Alabama AD, Greg Byrne 
was our
first guest speaker 
of the new season!
Celebrating Sports Fellowship, 
Spirit, and Community Pride
GCAC 
16th Annual Golf Tournament
2018 Special Edition
From President, Linda Martin.

The 16th Annual Gulf Coast Athletic Club Golf Tournament was held  at Craft Farms. The tournament was a great success with nearly 100 golfers enjoying a fun day of golf and festivities. The net proceeds from the tournament of over $9000 fully funded the scholarships to be presented this year to deserving Gulf Shores High School senior scholar athletes and helps assure GCAC‘s continued support for Gulf Shores High School Athletics.

Thanks to all who participated as golfers and those who volunteered their time to make this tournament a success. A special thanks to John McCormick & Fred Dickinson and their committee members for all their hard work.

Congratulations to all winners including:
Womens

1st Place Ladies: Carolyn Boudreaux                         #2 Place Ladies: Linda Spangrud
                               Kathleen Forbes                                                          Joy Majors   
​                                Leslie Anderson                                                          Susan Hirsch         
                                Mary Ann Terrell                                                          Linda Runtz

Mens

#1 Gross:   Jeff Kimbro                                                       #1 Net:  Ken Hall
​                    Steve Long                                                                     Forrest Forbes
                    Randy Hilsman                                                              Terry Peeples     
                    Mike Pyer                                                                        Rod Erdman

#2 Gross:    Ballard Sweat                                                  #2 Net:  Dec McClelland
                     Cole Baas                                                                      Joe Macaleer
                     Blake Rowell                                                                 Richard Lamar
                     Randy Davis                                                                  Michael Heroman

Thanks to everyone for helping to make this a great year for GCAC. I know everyone is looking forward to our new season which starts with our kick-off meeting in August.

See you then!
Linda Martin
President
Shown below are more scenes from our tournament. 
Click on the link below to view the album
2018 GCAC 16th Annual
Golf Tournament Results
Congratulations to our Winners!

A special thanks to our Tournament Co-Chairmen, 
John McCormick and Fred Dickinson, who year after year, put on a great tournament.  Also we want to thank Craft Farms and their staff for exceptional support to our tournament, to 
all the volunteers who provided additional help, and 
especially our tournament sponsors for supporting 
the GCAC 16th Annual Golf Tournament!

The Gulf Coast Athletic Club (GCAC) kicked off its year on August 27 with featured speaker, University of Alabama Athletic Director Greg Byrne.

GCAC funds scholarships for local athletes, as well as helping local athletic departments. The membership is made up of more than 80 men and women who are graduates and supporters of college athletic programs across the country, including the SEC and other conferences.

To raise money to support scholarships and athletic programs, an annual golf tournament, several trivia nights and other activities help to accomplish the club’s mission.

Each of the eight Fall meetings includes dinner and a well-known guest speaker as well as team reports and a “crying towel” award. The meetings are held at the Craft Farms Golf Clubhouse on Monday evenings.

Those interested in joining GCAC may contact Andrew Harte, 
membership chairman, at 251-223-3622 or email at Andrew@remaxgs.com , or go to the website at
 http://www.gcathleticclub.com/GCAC-JoinGCAC.html

To rejoin for the 2018-19 year, please mail a $250 check payable to GCAC, to GCAC, PO Box 2167, Orange Beach AL, 36561 or, if preferred, use the credit card link below. 

Pay with credit card - click here

Finally, If you have identified anyone you would like to invite to join the club this year. please send me their name and email address. I will work with Andrew Hart to solicit these potential members next week. 

Thanks you for your continual support of GCAC!!!
President: Linda Martin
Another great lineup of Gulf Coast Athletic Club speakers for this year! 
 Please respond to President Linda Martin's E-Mail RSVP
just prior to each meeting to help prepare for the event.

