There was a slight pause after longtime Genoa boys golf coach Tom Pickerel was asked how he'll be spending his time this fall.

“Well,” Pickerel said, “I'm going to spend time with my three granddaughters.”

Pickerel's 40-year marriage to his wife, Elaine, has produced seven children, so more grandchildren are sure to come. Pickerel's 37 years as the head coach of the Comets' golf program officially ended last fall, when he resigned. He also will retire after 40 years as a math teacher at Genoa at the end of this school year.

“I told the boys I'd be around to watch them play a little bit this fall,” Pickerel said. “Genoa should have a really good team. I still have an interest in how they do. I'll be around to keep an eye on them. If the new coach lets me, I may even scold them a little bit.”

Tom Pickerel at Sugar Creek Golf Course after his Genoa golf team collected another Suburban Lakes League and tournament championship.(Press photo by Ken Grosjean)

Genoa Athletic Director Mike Thomas said last Friday that he has yet to find a replacement for Pickerel, who led the Comets to 13 Suburban Lakes League titles and four berths in the state tournament.

“I've known Tom ever since he was my math teacher in high school,” said Thomas, a 1985 Genoa grad. “As athletic director, I couldn't ask for anyone better as a golf coach. I have never touched a golf schedule. Whatever that team needs, he takes care of everything. You couldn't ask for a better man to be in charge of those kids.”

Pickerel said a few people tried to convince him to change his mind, but to no avail.

“There was pretty much no way,” he said. “This is my last year teaching, too. Forty years. When you first start, 30 years is kind of what the norm was, so I was kind of thinking 30 years. As I got into it, I really liked what I was doing. Working with the kids in the classroom has always been enjoyable, and coaching was something I also really liked. That was special.

“That attraction was always there and it kept drawing me back. That, and having seven kids. They all went to college, too, so you had the college expenses to deal with. That wasn't the main reason I stayed, I just really liked working with the students.”

The Comets reached the state tournament in 1991, '92, '98 and 2009, placing as high as 10th. Pickerel's sons, Kevin, Todd, Craig and Ryan, all played for him at Genoa; two of his three daughters, Kelly and LeAnna, also played golf for the Comets. Another daughter, Staci, was a cheerleader at Genoa.

LeAnna qualified for the 2004 girls’ state tournament, and Craig, who played for four years at Bowling Green State University, was named the Mid-American Conference Sportsman of the Year as a senior.

Pickerel said it was “a real joy” to coach his children.

“Sometimes people say it's hard to coach your own kid,” he said. “Golf's a little different. In golf your score speaks for itself, it's not subjective. The real joy is to see them latch onto something that was special to me. We never forced them to play. We gave them the opportunity and they went with it.”

Eastwood boys golf coach Mike Gardner, who has also won 13 SLL titles and sent four teams to the state tournament in 39 years with the Eagles, has known Pickerel for 37 years.

“In my 39 years of coaching I haven't witnessed any golf coach work harder than Tom Pickerel to bring success to his program,” Gardner said. “He got his team into many tournaments at some top courses, he hosted numerous tournaments and he had great practice plans.

“He demanded excellence of his players and he did everything with class. He's been a tremendous credit to the field of education and, specifically, to interscholastic golf. Genoa is well respected as a golf program in all of Northwest Ohio, and Tom has done that.”

Thomas presented Pickerel with a plaque commemorating his career at Genoa at the end of last season.

“Losing Tom from the golf program at Genoa, as well as the league, is a big loss,” Thomas said. “He does great things for the kids; they respect him – I think we all respect him. He's a great man, a great teacher and a great golf coach. He's going to be sorely missed all around.”

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