Bannon named new golf coach at CSM

In recent years, Sean Bannon has become a familiar face on the local high school and youth scene as the Southern Maryland director of the Junior Tour and even more recently as the head golf coach at Calvert High School. Now, it appears, Bannon is prepared to take the next step in his career.

Bannon, who once owned Professional Golfers Association status and served as the club pro at Chesapeake Hills Golf Course in Lusby, will soon begin his final season at the helm of the Calvert golf team this fall then focus his attention on the College of Southern Maryland golf team in the spring. It’s yet another step in a career that he had initially never planned to take.

“Looking back on it, those years when I held PGA status I never really considered going into coaching,” Bannon said. “When the Calvert job came open, you know, I thought it was a good move for me. I was working with a lot of the kids in the Junior Tour and it gave me another chance to help those kids improve. Then when the CSM job came open I applied for it and got it and now I can focus on that for the spring.”

As coach of the Calvert golf team, Bannon can not recruit players from outside the school’s boundaries to play for him at the school. But as the new CSM golf coach he can interact with the golfers on other high school teams, many of whom he already knows through the Junior Tour.

“When I applied for the CSM job they asked me if I had any experience recruiting and I told them that, as the Calvert coach, I obviously could not,” Bannon said. “But as the CSM coach now, I can hopefully recruit kids from the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference to come play for me for two years. Then, who knows, maybe they can go on two play two more years at a four-year school.”

The high school golf season will officially commence on Aug. 27 when North Point High faces La Plata High at White Plains Golf Course then Calvert High and the remaining SMAC teams will get under way the following day with matches at Chesapeake Hills, Hawthorne Country Club and White Plains.

CSM, which plays golf in the spring, will have four matches at four different courses in April.