Speaker Schedule for GCAC Meetings for 2018-19

August 27- Greg Byrne: Athletic Director at the University of Alabama
September 10- Tony Barnhart: CBS Sports College Football Insider
September 24- TBA:  The Suspense!?!
October 8-Sam Jankovich: Former AD for Washington State & U of Miami
October 22-Joe Gottfried: Former AD for University of South Alabama
November 5-Sylvester Croom: Alabama Hero and Senior Bowl VP 
November 19-Cole Cublic: Former Auburn Captain and Radio Host
December 3-Trivia Night:  Start planning your team now!
January 21-TBA:  More suspense!?!
From Our First GCAC Meeting
of the 2018-2019 Season

Monday
August 27, 2018

Greg Byrne
Athletic Director
University of
Alabama


The Gulf Coast Athletic Club started its 2018-2019 season at 7:00pm on Monday, August 27, 2018. New President Linda Martin opened the meeting and thanked all attendees for their interest and attendance. “I’m proud to serve as the Chair of such a great organization.”

Proving that this year will be different than others, President Martin turned the podium over to Dr. Gaylon McCullough to introduce our Guest Speaker who needs to catch a plane earlier than expected.
Our Speaker was University of Alabama Athletic Director Greg Byrne, who took the job in January 2017. He was previously at Arizona, Mississippi State (he hired Dan Mullen there), Oregon State, and Kentucky. His Dad was also an AD at Oregon, Nebraska, and Texas A&M.

He was very much at ease with the GCAC crowd and commented on the excellent state of UA athletics in all sports. His job is “trying to make our student-athletes the best they can be and also make them great citizens for our communities after graduation.”
What’s the next step for Bama? “Making sure we don’t get complacent”, and then he talked about the Crimson Stadium Initiative, making it a first class experience for all over the next 10 years and prepare for the future.

He said Head Football Coach Nick Saban is “66 going on 50” years old and just born to coach. Byrne said, “If you want to keep score, you need to try to win. Do it the right way.” He said all student athletes at UA have an average 3.7 GPA. When asked about Saban staying forever, he said he hoped so!
His annual budget at UA is $148 million and he’s trying to do what’s right for the school, adding U Texas in 2020-21. The school currently spends more than $100 million on travel, food, etc., and he doesn’t see paying athletes in the future.
When asked the inevitable question of who’s the starting Quarterback, Byrne replied, “Tua Hurts.”

President Martin thanked AD Byrne and then introduced the present and past Board Members. She also noted Dr. McCullough was presented the Paul W. Bryant Achievement Award and Doc has written a new book about his UA experiences with proceeds benefitting GCAC!! He’s always been a tremendous GCAC supporter!

Membership Chair Andrew Hart reported 71 members prior to the meeting, but we picked up 15 new members tonight!

David Lee reported on the kickoff of the Office Football Pool for this year noting last year’s Top Prognosticator was Fred Dickinson.

Gulf Shores Head Football Coach Matt Blake gave an excellent update on all GSHS sports, noting we have a State Champion in Wrestling’s 132 lb. Class. 2 cross Country runners set new school records and the Volleyball kicked off their year live streaming at all games. He noted seeing some brotherhood developing and said “We teach life.”

The 50/50 drawing was held and money donated back to the Club, with meeting adjournment at 8:33pm.

By: Bill Tunnell​
The Gulf Coast Athletic Club
Is Proud To Announce Our 
2017-2018--Scholar Athlete 
$3,500 Scholarship Award Winners!

Erin Corcoran and Jyon Corbett

Erin and Jyon will both receive a $3,500 Scholarship Award.
The GCAC, through the hard work of their members and partnered sponsors, were able to increase the scholarship award 
to the highest in the clubs history.

Erin & Jyon were chosen from a distinguished list of Scholar Athletes from the Gulf Shores High School.  We wish nothing but continued success in the futures of both our winners and all the Nominees.

G U L F   C O A S T   A T H L E T I C   C L U B
Erin Corcoran and Jyon Corbett with Linda Martin & Dec McClelland