After retiring from a long, and distinguished, career as a collegiate golf and basketball coach, Art Gelow has joined the Stetson men's golf program as a volunteer assistant coach.
Most recently, the Saginaw, Mich., native served for more than a decade as head coach for both the men's and women's golf programs at Savannah State University. During his time there, his teams claimed 12 Division I golf tournament titles and finished in the top five at the National Tournament six out of the last seven years. He coached one golfer to the first PGA National Minority Championship in the history of Savannah State University.
As a professional golfer, Gelow played tour golf for 13 years, winning more than 40 times all over the country in Southeast Senior Tour. He won the Saginaw Golf Invitational “Best Ball” four times.
Prior to Savannah State University, Gelow coached basketball North Dakota State University, North Dakota State Junior College, and Delta College for 15 years, where he posted an overall record of 231-93. Along with basketball, he also coached golf at Delta College and North Dakota State University for 10 years.
Gelow was a three-sport all-star in high school at Arthur Hill High School in Saginaw, Michigan including baseball, football, and basketball. As a starting football (1961-63) and basketball player, he earned All-Conference, All-State, and set records for both sports. He was inducted into the Saginaw Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.
He was recruited by more than 100 colleges, committing to play basketball at the University of South Dakota where he set a career scoring record (1,115 points) and earned All-Conference and All America honors. He led the nation in free throw shooting at 93 percent. Gelow was named to South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.
Gelow received a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Dakota in 1969, and later earned a master’s degree from North Dakota State.
