Chris Force (2023) - Hall of Fame - Troy University Athletics

Chris Force

Induction:
2023

Troy Athletics is home 11 national championship teams throughout the course of its history. Chris Force is responsible for coaching three of those teams, the most of any coach in school history.

Force, who didn’t pick up the game of golf until he was a student at then Troy State, led the Trojans to NCAA Division II National Championships in 1984, 1986 and 1989, in addition to leading Troy to a runner-up performance at the 1982 AIAW National Tournament.

“Chris was an amazing coach, and he had a lot of success during his time at Troy,” Troy University Sports Hall of Fame member Collin McCrary said. “He took up golf in the early 80s because of a golf class taught at the university, and he was hooked immediately. He began working in the Trojan Oaks Golf Course and became involved with Coach Mike Griffin and the men’s team before becoming the women’s head coach.”

One of the most impressive accomplishments for Force came in how quickly he adapted to the sport. In less than 10 years, he went from a golf novice to a PGA Class A professional, all while leading Troy to three national championships.

“To go from a beginning golfer to a Class A professional and passing the player ability tests in a 10-year timeframe is an amazing feat in itself,” McCrary said. “He worked really hard, studied the game and became truly passionate about golf. Chris engrossed himself, set himself a goal and didn’t let anything stop him.”

Force led the Trojans to their first national title in 1984 in just his fourth season as head coach and followed with two more titles. In addition, three Trojans earned All-America honors during his coaching tenure.

“I used to go and practice at Trojan Oaks with Chris quite a bit and played in a couple of tournaments with him as a partner; we were’ good friends,” McCrary said. He was a really nice guy, strongly opinionated and always first class in how he approached people and did things.”

With no official NCAA Division II for women’s golf, Troy competed most of the 1984 season against teams from the NCAA Division I level before the Golf Coaches Association formed the Division II National Championship in 1984. Troy took advantage of the newly-formed opportunity and shot three straight rounds of 307 to claim the National Championship.

During their regular season schedule, the Trojans were eighth out of 16 teams at the Troy-hosted Hudson Industries Invitational that featured the likes of Alabama, Florida State, Mississippi State and Penn State.

In 1986, Troy rallied from a 10-stroke deficit on the final day of the 1986 Golf Coaches Association Division II National Championship to win the program’s second National Championship in three seasons.

The Trojans once again competed against one of the toughest schedules in the country with the LSU Invitational, Duke Invitational and South Carolina Invitational filled with Division I teams on the slate.

Thanks to a challenging schedule loaded with Division I opponents, Troy returned to the pinnacle of their sport in 1989, winning its third Golf Coaches Association Division II National Championship in Fayetteville, N.C., under Force.

The No. 1 ranked team throughout most of the season, Troy was the lone Division II school to compete at a handful of events throughout the season – Florida State Invitational, Memphis State Lady Tiger Invitational, the LSU Invitational and Troy’s Hudson Industries Invitational held in Eufaula. The Trojans made their mark by finishing 12th in a field of 18 teams (all Division I) at the Tiger-Tide Invitational in Destin, Fla.

Following his Troy career, Force coached professionally and was general manager at Willow Creek Golf Club in Spartanburg, S.C., until his death from cancer in 2010.