University of South Alabama Athletics

South Alabama women’s golf benefits from the knowledge its head coach has gained from experience in the college and professional game. TJ Jackson, heading into his 14th season as head coach of the Jags, graduated from the collegiate ranks as a Jaguar and Sun Belt Conference champion in 1987 and played professionally from 1989-94.

“Patience is a key aspect of golf and coaching,” Jackson said. “The girls all have different personalities and trying to figure out what works best for each individual to benefit the team is the most important part. We try to identify each player’s strengths and weaknesses and then we structure our practices accordingly.”

Jackson returned to South Alabama in the summer of 2000 and has seen the program flourish over the past 13 years. Along with success on the course the Lady Jags have posted high GPAs in the classroom. The 2005-06 team finished third in the nation with a team GPA of 3.65 and had three members named to the National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) All-American Scholar team.

The 2006-07 team finished with the nation’s highest team GPA (3.799) and six Lady Jags had GPAs over 3.5. In 2007-08, the Jaguars again finished with the nation’s highest team GPA (3.734) to earn their second consecutive NGCA All-Scholar Team GPA Award. The 2008-09 squad ranked third nationally in team GPA with a final average of 3.748 to mark the fourth consecutive season the Jaguars ranked in the top three nationally in team GPA.

Additionally, South Alabama earned the Sun Belt Conference Team Academic Award for three consecutive seasons from 2006-09. Shirley Harvey, a four-year letterwinner at USA from 2005-09, became the program’s first CoSida Academic All-American when she received the honor following the 2008-09 academic year.

In the past eight seasons, Jackson has coached 26 student-athletes who earned NGCA All-American Scholar honors. Additionally, Jackson has coached four all-Sun Belt Conference student-athletes who have been honored eight times.

“The girls have put forth a tremendous effort in the classroom and have been recognized accordingly and deservedly so,” Jackson said. “We take pride in achieving academic success so there may be times when we are flexible with practice to allow for extra time academically.  Being a student-athlete means that it is essential to balance your sport with your class demands and our players have done this very well over the years.”

Jackson led South Alabama to a third-place finish at the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Championship, which marked the program’s highest finish at the conference tournament since the Jaguars took third place in 1998. In the final round of last year’s SBC Championship, South Alabama shot a school-record even-par 288, which marked the lowest team round since 2006 when the Jags shot a 1-over par 289 to open the season.

Before coaching at South Alabama, Jackson’s professional career spanned five years from which he garnered a wealth of knowledge. Over his career, he had six top-10 finishes, including a career-best sixth-place finish, all on the tour now know as the NGA Hooters Tour.

“My game has changed so much through the years because I relied mostly on feel growing up,” Jackson said. “As I entered a professional career, I began to understand more about technique and the importance of a proper swing. My challenge now is to communicate to our team what I’ve learned so that they can continue to improve.”

As a Jaguar in college, Jackson brought the men’s program its first individual conference championship in 1987. He played the 1986-87 season for USA after transferring from Spring Hill College where he lettered for one season. Jackson played his first two years of collegiate golf at Kentucky.

His high school career spanned four years at Davidson High School in Mobile where he teamed with Greg Jones, future USA teammate and head men’s coach of the program from 1993-99. Jackson and Jones helped the school win a state title in 1982. Jackson won the state individual title in 1981 and 1982.

Jackson graduated with a degree in English from South Alabama in 1989. He is married to the former Juliana Millette of Pascagoula, Miss. They have three children:   daughter, Jordan and twin boys Luke and Lane.