Meet Bob Freschi: Napa Valley College head men's and women's golf coach
By MARTY JAMES
Bob Freschi grew up in Pacifica, located on the coast in San Mateo County, playing golf.
But it was not golf that he pursued later on. He chose baseball.
Freschi, a shortstop, was selected All-North Peninsula League for Terra Nova High School.
He was named All-Coast Conference for two years at Skyline College in San Bruno. He received most outstanding sophomore athlete honors at Skyline.
He made the All-West Coast Conference team as a third baseman for the University of San Francisco.
Freschi then went into coaching, serving as an assistant coach at Skyline for a year. He was a graduate assistant coach for two years at Western Michigan University, where he obtained his masters in physical education.
He was the top assistant coach at Canada College in Redwood City for five years
He coached the Slovakian national team for two years, in 1994 and '96, during the European Championships. It's played in conjunction with Major League Baseball International.
Freschi was Napa Valley College's head coach for 15 years. He stepped down from his post after the 2016 season and took over as the head coach for the NVC men's and women's golf teams, both of which are members of the Big 8 Conference.
"It's been a great transition that I really enjoy," Freschi said at a practice for the Storm women's team last week at Napa Golf Course at Kennedy Park.
"I really do believe golf and baseball are two of the hardest sports to play. To master the skill of hitting a baseball and hitting a golf ball is very difficult. And it's very challenging to teach."
Freschi is coaching sports year-round. He direct the women's team during the fall season and the men's team during the spring season.
He is president of the California Community College Athletic Association Golf Coaches Association for the women's association.
In addition to that, he is a manager for an age-group team with the Napa Valley Baseball Club, which is based out of the Veterans Home of California's Cleve Borman Field in Yountville. Freschi's travel ball team plays in the spring, summer and fall.
"Jerry Dunlap, our athletic director, has been very supportive. Anything we need, he supplies it," Freschi said. "It's been a fun group of ladies and men to work with.
"The one aspect of being the golf coach is that I'm not able to see all of my players, in every one of their shots in match competition. And that's been a little strange for me, to get used to that concept. In competition, I'm in the cart and I drive around and watch a few of their holes, and move on to the next player and then get back to a player. If a player needs me, I'll stay with that player until I get her back on track. It's been a little awkward, but I'm getting used to it."
Freschi took over as the Storm's golf coach, replacing Jim Wiechers, who played the PGA Tour for 13 years after receiving NCAA All-America honors at Santa Clara University. Wiechers is a member of the Santa Clara Athletic Hall of Fame.
Freschi receives assistance from David Knox, who is a PGA Class A member and the Director of Instruction at Napa Golf Course. Knox, who is from Rochester, Michigan, assists the men's team in the fall and the women's team in the spring.
Freschi gained additional experience in golf when he worked at California Golf Club, a private club located in South San Francisco.
* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association, Associated Press Sports Editors, and California Prep Sports Media Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016 and the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of F