2013 Hall of Fame
STAN GONTA
Mt. San Antonio College Bio
Stan Gonta was a pioneer in Women’s Golf, who helped establish women’s golf within the California Community Colleges. He is the first women’s golf coach at Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) and the inaugural Hall of Fame Inductee of the California Community College Women’s Golf Hall of Fame.
A 1960 graduate of Torrance High School, Gonta attended the University of Southern California on a football scholarship and was a member of USC’s 1962 National Championship Football Team. He received his Master’s of Science in Education from USC in 1965 and was immediately hired by the Mt. San Antonio College Physical Education/Athletic Department as a professor and assistant Football Coach. Gonta also lead the Mt. SAC Men’s Golf Program from 1967 until 1980.
In 1989, Linda Garrison, the Dean of Physical Education/Athletic Director asked him to look into starting Women’s Golf as a sport in California Community Colleges. After a year of promoting the new sport throughout the state to various Community Colleges and Men’s Golf Programs, the first Community College Women’s Golf Conference was formed in 1991. It was composed of Mt. SAC , College of the Desert, Rio Hondo College and Los Angeles Mission College. The next year in 1992, Cypress College joined the conference and the North also began hosting Women’s Golf with Fresno City College and three other northern colleges. In 1994 the first State Women’s Golf Championship was held in Palm Springs. Today, Women’s Golf is a thriving sport in California Community Colleges.
During his tenure as Mt. SAC’s Women’s Golf Head Coach, from 1991 to 2004, Gonta lead his teams to 5 CCCAA State Women’s Golf Championships. In 1998 and 1999, his teams went undefeated, capturing two consecutive state championships. In 2003, he once again took the helm of the men’s team and in 2004, Gonta lead both the Women’s and Men’s teams to a CCCAA State Championship Title which marked the first men’s state championship in Mt. SAC History.
Gonta retired in 2004, but remained at Mt. SAC to help coach and mentor new head coach, Kim Melrose. Melrose was an outstanding player for Gonta on his 1998 and 1999 State Championship Teams, who later went on to play for the Oregon Ducks. Together they won two more CCCAA State Championships.
Gonta, a Professional Golfers Association (PGA) member and card holder, currently resides in Bend, Oregon and in Indio, California, where he still enjoys the game of Golf. He works seasonally at the Sunriver Resort in Bend as a PGA Pro. He also donates his time to the local Junior Golf Program and the Girl’s Golf Team at Bend Senior High.