SUNY Cortland C-Club Hall of Fame
Mic Potter is one of the nation’s most accomplished collegiate golf coaches. In nearly three decades at Furman University and the University of Alabama, Potter has amassed numerous individual and team awards and has coached 11 student-athletes who have gone on to play on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour.
Potter played soccer for three seasons and golf for one year while a student at Cortland. He scored the game-winning goal in the Red Dragons’ 1-0 win over Union in the 1974 ECAC Championship game. Upon graduation, he worked as a shop assistant at the Cortland Country Club in 1977 before becoming the assistant golf professional at Furman the following year.
Potter was promoted to head professional as well as assistant men’s and women’s golf coach at Furman in 1979. He served as head women’s golf coach from 1982-2005, during which time he was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year eight times. The National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) selected him as South District Coach of the Year in 1993, and he was inducted into the NGCA Hall of Fame in 1994.
Under Potter’s guidance, the Paladins earned 15 NCAA championship berths and posted six top-10 national finishes, including an NCAA runner-up showing in 1987. Among Potter’s pupils was Dottie Pepper, who won 17 events and earned more than $5 million in career winnings on the LPGA Tour during a 20-year professional career.
Since 2005, Potter has coached the women’s golf team at the University of Alabama. He’s been named Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year twice and has led the Crimson Tide to five NCAA championship appearances. Between Furman and Alabama, Potter has coached 21 NGCA All-Americans, 15 NGCA All-Scholar Team selections and 12 conference players of the year. His teams have qualified for NCAA regional competition every year since regional format was established in 1993.
In addition to his coaching, Potter has organized and conducted a Junior Girls Golf Clinic, in conjunction with the Professional Business Women’s Golf Network, designed to bring more girls into the game at a younger age. He also organized the St. Mary’s Golf Classic to benefit the St. Mary’s School in Greenville, S.C.
