January 17, 2020
From a SVSU Press Release —
UNIVERSITY CENTER — A pair of Saginaw Valley State University head coaches will be finishing their respective careers with the Cardinals this spring, as Men’s and Women’s Head Golf Coach Joe Vogl and Head Men’s & Women’s Swimming & Diving Head Coach Bruce Zimmerman have announced that they will be retiring at the end of the 2019-20 spring season.
“When you contemplate the amount of coaching experience that we will be losing with the retirements of Bruce and Joe, it’s rather staggering,” said SVSU Director of Athletics John Decker. “Add to that the fact that both of these men performed their work with the utmost integrity, dedication, and professionalism, we then can begin to understand how difficult the task will be to find the next generation of leaders for these two programs. Personally, I am very thankful that I have had the privilege to work with Joe and Bruce for the past few years and I will always admire them for the leadership they provided for our athletics department. I wish them both happiness and fulfillment during their retirement years.”
Vogl has been a member of the Saginaw Valley staff for 41 years and is in his 26th season as the head coach of the golf programs. He has coached the men’s squad in two different stints, leading the program from 1990-2008 and from 2008-current. The SVSU Women’s Golf program began its first year in the 2016-17 campaign as well, with Vogl serving as the head coach of that program, now in its fourth season.
Coach Vogl has led the Cardinals to the NCAA Division II National Championships three different times, competing at the postseason event during the 1997, 1998 and 2014 seasons. The Cardinals claimed back-to-back GLIAC Championships under Vogl’s direction as well, winning the league title in the 1996 and 1997 campaigns. The SVSU Men’s Golf program has claimed 19 team titles in Vogl’s 26 seasons and has finished runner-up in 36 different tournaments. The Women’s Golf program has achieved quick success as well, winning three tournaments and finishing runner-up another pair of times.
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Two players earned All-American honors under Coach Vogl, with Brian Eggleston (1998) and Dave Tokarsky (2000) earning that honor for the Cardinals. There have been 14 Academic All-Americans on the men’s side and another nine on the women’s side, with the men’s squads being named Academic All-America as a team nine different times.
In regards to All-GLIAC honors, 36 Men’s Golf student-athletes have been named all-conference and two Women’s golf team members have earned that distinction as well. Adding to that, Vogl has helped lead 11 Men’s golfers to all-region honors.
