Erica Payton fell in love with the game of golf when she was about three or four years old. It’s in her DNA. She said her father, Eddie Payton, who founded Jackson State University’s golf program, would take her as a child to the driving range and teach her the sport. Not only did she learn the game, but she also saw Black women golfers playing competitively.
“It was probably the best thing I think he could have done at that age,” said Payton.
Fast forward to now, Payton is following in her father’s footsteps. The lifelong golf player was recently named the head coach of Clark Atlanta University’s first-ever women’s golf team, the school’s 11th NCAA varsity sport.
This new opportunity comes as data reveals a growing number of women and girls are playing golf, a 45% increase since 2020, according to the National Golf Foundation. That’s a surge of 2.5 million, which equates to more than 8.11 million women and girls playing golf. This marks the highest participation count on record for women and girls golfers. In fact, the growth has positioned female players to outpace their male counterparts.
“I know that my opportunity and my introduction to this sport was unique in that my dad was a golf coach,” said Payton on Monday’s edition of “Closer Look.” “He spent a lot of time on the golf course. I was around people that played golf, and I was introduced to the sport at a very young age, but I know that that’s a unique experience, especially at the time that I was coming up playing golf. And so, I’m hoping that with the growth of the sport, it’s not as unique and there’s not this 1%. It’s growing and it’s growing fast.”
