The crowd is silent as he lines up the shot. He lines up his shot, takes aim and swings followed by the crowd’s claps. For DeAndre Diggs, it’s just another day on the golf course.
DeAndre Diggs is finding success at UMES’s golf management program. (Courtesy photo)
The Baltimore native’s days are much different than when he attended Baltimore’s Archbishop Curley High School and Huber Memorial Church. “From when I was younger, my mom pretty much raised me on her own along with my siblings Grant and Samona. We had financial issues every now and then. My house was broken into my sophomore year and not just a year later, the same house burned down in a fire and we lost almost everything of value,” he told the AFRO.
Diggs, and his support system, did not let those setbacks stop him. “Even going through all that, I had people in my corner. There were always people, from my coaches to God, that helped me and my family persevere,” he said. These experiences instilled a sense of unrelenting passion for never giving up. DeAndre channeled that into his golf. This led him to enroll in University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s PGA Golf Management program. The course load is designed to prepare graduates for the rigors of managing a professional golf course.
“I was cut from my first team, but I didn’t really let that stop me. I knew I wanted to play golf. That’s what I wanted to do.” DeAndre currently carries a 4.0 and immerses himself in multitudes of extracurricular activities, including football, basketball, baseball, and chess.
DeAndre received a $100,000 scholarship from The Caves Valley Golf Club Foundation to attend UMES.
UMES is one of 19 universities in the United States with a PGA-approved Golf Management program and the nation’s lone HBCU awarding a bachelor’s degree in that discipline. “UMES’s golf program currently has 45 students. There are 18 universities which offer the Golf Management program.” The Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md., which has been selected as a host venue for numerous USGA, LPGA and NCAA events. The scholarship covers all costs from tuition to textbooks for 5 years and the students/athletes will receive training and lessons from Caves Valley and UMES PGA professionals and staff.
Chris Prosser, coordinator of internships for PGM, said Diggs is doing well in the program. “He’s a great person, one of our best students and freshman. Anytime DeAndre has a question, he is at the office asking that question and ready to learn and grow. I actually had opportunity to see him play at his last tournament and his skills are progressing nicely, where they need to be.”
Billy Dillon, associate professor and director of the golf program, added, “He is an excellent student and is always working on his game, constantly improving. He’s very dedicated to improving himself which is rare to find in an 18-year old.”
DeAndre’s experiences have created a strong drive in him to help others. “Just having people in my corner really helped me when I was down, that’s how I knew what I wanted to be, I don’t want to be just a pro golfer, I want to be a guy that can use what I have learned and will learn to help the people around me.”