STAPLES, Minn. (KWAD) — For more than five decades, Glen Hasselberg didn’t just coach golf—he built a culture. The 76-year-old Staples resident recently announced his retirement after 51 years as head coach of the Staples-Motley girls’ golf team and 26 years leading the boys’ program. He’s the only girls’ coach the school has ever had.

His retirement marks the end of an era—one filled with championship banners, individual state titles, and a generosity that defined him as much as his coaching record.

Hasselberg began coaching in 1974, but his influence grew well beyond teaching the fundamentals of the game. For decades, he handed out thousands of golf balls, clubs, and even full sets of gear to kids—many of whom had never swung a club before and made the game accessible to families who otherwise wouldn’t have had the opportunity to play.

A former standout golfer himself, Hasselberg coached four individual state champions (Jody Hagenson in 1983, his daughter Mary Hasselberg in 2001, Andrew Israelson in 2014 and Carter White in 2023), and led the girls’ team to state titles in 1998 and 1999, with a nearly completed the three-peat in 2000. His boys’ teams were also dominant, highlighted by a team championship in 2013.

Already a member of several halls of fame including the Minnesota Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the Minnesota Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Hall of Fame, and the Staples-Motley Athletic Hall of Fame, Hasselberg’s impact can be seen in every free club given, every round played, and every young golfer who felt like they belonged.

“It just felt like the right time,” Hasselberg told the Brainerd Dispatch. “Now it’s someone else’s turn to run with it.”