The once dominant Jackson State men’s and women’s golf program that had been dormant for years is returning, the school announced.
“With the support of President Anthony, we’re bringing men’s and women’s golf back. We had a great tradition here. Coach Eddie Payton won over 30 championships in the golf program, so this is huge for Jackson State,” said athletic director Ashley Robinson.
The move brings JSU to 18 athletic programs.
Women’s golf at Jackson State was started in 1994 under Payton, which won 14 women’s Southwestern Athletic Conference titles and became the first HBCU golf program to appear in the NCAA tournament. The men’s team won 25 SWAC titles, including 23 straight from 1989 to 2011. The team during that period became the first HBCU to make the NCAA regional tournament.
That was until the school decided to suspend men’s and women’s golf — one of its most consistently successful programs — in 2017, a year after Payton announced his retirement in 2016.
Tim O’Neal, AJ Montecinos, Shasta Averyhardt, and Clay Myers are some of the standouts who went on to have professional golf careers during Payton’s tenure.
