Former JSU's Shasta Averyhardt ties for 22nd at Qualifying School to earn conditional status on LPGA Tour in 2011

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DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — Two measly strokes in 90 holes were all that kept Flint's Shasta Averyhardt from having full playing privileges on the LPGA Tour next season.

Averyhardt shot 7-over-par 77 Sunday in the final round of Qualifying School on LPGA International's Champions course to fall from a tie for eighth into a tie for 22nd. Averyhardt finished at 4-over-par 364. She would have tied for 20th with a score of 362.

The top 20 players are fully exempt next season while those in Averyhardt's category are exempt into the Monday qualifying tournaments and ...

Bramlett not the only African-American to earn Tour Card for 2011

On Sunday 24-year-old Shasta Averyhardt became the only African-American player to earn status on the LPGA Tour. Averyhardt will be just the fourth African-American woman in the 60 year history of the LPGA Tour to play as a member.

The rookie professional out of Flint, Mich., was on pace to finish inside the fully-exempt top-20 after a round of 67 on Saturday tied her for eighth. Averyhardt struggled through Sunday’s final round conditions but her 79 was good enough to keep her inside the top-30 (T22) and earn her LPGA Tour card through the Priority List Category 16.

Flint's Shasta Averyhardt trying to see bright side after making history at LPGA Tour Q-School

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — Flint's Shasta Averyhardt made LPGA Tour history Sunday despite failing to earn full playing privileges for the 2011 season.

Averyhardt, 24, shot 7-over-par 79 in the fifth and final round of Qualifying School at LPGA International to fall from a tie for eighth into a tie for 22nd with a total of 4-over 364.
The top 20 finishers are fully exempt for 2011 and Averyhardt missed a playoff for the 20th and final spot by two shots.

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Golf successes continue at Jackson State

Now in this 26th season guiding the Jackson State University Golf programs, Eddie Payton is, without question, one of the nation's most successful collegiate golf coach. Payton also coaches his daughter Erica, a JSU junior golfer.

Jackson State golf coach Eddie Payton won his 22nd men's SWAC championship and 14th women's title last week. The women will play in the NCAA regionals May 6-8. The location has not been announced. The men will play in the national minority tournament before heading to the NCAA regionals. The date and location of the minority tournament have not been set. "That means we've done a real good job of recruiting great student-athletes and trying to get them to understand the tradition we're trying to establish," Payton said. "There's certain traits that you look for in people who want to be competitive golfers.

"You have to have a desire to be the best that you can be, then you have to be self-motivated to work on your weaknesses." Payton said his ultimate goal is to play in the NCAA national championship and be the first historically black university to do so. "That's what keeps me at Jackson State," Payton said. "That was my dream and it still is. ... That drives me every year."

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Jackson State's Shasta Averyhardt ousted in semis of Michigan Women's Amateur Golf Championship

EAST LANSING, Michigan — For the first time in four years, the championship match of the Michigan Women's Amateur Golf Championship doesn't include a Flint-area player. Flint's Shasta Averyhardt and Grand Blanc's Ashley Bauer both bowed out of the state's premier amateur event for women in today's semifinals at Walnut Hills Country Club.

Averyhardt, who finished second a year ago, was beaten 1 up in 21 holes by Stephany Fleet of DeWitt while defending champion Laura Bavaird of Grosse Ile eliminated Bauer 1 up. Averyhardt and Bauer were both making their second appearance in the final four. Bauer lost in last year's semifinals to Averyhardt, who fell in the championship match when Bavaird rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.

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