hours we were there, I didn’t hear a player reminisce about a shot or a tournament or a score. They were just talking about the neat experiences that they had and how they grew through that program. It’s not about golf. It’s about relationships with people, and Bob has been fantastic about building those relationships.”

“I love to see all the alumni out here,” Gorden said. “You come out here to the Country Club on a Wednesday night and there’s a big group of my former golfers out here. Even some baseball players that probably wished they had golfed back in high school, but didn’t.”

Gorden has been a coach in some capacity for the last 47 years: track and field, basketball, and golf, and had continued coaching even after retiring from teaching at Detroit Lakes Middle School.

“My wife Diane and I have been married for 45 years,” Gorden said. “Even my wife has only known me as Coach Gorden.”

So what is next for Gorden?

“I told the guys out here I might be up for volunteering on maintenance to get me out of the house,” Gorden joked. “But I’m not going to disappear. I’ll still volunteer with the golf team. I’ll volunteer at some tournaments. I love the game of golf.”