A PVAMU graduate recently accomplished his goal of playing at the top 100 golf courses in the U.S., just one year after retiring from a 33-year-long career at ExxonMobil.

Jimmie James, who graduated from the university in 1984 with a degree in civil engineering, first took up golf at age 45, when he was in the middle of transferring from ExxonMobil’s offices in Fairfax, Va. to the company’s facility in Beaumont.

“The vice president of that part of the company said if I was going back to Texas, I needed to start shooting something, so my wife bought me a set of golf clubs,” he joked.

James first set his sights on achieving this “Century Goal” when he was considering his retirement plans after an intense engineering career. He initially considered playing at two golf courses in every state for 100 golf courses, but after his wife gave him a book about a man who played at the top 100 courses in the world, James set the goal to play at the top-rated golf courses in the U.S. after he retired from his position as Manager of Americas Fuel Operations at ExxonMobil. James noted that his favorite courses included Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.; Cypress Point Golf Club in Pebble Beach, Calif.; Pine Valley Golf Club in Pine Valley, N.J.; Fisher’s Island and Merion Golf Club in Haverford, Delaware.

James remembers his time at PVAMU with fondness, noting  “the small class sizes made for positive personal opportunities to establish good relationships with college professors.”

James highlighted one of his strongest memories of his time at the university, in which he finished a test for civil engineering professor Dr. Yeh. James told Yeh he was looking out for him by giving him an answer key with which to grade other people’s exams. However, when he got his test back, he saw he received a minus 1 point for a 99, which Yeh explained was because he never gave out a 100 percent in his class.

“I thought about this experience during my Century Goal quest, asking myself if I was going to get stuck at 99 and would have to figure out some way to get to 100,” he said.

James began working at ExxonMobil immediately after graduating in 1984. He emphasized the importance of researching companies and building connections before preparing to interview for potential positions.

By Emilia Bento