Written by Jackson Keenan, Editior

On Friday, Oct. 17, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor hosted a dedication ceremony for the Jane and Mac Hickerson Golf Club. 

The event drew numerous guests, including two-time Masters winner Ben Crenshaw, who helped design the course. 

UMHB President Randy O’Rear opened the event with a speech highlighting the success of both golf teams this season the men’s team ranked No. 3 and the women’s team ranked No. 13 in the nation. O’Rear also thanked the key figures who helped create the golf club and build the UMHB golf program into what it is today, including former men’s golf coach Mac Hickerson and his wife, Jane Hickerson. 

“Mac, we could not be more thrilled to honor your service to Mary Hardin-Baylor and the golf program, along with Jane’s, by naming this the Jane and Mac Hickerson Crusader Golf Club. We love you, we’re so honored, and thanks for letting us put your name on it,” O’Rear said. 

After his speech, O’Rear and others participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the clubhouse, allowing guests to tour the new facility. The clubhouse includes locker rooms, offices, a club repair and wash station, two TrackMan simulators, and an outdoor putting green. Graduate student and sports management major Izzy Crow described just how special the new golf facility is for the teams. 

“This just gives us a home base, which is really nice. It’s just like with the soccer team, the baseball team, basketball, volleyball — they all have a place to call home. They have a court to play on. So this is kind of our home away from home,” Crow said. 

Along with the Conner Performance Center, the teams’ practice course, called The Mac, features 22 tee boxes, four greens, and a lighted chipping green. The university also hired a top-of-the-line groundskeeper, making it one of the nicest courses in Central Texas, according to Crow. 

“The actual course is just phenomenal. The greens are great. The fairways, the tee boxes, everything is just amazing. It’s better than any course around here. I’d say the next nicest course around here would be in Austin, so it’s awesome,” Crow said. 

That sentiment is shared by other members of the golf team, such as sophomore speech communication major Liam Odell. 

“We are so incredibly blessed. I mean, whenever I was being recruited and they told me about all this, the course wasn’t done yet. The clubhouse, I didn’t even really know what was going on with it. And now that it’s all done, it’s just incredible,” Odell said. 

For UMHB, this project is further proof of the university’s continuing effort to build some of the best facilities in the nation in pursuit of national championship aspirations. 

“If you have championship goals like we do at UMHB, best-in-class facilities are important, and now we have them for our golf program,” O’Rear said.