Gary Rees has stepped down as golf coach at Greely High School in Cumberland Center after 22 years.

Rees, who also coached Foxcroft Academy in 1971, would love to have kept coaching, but he decided the Rangers needed someone who could stay in closer contact.

“I hated to give it up,” said Rees, the pro at Dexter Municipal Golf Course the past four years, “but the kids are more important than me.”

During the high school season, Rees would drive to Cumberland, conduct a two-hour practice or take the team to a match, then drive back to Dexter to close up.

“It got to be old hat after a while,” said Rees. “I felt I wasn’t giving the kids enough time. And then I wasn’t spending enough time here [at the club], and that wasn’t good either.”

His Greely teams won three Class A state team championships and three after the team moved to Class B in 1991. The last one came in 1995.

In his last four years, however, the team’s only winning record came last fall when the Rangers were 6-4, then advanced to the states by finishing second in the league tournament. Greely finished sixth.

“The team kind of suffered because of my traveling,” said Rees. “I felt I was gypping the kids and it was time to get out.”

Rees, 56, turned in his resignation last month, he said Tuesday.

“I’ll really miss the school and [athletic director] Jack Hardy. The school used me real well,” said Rees. “I could be selfish, but I’ve got to do what I think is right in my gut.”

When he retired, Rees suggested to Hardy that Jim Nickerson, the pro at Val Halla Golf Course in Cumberland, would be a good choice as his replacement.

“It’s ideal,” said Rees of the pro at the school’s home club being the coach. “You see the kids all summer long, and you know what their faults are.”

Rees played golf for Husson College from 1965 through 1967, then turned pro in ’68.

He was the pro at Piscataquis Country Club in Guilford when he became the coach at Foxcroft Academy.

“I helped start the Penquis League that year,” said Rees, whose Ponies won the league crown with a 17-0 record.

He moved to southern Maine the following year and was the pro at Val Halla when he became the Greely coach in 1979.

He coached three schoolgirl state champs – Tracy Darling in ’79, Linda Bickford in ’81, and Holly Anderson in ’83 – and one schoolboy champ – Joe McDonough in 1995.

His career record was 305-41-2, including 16 league championships and nine undefeated seasons.

But don’t etch that in stone just yet.

“If something [closer] came up, I’d think about,” said Rees.

“I didn’t plan on being a golf coach, but that’s the way it’s worked out,” he added. “It’s been fun.”

Clinic at GBO

Pros from the Greater Bangor Open Golf Tournament will help conduct a children’s clinic at Bangor Municipal Golf Course on Thursday.

The clinic will take place Thursday at 6 p.m.

Special Olympics tourney

The first Maine Golf Hall of Fame and Special Olympics Maine tournament will be held Monday at Kennebec Heights Golf Club in Farmingdale.

The Maine chapter of the New England PGA conducted free clinics for Special Olympians at 12 Maine courses this summer, and Kennebec Heights director of golf Al Biondi is the chairman of Special Olympics Maine Golf.

The tournament fee is $300 per foursome, and forms are available by calling 799-0983 or 879-0489 in Portland or 582-2000 in Farmingdale.

Dave Barber is the NEWS golf writer. The Golf scene will appear each Wednesday through September. He can be reached at 990-8170 or by e-mail at dbarber@bangordailynews.net.