Fayetteville State University Athletics

Andre Springs, a native of Charlotte, NC who has been golfing since the age of 13, made an immediate impact in the sport when he arrived on Fayetteville State’s campus in 1976.

The freshman phenom, who previously attended West Mecklenburg High School, was the first-ever freshman to win the CIAA Golf Individual Champion with a two-day score of 78-75—153. Springs earned NAIA All-American and All-CIAA honors and Most Outstanding Freshman, at the Broncos annual athletics banquet.

Springs would later earn All-CIAA and NAIA All-District 26 honors in 1977 and ’78. He finished third in a sudden-death playoff in ’78 for a fourth All-CIAA honor.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Fayetteville State University in 1979.  After graduation, Springs entered a mini tour for several years before becoming the head coach of the golf team at Livingstone. His program defeated the Broncos in the CIAA Championships three times. The Blue Bears won in 1985 and had back-to-back titles in ’87 and ’88. He won the CIAA Coach of the Year award in ’87 and ’88.

Andre Springs would coach Livingstone to six CIAA titles before departing LC to become the General Manager of the Cleveland Golf Course in Cleveland, Ohio. He would later return to Salisbury to lead the Blue Bears to two more championships in 2015 and 2018. He was named CIAA Coach of the Year again in 2015.
 
In 1990, Springs was the first golfer to be inducted into FSU’s Hall of Fame. Twenty years later, he was inducted as a coach into Livingstone College’s Hall of Fame. He’s also a member of the African-American Golfers Hall of Fame and the CIAA Hall of Fame

A golf teaching professional who once caddied for Hall of Fame Golfer Arnold Palmer and was on a first-name basis with recently deceased golfer Charlie Sifford, the first African-American to play in the Professional Golf Association, or PGA.

Springs’ professional affiliations include the United States Golf Federation and the National Negro Golf Association. He’s also a member of The Par Busters Golf Group, and he’s often asked to conduct golf clinics for children through the 100 Black Men of Charlotte organization.

Springs is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc, and Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity, Inc. Springs is  married to Joy Paige-Springs.