College golf: LC’s Springs selected for induction into National Black Golf HOF

Published 4:59 am Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Livingstone College Athletics

 

Interim Athletics Director and head men’s golf coach, Andre Springs has been selected for induction into the National Black Golf Hall of Fame.

The Induction Ceremony & Banquet will be held on Saturday, Sept  16, 2023, at 7 PM at the Omni Hotel which is also our host hotel, in Atlanta.
Springs will join a list of other inductees who have made golf history including Joe Louis, Teddy Rhodes, Renee Powell, Calvin Peete, Jim Thorpe, Arnold Palmer, and many others.

Springs became the first freshman to win the CIAA (Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) Golf Championship in addition to being named FSU’s Most Outstanding Freshman.

He was also honored as a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletic (NAIA) All- American and All-CIAA Tournament team member. As the most valuable player for three consecutive years, Springs assisted his team to four consecutive CIAA Team Golf Championships.

The Fayetteville Observer credited him with the title of “Mr. CIAA Golfer”. Springs earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Fayetteville State University in 1979. In 1990, Springs was the first golfer to be inducted into FSU’s Hall of Fame and the first student-athlete of his class.

Coach Springs has served as the Men’s Golf Coach for twenty years where his teams won eight CIAA Golf Championships and three National Minority Golf Championships. His teams had five NCAA appearances.
The men’s golf team won the CIAA Conference Academic Award in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2020. He received Golf Coach of the Year for the CIAA in 1986, 1987, 2015, and 2022. Coach Springs and the 1989 Men’s Golf team were inducted into the Livingstone College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012.

Andre Springs and his partner Larry Frost were the first two black golfers to win the Labor Day Four-Ball Invitational golf tournament at the prestigious Salisbury Country Club.
In addition to the FSU and Livingstone College Hall of Fames, Coach Springs has been inducted into the CIAA Hall of Fame, the African-American Golfers Hall of Fame, and the Sports Wall of Fame by Mecklenburg County. His professional affiliations include the United States Golf Teachers Federation and the National Negro Golf Association.

The mission of the National Black Golf Hall of Fame, Inc. founded in 1986 by Harold Dunovant, is to “recognize and honor the contributions of black golfers for their skills and, to honor persons, regardless of race or ethnicity, who have done the most to promote golf in the black communities.” The NBGHF Board of Directors is proud to add Andre Springs to its membership.