DOVER, DE – Dr. Alecia Shields-Gadson announced Craig Bowen as the Head Women’s Golf Coach on September 3, 2024. Coach Bowen comes to Delaware State University after being the Head Men’s Golf coach at Chicago State University in 2016.
Craig Bowen was named Head Coach for the Chicago State University men’s golf team on November 1, 2016, after coaching at a pair of NCAA Division II HBCU schools in the South. He arrived in the Windy City after serving as the Assistant Head Coach and Development Officer at Elizabeth City State University in Elizabeth City, N.C., during the 2015-16 season.
He was in charge of player management and development at ECSU while developing and managing all fundraising initiatives for the ECSU Athletic Department in addition to helping the Vikings finish first in the 2016 ECSU Invitational. Prior to ECSU, Bowen was the head coach for the men’s and women’s teams at Benedict College in Columbia, S.C., from 2011-14. He helped the Benedict men’s team capture several tournament victories and placed second in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship meet.
Bowen served as the President of the Black College Golf Coaches Association for the past 7 years creating a viable organization and is now a notable 501c3 under his leadership.
Bowen, a native of Homewood, Ill., is a 40-year veteran of the golf industry including working as a promotions manager for Titleist and Footjoy. He also served as Associate Producer for the documentary “Uneven Fairways“, the story of African American golfers, produced by Moxie Pictures and featuring Samuel L. Jackson and Tiger Woods.
Bowen also worked as chief researcher for the book “Uneven Lies”, a book on African-American golf history written by Pete McDaniel. He also served as Executive Director of the National Minority College Golf Scholarship Fund, as well as an instructor at the PGA Tour Academy located in Ponte Vedra, Fla. Bowen is also a recognized contributor to the continued growth of African-American golf in the World Golf Hall of fame. Bowen has been a longtime advocate for Minority College golf and appeared on HBO Real Sports in 2002 talking about our college golf programs.
Bowen is a graduate of Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., where he was a member of the two-time Southwestern Athletic Conference championship golf team. Bowen has served on numerous
Boards and advisory committees, throughout the golf industry. Bowen last served as president of the black College Golf Coaches Association and made it a viable 501c3 organization. He served for 5 years.
Craig Bowen was born to Charles and Gwen Bowen on September 12, 1965. Currently, he has 2 children Brockton age 28, and works for Pepcico, and a daughter Britten age 23 of Ann Arbor Michigan. Britten Bowen graduated from Ohio State University with 5 Big 10 championships in Track.
Delaware State Athletics would like to officially welcome Coach Bowen. With the support of the athletics department and campus community, we know he will make positive contributions to Delaware State University.
