Jim Hanny will go down in history as one of the best golf coaches in America, but he first made his mark as a track athlete at Pacific.
Hanny lettered in track in 1946, 1947 and 1948 and was selected the West Coast Harrier Runner of the Year in 1948 and 1949. Jim won the 1948 Pacific Marathon and the 1949 Pacific Association Championship. In 1948, Hanny placed second in the National 15K and in the Pacific Association two mile. He ran his third best time at the Dipsea Handicap and placed fourth in the CCAA Conference one mile. In 1949, Jim placed third in San Francisco's famous Bay-to-Bay Breakers race.
Hanny also lettered in cross country in 1947 and 1948. He received his B.A. from the College of the Pacific in 1949 and M.A. degree from University of the Pacific in 1957. During the 1957 season, Jim coached the Tigers to a 10-1 record. The 1957 squad, which is considered to be one of the best Tiger track teams in history, set four school records.
After graduating from Pacific, Hanny went to Laurence University in Sarasota, Florida where he received his doctorate of education in 1972. In 1976, he accepted the job of golf coach at Cal State Stanislaus after coaching at several California high schools. Under Hanny's direction, Cal State Stanislaus golf had 83 All-American mentions, 31 first team All-Conference players, five academic All-Americans, five national individual champions and 16 first team All-Americans. Cal State Stanislaus golf won 12 NCAA Division III championships, 47 invitational tournaments, 27 Far Western Conference Tournaments, nine Northern California Athletic Conference championships, 13 NCAA District 8 tournaments, an NCAA Division II West Regional championship and one California Collegiate Athletic Association championship.
Hanny has a career record of 2,310-1,127-18. He is the winningest active golf coach in the nation and was elected into the GCAA Hall of Fame in 1992. In 1986, he was named USA Today's National Coach of the Year.
