Alabama State University is one of 10 historically Black colleges and universities involved in the “first tee” of ‘Make Golf Your Thing’ – an event held in the new game room in the John Garrick Hardy Center on Tuesday, Aug. 15 at 10:30 a.m.

The event was preceded by a press conference where Alabama State University President Quinton T. Ross Jr., Ed. D., spoke about the great impact this event could have on the sport of golf moving forward.

“We’re the first to kick off this wonderful initiative that will not only speak to the game of golf but to the business of golf,” Ross said. “All that golf has to offer is just not in a game – it’s in the entirety of the industry, and that’s what’s important about this kickoff today.”

The press conference announced the partnership between Alabama State University and the HBCU Golf Consortium, a group of companies that are determined to encourage students to become involved in the golf industry.

The consortium is an alliance for the White House Initiative on HBCUs, 10 HBCU Presidents, and four of golf’s most important administrators. The initiative is largely funded by ‘Make Golf Your Thing,’ a large partnership of 89 golf organizations. The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America are also major supporters.

Other colleges chosen for the initiative were Benedict College, Bennett College, Paul Quinn College, Bethune-Cookman University, Delaware State University, Florida A&M University, Texas Southern University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Virginia State University.

Golf is a multi-billion dollar industry that, despite its prestige as one of the most popular sports in history, is still lacking in diversity. The event’s purpose was to get more students of color to indulge in the golf business, even if the business they choose does not include necessarily grabbing a club.

Sabrina L. Crowder, Ph.D., assistant vice president of Student Affairs and director of the Office of Career Services, believes that a lot of big deals in corporate America are made on golf courses.

“Only 8.9% of African Americans play golf,” Crowder said. “They’re not in the conversation because they don’t know how to play golf.  You don’t have to be Tiger Woods to be on the green, but at least make sure that you have enough golfing knowledge to be able to go out there and be in those conversations.”

She continues.

“Most of our (U.S.) presidents play golf. A lot of big industry people play golf. Anyone you think about has a golf game. They’re not professional golfers, but they go on these trips to these country clubs where they have a lot of meetings right before tee time.”

According to Crowder, not only will a golf simulator be permanently installed in the gameroom for students to use, but there have been discussions about adding golf to the COBA (College of Business Administration) as a part of the curriculum for certain business majors. Regardless of skill level, the simulator will be open for anyone to use.

“My goal is that we will continue to promote the internships and career opportunities,” Crowder said. “Because we definitely have excellent talent here at Alabama State University, and we have the students who can fill those jobs and do them well, and not only can they do them well, but they can have a great income and live a great lifestyle.”

The event was organized by Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness, Strategic Initiatives and Transformation Tanjula Petty, who wants to make sure that Alabama State University is stationed at the forefront of providing success initiatives for the students.

“It opens up doors and career opportunities for our students,” Petty said. “Not just the golf game, but there are so many careers in the golf industry, specifically for African Americans, that they don’t know about. So they will be exposed not only to curriculum opportunities to help them in their golf careers, but also golf careers themselves with different entities across the country.”

Members of the golf team are equally excited to see golf taken more seriously at Alabama State University due to their passion and dedication to the sport.

“It integrates the golf culture into other students that might not have the access to it,” said sophomore Carmen Fletcher, a female golfer at Alabama State University. “So it gets the sport out into the world.”

Senior golfer Bishop Stringer also holds strong sentiments of pride and excitement about the event and the possible positive ripple effects it will have on the future generation of Alabama State University golfers.

“We want you all to have the same access to golf that we have every day,” Stringer said. “We have tremendous facilities here and all of us love it. We want the student body to know more about what we do. I’ve loved this game since I was eight years old. If you walk up to an ordinary person, they’ll know nothing about it, and I want everyone to know what the game of golf will do for you.”