Until two years ago, Duane Bean had no interest in coaching high school golf. Things changed in a hurry.
First, he was hired to coach the Langley Saxons girls club team the past two seasons. Then on Dec. 5, Bean, 40, was officially told he was chosen to replace long-time Langley coach Al Berg as the school’s head co-ed coach. He takes over a Langley co-ed team that has been the most accomplished of any highest-enrollment classification squad in the history of Virginia High School League golf competition.
Berg’s teams won nine state titles, eight region championships and more than a dozen district crowns. This past season, Langley won district and region titles, before having its string of winning seven straight state crowns snapped. Multiple Langley individual players won district, region and state titles under Berg.
Berg became head coach in 1996 and retired at the end of this past fall’s season.
Taking over, Bean wants the Langley program to continue that type of success.
“This is a very unique situation, because everyone in the state of Virginia involved with high-school golf respects and likes Al Berg,” Bean said. “He is the standard in Northern Virginia high-school golf and the state. We want to keep the program and the same legacy on the path he created.”
Bean already knows many of the Langley players because of his involvement with the girls team.
Bean is a good golfer himself. Having never taken a lesson, the self-taught golfer plays to a +4 handicap and regularly competes in many amateur tournaments. He played high-school golf growing up near Scranton, Pa., when his game was still developing.
After a stint in the U.S. Army, Bean eventually moved to Virginia, and lives in Lovettsville. As his golf game improved, he began exploring the opportunities to coach high-school golf.
Bean applied for openings at Madison High as the co-ed head coach and at Langley as the girls club coach at the same time. The timing and hiring of the Langley position worked out first.
Langley’s girls club team was highly successful under Bean, winning the majority of its matches and tournaments.
“There are a lot of good golfers in the Langley community and we don’t want them to be afraid to come out for the team,” Bean said.
