Heavy, quiet sounds of the vibrant leaves being stepped on, the chirping of birds, and the occasional “FORE” call; to some, such as Mr. Franklin, this is a fever dream, leaving work to go to the golf course every afternoon.  Slowly but surely, the squeaky brakes pierce the silence as the bus arrives with the golf team. These high school students are the lucky ones who get Mr. Franklin to take them under their belts for 10 weeks of the fall. 

Teaching for 9 years here at Hall, and coaching Conard golf for 12, Mr. Franklin has seen a lot. 

“There have been years that I’ve been coach when the Hall golf team has been better than my team and I route for them to do well.” Said Mr. Franklin. “Yes it’s a rivalry, but there’s been no trouble.”

During the season, jokes are flung around from the Conard golfers to the Hall teacher, who has no regrets after 9 years of teaching.

“…It’s just great to see when you do something well or help a student that they appreciate it,” he said.  “it’s just nice.”

However, teaching was not always Franklin’s profession. After college, he became a golf professional for 12 years. 

“I was a very good player in high school, I played on my high school team, was state champ, went on to play in college at UConn, and I also became a golf professional for 12 years before I went back to school to become a teacher,” told Mr. Franklin. 

To some, golf is just a hobby, but to Franklin, it’s more than that. He’s spent his entire life around competitive golf, now focusing on developing junior golfers. 

“I’ve just always wanted to be a golfer coach because I want to give back and help junior golfers and grow the game and use what knowledge I have to help them became better players, better people too …”

Whether it’s bettering golfers or students, the common thing is making kids into better people in the real world, and giving them a positive influence. Franklin believes that his role is to, “try to be the best of what I do in the community, so I’m a teacher in this community so I try to be the best teacher I can in the community to help elevate as many students as possible, hopefully, all my students, to elevate them to succeed and be better students and learn how to be good students and learn how to be life long learners.”

Student interactions with their teachers are just one way to help better learning and participation. Hall senior Harry Nelson, who had Mr. Franklin as a teacher sophomore year, is on the Hall golf team. As expected, many of the Hall golfers get to interact with Conard’s Coach Franklin. 

“He distracts me, don’t get me wrong great guy and gives you advice, but a little too funny for me. He is a phenomenal guy to be around, best guy.” Harry Nelson said.

After the conclusion of his 13th season as head coach at Conard, Mr. Franklin has no plans of stopping soon. The 2.2 handicap has been around the golf game for 40+ years and has every intention of continuing dedication to the game.