PGA Minority College Golf Championship alumni profiles

Meet some of the people who played in the PGA Minority College Golf Championship who have gone on to careers in the golf industry.

Brad Story, PGA

Administration – Colonial Golf Course

Meridianville, Alabama

Brad Story, PGA, works in Administration at Colonial Golf Course in Meridianville, Alabama, a suburb of Huntsville, where he was a three-time county champion at Buckhorn High School.

Story attended Wallace State Community College from 2007-‘09, and helped lead the golf team to a 12th place finish in the NJCAA National Tournament. Story transferred to the University of Alabama-Birmingham to continue his collegiate golf career. He left the school to return back home to care for his mother, who was battling Multiple Sclerosis. During that time, he took a job at Colonial, where he started to learn the golf business.

In 2011, with two years of college eligibility left, Story enrolled and played on the golf team at Alabama A&M University, where he took individual medalist honors at the Southwestern Athletic Conference Golf Championships in Alexandria, Louisiana. Story overcame a six-shot deficit in the final round and recorded a six-under 66 to win the title. At the 2011 PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship, he finished 15th in the Individual Division.

After college, Story held PGA Assistant Professional positions at several facilities, including Huntsville (Alabama) Country Club; the Ledges in Huntsville; and most recently, Dallas National Golf Club. In 2015, he was awarded the Youth Player Development Award by the Alabama-Northwest Florida PGA Section, which is given to an individual who is recognized as a leader in junior golf; reflects the ideals of those who work with our nation's youth; and provides opportunities and experiences for juniors to learn and play the game. Story was honored for reaching more than 500 juniors through clinics, events and the creation of the PGA Junior League of Huntsville. He was the first PGA Professional in the Section to implement PGA Junior League Golf. Today, he serves as League Director.

Justin Watkins, PGA

PGA Director of Instruction - Topgolf

Oklahoma City

Justin Watkins is the PGA Director of Instruction at Topgolf in Oklahoma City. He began his collegiate career playing Division II golf at Lincoln University of Missouri, eventually transferring to, and graduating from the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO), where he was enrolled in the PGA Golf Management University Program.

While at UCO, he was awarded the Player of the Year trophy three times and represented the university at the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship—winning the Men's Independent Division title in 2012, and finishing runner-up twice. Watkins also competed in the PGA Jones Cup for five consecutive years—a team stroke-play championship that features players from accredited PGA Golf Management University Programs who are aspiring PGA Professionals –with his best individual finish being 3rd.

Watkins, who has played golf for 25 years, learned the game from his mother, E.J. Johnson, a retired golf instructor. Today, Justin possesses great knowledge of the swing and strives to make learning golf fun and easy. Watkins believes in keeping instruction as simple as possible, while teaching strong fundamentals.

Gavin Parker, PGA

PGA Professional - Robins Junior Golf Academy at Independence Golf Club

Midlothian, Virginia

After learning golf in his youth from the First Tee Program, Gavin Parker of Richmond, Virginia, parlayed his love of the game into a career path. He graduated from Campbell University, earning his Business Degree from the PGA Golf Management University Program in 2015.

Parker was selected to participate in the USGA’s prestigious Boatwright Internship Program through the Middle Atlantic PGA Section. Parker also participated in the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship, where he represented Campbell University twice in the event’s individual competition, finishing tied for 21st in 2013; and tied for 15th in 2015.

Today, Parker works as a PGA Professional working at the Robins Junior Golf Academy at Independence Golf Club in Midlothian, Virginia. He has creatively designed a unique approach for teaching golf while using Gamification Theory. Parker developed the "7 Wonders of Golf,” which includes games such as Battleship (full swing), Pirates (putting), and Dragons (chipping and pitching), in order for the campers to develop both technical golf skills and life skills. They develop these skills by thinking, which leads to creating, and ultimately, their own unique understanding of how to play the game of golf.

Paul Cecil, PGA

PGA Assistant Professional - St. Clair Country Club

Pittsburgh

Paul Cecil is a Class A PGA Professional who graduated from the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore’s (UMES) PGA Golf Management Program in 2014. During the summer, he works as a PGA Assistant Professional at St. Clair Country Club in Pittsburgh. Conversely, during the winter, he works as a PGA Assistant Professional at John’s Island Club in Indian River Shores, Florida. He has also been employed at Columbia Country Club, Sycamore Hills Golf Club and Oakmont Country Club.

During his collegiate golf career at UMES, Cecil played in numerous high-profile tournaments, including the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship in 2011, where his team finished 8th in the Division I competition. Cecil was named to the MEAC Commissioner's All-Academic Team in both 2012 and 2014, while also receiving the Award of Excellence from the School of Business and Technology at the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore.

Michael Ferguson, PGA

PGA Professional - Columbia Country Club

Chevy Chase, Maryland

A three-time participant in the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship, Michael Ferguson’s University of Maryland-Eastern Shore (UMES) team finished 8th in the Division I competition in 2013. In the Individual Division for UMES, Ferguson finished 7th in 2012 and tied for 18th in 2014.

He was also named to the MEAC Golf All-Academic Team and the MEAC Commissioner's All-Academic Team. A Professional Golf Management Major at UMES, where he earned a four-year scholarship, Ferguson graduated in 2014, and upon earning his Class A Certification, became a PGA Member in the Middle Atlantic PGA Section.

He has started his golf career as a PGA Professional at the prestigious Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland.