Alabama State University Women's Golf

Quincy Heard, a Montgomery (Ala.) native, begins his third season as the head coach of the men’s and women’s golf program at Alabama State. His first season was cut short due to COVID-19 during the 2019-20 season. He comes back to Montgomery after serving on the West Coast, teaching the game of golf. He was brought from the south to the west coast by the US Navy. His first station was in San Diego, CA, but his ship was stationed in the dry docks at Swan Island in Portland. After serving in the US Navy, he returned to Portland and tried out a myriad of jobs in hopes of finding a career. He started his golf career in Player Services at Langdon Farms GC in Aurora, OR. With the encouragement of PGA Professional Robert M. Clark, Quincy was working as an Assistant Golf Professional within three months. He entered the PGA of America in 1998 as a Novice with no experience in golf. After years of hard work and dedication, he passed the PAT in 2001 and entered the Golf Professional Training Program (now the PGA Professional Golf Management Program) the following year. This turned out to be a career in coaching youth and golf leadership. When Quincy was elected to PGA membership in 2006, he was promoted to Executive Director for PYGA, which was also designated as a First Tee program. In 2011, Quincy Heard, along with Kelly Hartley and Denise Shorthouse, created Summit Golf Foundation (SGF). SGF is designed to equip and challenge young people, particularly youth in the foster care system, to excel in life. The directors and volunteers at SGF teach positive character traits along with golf skills and course etiquette to youth in the greater Vancouver/Portland metro area. In 2012, Quincy took on the added the responsibilities of the Men’s and Women’s Head Golf Coach at Warner Pacific College. Recently, at the end of 2016, Quincy was selected for the PGA LEAD Class of 2017-18, along with Robyn Lorain. Quincy counts among his many accomplishments helping hundreds of youth matriculate to college with athletic scholarships and a 100% success rate of high school graduation.    

Robert Clark brings over 40 years experience to the Alabama State University golf programs. He is a gifted swing coach that is a major contributor to the success of the men’s and women’s teams at ASU. Clark has been with the Hornets and Lady Hornets golf program since 2011. The Lady Hornets have won the SWAC Conference Championship in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, and 2024 and the men have won SWAC Championships in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.   Clark’s golf career started in 1965, working up to being accepted as a Pro Golf Association of America apprentice in 1993, under the tutelage of PGA Professional Byron Wood. He was elected as a member of the PGA of America in 1993, becoming the first African American PGA Professional in the state of Oregon.   After just one year of being a professional, Clark founded the Portland Youth Golf Association (PYGA); a PGA-recognized golf school.  This was a golf school aimed to give the children of Portland a chance to live out their golfing dreams.   PYGA teaches four principles:  Life Skills, Character Development, Academic Success, and GOLF. For the next 17 years, the volunteer instructors, teachers, and I serviced the youth of Portland. His professional peers in the Pacific Northwest Section PGA voted him the JUNIOR GOLF LEADER OF THE YEAR from 2000-2005.  He also mentored the second African American PGA Professional Oregon and current Alabama State Head Golf Coach, Quincy Heard.   Clark graduated from Central Catholic High School in Toledo, Ohio, and on to attend the University of Toledo for two years before transferring to Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, earning his B.S. degree in education degree.   During multiple careers, he taught 6th grade in Toledo for a couple of years, worked at A&P Food Corporation; the largest food chain in the world at the time, General Electric Corporation, Owens Corning Fiberglass, Ruben H. Donnelly Adverting Corporation, The Principal /Financial Group and Horace Mann Insurance Corporation.   Clark started playing golf in 1965, and after four years passed, his scores were good enough that he felt to become a professional golfer.   Established in 2004, The African American Legacy Project of Northwest Ohio is a 501(c)3 organization that pledges to stimulate intellectual, socioeconomic, and participatory growth in communities wherein African Americans reside.  

Grandison has elevated and transformed the Alabama State golf programs into the gold standard in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. In the past five seasons, the Hornets have combined to win eight league championships. The women's team has won four titles in five seasons, including the past three years. The men's program has won the last four SWAC titles. Alabama State has also earned low medalist honors in seven of the eight championships. Janelle Kraakman in women's play and Branson Ferrier in men's play have each earned low medalist honors in each of the past three championships. The program's national stature continues to grow as well. Robert Grant won back-to-back individual titles at the prestigeous PGA Minority Collegiate Championship in Port St. Lucie, Fla. This past season, the women's program competed in first-time events at the University of Hawaii and Ole Miss, while the men's program debuted at St. Johns.  Grandison, an eight-time SWAC Coach of the Year, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from Alabama State University in 1997, the same year he served as the golf teams captain and won the G.H. Lockhart Award.  He also obtained a MSS degree and DSM degree from the United States Sports Academy. Completing his eighth season as the head of the program in which he competed in, Dr. Gary Grandison has elevated and transformed the Alabama State golf programs into the gold standard in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. In the past five seasons, the Hornets have combined to win eight league championships. The women's team has won four titles in five seasons, including the past three years. The men's program has won the last four SWAC titles. Alabama State has also earned low medalist honors in seven of the eight championships. Janelle Kraakman in women's play and Branson Ferrier in men's play have each earned low medalist honors in each of the past three championships. The program's national stature continues to grow as well. Robert Grant won back-to-back individual titles at the prestigeous PGA Minority Collegiate Championship in Port St. Lucie, Fla. This past season, the women's program competed in first-time events at the University of Hawaii and Ole Miss, while the men's program debuted at St. Johns.