Swarthmore College Athletics

Jim Heller, the 2012 and 2017 Centennial Conference Coach of the Year, has guided the Swarthmore golf program since the 2005-06 season. The Garnet have recorded 10 top-four finishes at the Centennial Conference Championships since then, including second-place finishes in 2007, 2012 and 2017.

Heller was awarded the Golf Coaches Association of America Service Award in 2019.

In 2017, the Garnet recorded the program's best three-round score at the Centennial Championships with an 897 (303-295-299) and finished four strokes away from a tie for first. The Garnet were led by All-Conference performances from Vamsi Damerla (second) and Dan Altieri (fourth). During the fall season, the Garnet set program records for the best team round with a 285 (+1) as well as the best individual round with Nick DiMaio scoring a 67 (-4) at Bent Creek Country Club.

In 2016, Heller coached Damerla to the Rookie of the Year Award at the Centennial Championships.
 
In 2012, three members of the team – senior Paul Weston and freshmen Andrew Park and Amanda Beebe – earned all-conference honors while Weston became just the second golfer in program history to finish tied for first place individually at the tournament. The Garnet reached the GCAA National Rankings for the first time ever that spring after placing in the top three of the team standings at the Dickinson Invitational, McDaniel Invitational and Messiah Falcon Classic.
 
During the 2011 fall season, the Swarthmore golf team set both the team and individual program records. The team shot a record low 294 in the Immaculata Invitational while sophomore Jeff Wall set the individual round record, shooting a 69 in the Swarthmore Invitational.
 
The Garnet golf team rose to new heights in 2007 by finishing in a tie for second at the Centennial Conference Championships, which was the best showing in school history at the time. Two Swarthmore golfers - Zach Moody and Eric Zwick - were named All-Centennial while Zwick was also named the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Performer of the Year. 
 
Heller has had 10 student-athletes combine for 14 All-Centennial selections. This included Eric Zwick in 2006 and 2007, Zach Moody in 2007, Alex Nichamin in 2009, Paul Weston in 2010, 2011 and 2012 as well as Andrew Park in 2012 and 2015, Amanda Beebe in 2012, Vamsi Damerla in 2016 and 2017, Dan Altieri in 2017 and 2018 and Nick DiMaio 2019.
 
A resident of Glen Mills, Pa., Heller spent 10 years prior to coming Swarthmore as the head golf coach, freshmen girls' basketball coach and voluntary assistant athletic director, at nearby Springfield (Delaware County, Pa.) High School.
 
Heller, a long-time member of the Springfield Police Department, retired in 1995 after over 24 years of service. He is also a full-time member at Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield.

Centennial Conference Championship Finishes By Year