On September 1, 2011 the Talladega College Athletic Department Men's golf program hired a new coach, Kevin Jennings. Coach Jennings was born in Los Angeles, California and grew up in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The Benton Harbor High School alum is the first African-American to graduate from the Golf Academy of America (San Diego Campus). He played collegiately at St. Augustine's College, and completed his degree requirements for a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a minor in Accounting at Mississippi Valley State University.
In his first two years as Head men’s golf coach at Talladega College Coach Jennings has had three wins, academic accolades and national attention with his recruits. The golf team won the highest team GPA in athletics in the 2012-13 academic year. The Swinging Tornadoes team GPA was 3.88! Three members of the TC golf program had 4.0’s for the year! The recruiting class of the 2012-2013 finished the season (5/27/13) in the Golfstat Freshmen Class Impact Ranking ranked 8th and were ranked 2nd earlier in the season! Coach Jennings has made a direct impact on the Talladega College men’s golf program by improving his first season team stroke average of 334, to 312 in his second year, a difference of 22 shots! His 2012-13 roster was comprised of all freshmen! Coach Jennings will continue to build a competitive program with continued focus on recruiting and academics, along with player and program development.
Coach Jennings comes to Talladega College from Memphis, Tennessee where he was assistant men's and women's golf coach at Christian Brothers University and teaching golf at Quail Ridge Golf Course in Bartlett, Tennessee. Coach Jennings has also been the assistant men's and women's golf coach at Mississippi Valley State University and studied under Rob Akins, top 25 instructor and #1 instructor in the state of Tennessee at Spring Creek Ranch. Spring Creek Ranch, at the time, was the #2 private facility in the state of Tennessee.
Coach Jennings began his teaching career facilitating physical education golf classes while attending St. Augustine's College on a golf scholarship. He then obtained a position as an assistant golf professional /instructor at the Encino/Balboa golf Complex in Encino, California. Coach Jennings also worked as an Associate Golf Instructor for the Pure Shot Golf Academy at the Paiute Golf Resort outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. The owner of the Pure Shot Golf Academy is Jeff Jones, PGA. Mr. Jones has been a Golf Channel featured instructor multiple times and was chosen as "instructor of the year" in the Las Vegas area over Butch Harmon when Tiger was still with Butch! Coach Jennings has also worked with sports psychologist on all facets of the game.
Mr. Jennings has also worked as an assistant golf professional/instructor at De Bell Golf Course in Burbank, California. While at De Bell, Coach Jennings worked full time as an assistant and more than doubled his salary as a golf instructor and playing as a professional. Coach Jennings received full professional sponsorship and played mini-tours and regional professional tournaments prior to moving to Memphis. While serving as the Talladega College men's golf coach he will continue to work with his clientele at Quail Ridge, monthly or bi-monthly and pursue limited professional competition.
Coach Jennings grew up watching some of the best collegiate and amateur players of the time: Jim Holtgrieve, Brad Faxon, Billy Andrade, Scott Verplank, Rocco Mediate and Phil Mickelson and playing at one of North America's best facilities, Point O' Woods Country Club in Benton Harbor, Michigan a Robert Trent Jones, Sr design. The Western Amateur golf tournament is one the most prestigious and largest Amateur Tournaments in the world. Past winners include: Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson, Curtis Strange and Tiger Woods. Coach Jennings feels that his background, knowledge, skills and experiences along with the support of the athletic department and administration will be an excellent recipe for success! GO TORNADOES!
