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Shannon Lipham is a leader. The Troup alum and former LaGrange College golf coach is getting his chance at the big time. Lipham was recently announced as the head men’s golf coach at the University of West Georgia, where he will help the program transition from Division II to Division I.

“They finished up their division two stint last spring and they were a young team, so when I got hired and got started in early August, there was no time for recruiting, so we were kind of building on what was here. There were some freshmen that had been signed initially, and so those freshmen are here,” Lipham said. Year one, It’s about instilling a work ethic, doing the small things to get better and kind of energizing the guys and making them see the big picture of where we need to go forward.

“It’s a beautiful campus. You know, it’s in Carrollton which is a fairly decent-sized town. We’re competing now in a very relevant conference against some wonderful, wonderful golf teams, especially from down in Florida. There’s a lot of attractive things about what’s going on here at the University of West Georgia,” Lipham added.

The Wolves will be playing in the United Athletic Conference for the upcoming season.

The golf program has been steadily getting better for the Wolves. The men’s program reached new heights in 2022 when graduate transfer Austin Fulton won individual medalist honors at the NCAA South/SE Regional to become the first golfer in UWG history to reach NCAA Nationals. The Wolves earned a seventh-place finish at their final appearance in the Gulf South Conference Championships this spring.

“These guys that are here so far, they’ve done a wonderful job, working hard, putting the time in, you know, working out all that kind of stuff. Right now, it’s just about getting better every day,” Lipham said. 

Lipham knows what it takes to win at the Division I level. The former Troup Tiger played at Jacksonville State, earning four letters and graduating with his bachelor’s degree in communications in 2000. Lipham was part of three team tournament wins as a Gamecock and was named to three All-Tournament squads.

Before spending the last three years at LaGrange College, Lipham was the director of golf at Point University. Troup County has been home to Lipham for so long that it was hard to say goodbye, even if he is heading just up the road to Carrollton.

“There’s some of the most wonderful people I’ve ever been around in my life at LaGrange College, people who work very, very hard in the athletic department there to make things happen,” Lipham said. “Athletic Director Terlynn Olds, one of the most amazing people I’ve ever been around in my life. Coach Mel Rushing, Yes, she is the softball coach, but she’s also the Associate Athletic Director and she has been awesome to work with. Working with those people every day prepared me to be able to take this job, take this opportunity, you know, especially on the administrative side.”

Lipham also served as Director of Instruction at Callaway Gardens from 2011-18 and had previous coaching stints at Berry and Georgia Southwestern. The wealth of experience that Lipham has acquired over the years has led him to this moment.

“We are excited to welcome Coach Lipham to the University of West Georgia. During the process of finding our next Head Coach of our Men’s Golf program, Coach Lipham shared his vision for how to advance competitive excellence at UWG,” said Jason Carmichael, Director of Athletics, in a press release. “I am personally looking forward to witnessing his strategic vision for Men’s Golf unfold over the coming years.” 

West Georgia and specifically West Georgia golf is something that Lipham is completely in tune with.

“It’s one of those programs that I’ve always looked at as kind of like a sleeping giant. You know, you look at the history, what their athletic programs have been able to do, you know, they’ve been relevant for a long time. And the golf program has had years where they were pretty dang good,” Lipham said. “It is an area I know really well with them being just 40 miles up the road.”

Ever since Lipham broke into the coaching ranks, it has been a dream to lead a Division I program. Sometimes dreams do come true.

“Most people that are in this business, always dream to coach at the highest level. Now, depending on the sport that you’re in, that would be, the NFL or the NBA, or you know, MLB. But for golf coaches, the highest level is coaching at the Division I level,” Lipham said. “Since I’ve gotten into this business, this has been a dream and now that I have the opportunity to coach at this level it’s a dream come true. There’s no doubt about it. I’ve talked about it for many, many years and I’ve been very fortunate to get this chance.

“I enjoy getting up every morning, coming up here and looking forward to what we’re going to do this fall and then improving this winter, and then teeing it up again in the springtime, in late February, the things we’re going to be able to do putting on the red and blue and representing this university at the highest level is exciting. I just can’t think of anything better.”

Lipham has come a long way since graduating from Troup High in 1995. Nearly 30 years later and he has climbed the coaching ranks to get near the pinnacle of the world of golf and he is still just getting started.