Marc Gosselin wears a lot of hats.
The Lewiston native is Auburn’s Executive Director for Recreation and Sports Tourism, an emergency backup goalie for the Maine Mariners, and now he’s the Thomas College men’s golf coach.
Lewiston native Marc Gosselin, 44, has led Auburn’s Recreation and Sports Tourism Department since late 2018 and will also be the Thomas College men’s golf coach in the fall. Submitted photo
“The Thomas College golf job is going to be a lot of fun,” Gosselin said. “I have a passion for golf and I play competitively (in the amateur US Am Tour) — I have gotten good in the game over the years. It’s going to be fun coaching at Thomas.”
Gosselin will coach a college golf team for the first time, but he has given teaching lessons in the past. He has coaching experience in other sports, including as an assistant coach for Edward Little’s boys hockey team — which won the 2003 and 2004 Class A state championships — and as an assistant on the Brunswick boys hockey team in the mid-2000s. He was also an assistant baseball coach at Central Maine Community College from 2003-05.
“I have always been coaching in some shape or form, and it’s something I missed a little bit,” Gosselin said. “…I think the schedule for golf has set up well, and I missed coaching a team besides doing player development in other sports and golf and hockey.”
Gosselin, 44, said the direction Thomas College is going academically and athletically drew him to the job. He likes that the school is investing in the athletic department.
Golf didn’t become a passion for Gosselin until after college. Growing up, his focus was on hockey. He was the goaltender for the 1995 Lewiston High School team. Then in college, he focused on his baseball career at the University of Maine at Farmington.
“You know the unique thing about golf is you can pick up golf at any part of your life,” Gosselin said. “Even at 60 years old, all of sudden you pick up a golf club and start playing. That’s so great about golf.”
Gosselin put a lot of time into practicing golf and started playing competitively.
He first started playing on the Golf Channel’s Am Tour in 2017, but that shut down in May of 2020. The US Am Tour began in June 2020. The tour places players in their handicap range and Gosselin is in the 4-7.9 handicap — the Players Flight.
He was the 2021 Player of the Year.
“I have been fortunate in my flight group to qualify and compete in five national championships at multiple great places across the country,” Gosselin said. “I recently came back from (Atunyote at Turning Stone in Verona, New York), where I finished third, which qualified me for this year’s nationals. It’s been one of those things that have driven my passion for golf.”
Some of the golf courses Gosselin has played on the tour include: Chambers Bay in Washington state, which hosted the 2015 US Open; The Player’s Course in San Antonio, also a tour stop on the PGA Tour; and Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, which hosted last year’s Ryder Cup and the 2018 PGA Championship.
Gosselin tries to play competitively in Maine when his schedule allows. He played in the New England PGA’s State of Maine Championship July-27-28 at Sugarloaf Golf Club, where he finished in a tie for 41st.
Gosselin becomes the second player out of Auburn’s Martindale Country Club this summer to take a college golf coaching job. Shaun McKinnon became CMCC’s first golf coach. Gosselin said he hasn’t spoken to McKinnon about coaching yet.
“I am super excited for Shaun to take that job — he’s going to be good for it,” Gosselin said. “I see him at Martindale. We haven’t talked anything about college golf, but it goes to show there are some great, strong players at Martindale. I am lucky enough and fortunate enough to get the job at Thomas in being their head coach. Shaun, a great local golfer, as well, who will be coaching at Central Maine Community College. Honestly, we have a lot of great guys who play across the state at our club. It’s a good company to be in when you talk about all these different types of people who are good at golf in the state.”
Thomas plays out of Waterville Country Cub and in the North Atlantic Conference, and finished third at the conference tournament last season. Gosselin hasn’t talked or met with the team yet, but he is excited to meet them later this month.
“We are still in the offseason, but I will be catching up with the team on (Aug. 21) when they move in, and we will be hitting the ground running,” Gosselin said.
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