Parents Stacey and Micah Jackson, with daughter Myah, joined Isaiah Jackson last week as he signed a golf scholarship with Meridian Community College.

By Bart Moss for the FCT

Red Bay High School senior Isaiah Jackson signed a golf scholarship with Meridian Community College in Meridian, Miss., Friday. Meridian is the top-ranked Junior College golf program in the nation.

“I just want to thank God for the blessing he has given to me, which is being able to play the sport I love after high school,” said Jackson. “It’s been a great journey, not only for me, but my family and my golf instructors, Mickey Smith in Birmingham and Jim Lovett. I’m so thankful for the scholarship I have received to help pay for education. I’m super excited to get down there and play golf and start my college career. Getting a golf scholarship has been a goal of mine since the seventh grade.”

Jackson, the son of Micah and Stacey Jackson, is a highly-accomplished golfer, and he credits his dad’s participation in golf programs as his catalyst in the sport.

“My dad was the golf coach at Russellville for two years; I would go with them everywhere,” Jackson reflected.  “They made it to the state championships both years he was there, so I was around it a lot at a young age.  When my dad would come home from work, we would hit plastic golf balls in our front yard until dark. So I guess that’s what drew me to the game.”

He has participated in the Alabama High School Athletic Association State Championships every year since seventh grade. His seventh and eighth grade year he qualified with the Red Bay High School team. His ninth, tenth and eleventh grade years he qualified as an individual. He won the Alabama sub-state tournaments in 2014 and 2015.

Because he lives just across the state line in Golden, Miss., he has many personal accomplishments on the links in Mississippi. He has been selected to Team Mississippi two straight years for the Southern State Junior Cup Match.

In 2011 and 2012, Jackson had 11 top ten finishes on the Coca-Cola Junior Tour. In 2013 he had seven top-ten finishes on the Mississippi Junior Golf Association Tour. In 2014 and 2015 he had ten top-ten finishes in the SJGT and MJGA tournaments.

Recently, Jackson won the Capitol Hill Junior Tournament in Montgomery, finished first in the Pros of Tomorrow Tupelo Country Club Tournament and won the Sonny Andrews Invitational at Cleveland Community College.

In 2014, Isaiah qualified and played in the 67th U.S. Junior Amateur Championships in Woodland, Texas.

“I feel like qualifying for the Junior Amateur’s in Texas was has been my top accomplishment thus far,” said Jackson. “It was a great experience.”

Golf is a goal-setting sport, and Jackson still has his eyes set on some pretty big prizes.

“I want to improve my game every day and hopefully get a scholarship to play golf at Mississippi State and qualify for the PGA Tour. I want golf to be my profession more than anything, and the process begins right now.”