It is my mission to advise junior golfers on how they can find the right college golf program based on their goals, post more consistent and lower scores by developing all areas of their golf game, while also sharing life skills that will allow them to be successful both during and after college.
Jonathan is a student of the game and is passionate about serving others. His genuine kindness and willingness to share his experience with our family has been an invaluable resource for Trace as a person and golfer.
– Dale Crowe, father of Professional Trace Crowe
My journey in golf...
I started my journey in golf when my father and PGA Professional Life Member, Bo Bowden, placed a golf club in my hands as a child after being born in Valdosta, GA. I began playing competitive golf at age 7 alongside my younger brother Daniel in Pensacola, FL. My loving parents provided me ample opportunities to pursue my love for sport and competition, whether enrolled in karate, gymnastics, little league baseball, church and recreation league basketball, followed by middle school and high school golf. Playing multiple sports in general provided me an outlet to showcase the natural athleticism and competitiveness that runs throughout my family. With Daniel and I only being separated in age by 15 months I was fortunate to always have a talented "sparing partner" whose athletic gifts required me to bring my "A" game any time that we competed head to head (or as members of the same team). I shared an equal amount of love for baseball, basketball, and golf throughout middle school, but as my skills and curiosity with golf continued to develop I began to focus solely on improving as I attended Easley High School. As I made steady strides with the development of my game during high school with the help of others I decided that I would like to continue to play competitive golf while earning a college degree. I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to compete for Furman University as a team captain while earning a degree in Business Administration.
After a successful amateur and college career as a Furman Paladin from 2005 to 2009 (securing a runner-up finish and having several top 10 and 20 finishes while a team captain during my final two years) I decided to use my playing experience and the coaching knowledge that my father had passed along to me to begin coaching college golf in the summer of 2012. From 2012 to 2013, I was the assistant coach alongside the Division III men's and women's teams at Washington and Lee University. I quickly discovered that coaching college golf was almost as gratifying to me as competing as a college golfer. During my first season as a coach I had the opportunity to learn what it meant to successfully support a head golf coach, talented student-athletes, and excited junior golf families during the recruiting process. In the years that followed, I was grateful to accept positions as the men's assistant coach at Coastal Carolina University in 2014, an assistant golf professional role at Green Valley Country Club (Greenville, SC) in 2016, then the men's and women's assistant coach at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington from 2017 to 2022.
Jonathan's Collegiate Coaching Accomplishments include:
Coached at four universities as an Assistant Golf Coach - Washington and Lee University, The University of Memphis, Coastal Carolina University, The University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW)
Bowden’s UNCW men's and women's teams recorded 12 team titles and 10 individual titles over 5 seasons (2017-2022) despite having just 3 full seasons of play (2019-2020 & 2020-2021 shortened due to Covid)
Guided the Seahawk men's team to 3 consecutive NCAA Regional berths from 2018-2021 (2018 Bryan Regional, 2019 Athens Regional, 2021 Noblesville Regional) and 4 NCAA berths total between the UNCW men's and women's program (2019 Norman Regional). Guided The University of Memphis men's golf program to an NCAA Regional berth in 2014
Coached five men's players to Top 50 Golfstat National Ratings (Segundo Oliva Pinto – 12th, Blake McShea – 29th, Christofer Rahm – 44th, Patrick Cover – 48th, Lars van Meijel - 35th)
Bowden’s UNCW men's team set the program record with the 8th best National Scoring Rating in Division I Golf during the 2020-21 season
3 CAA Conference Championship titles - 2017-2019 - UNCW Men’s Golf (’18 & ‘19) & UNCW Women’s Golf (‘19)
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Coached 3 teams earning 14 tournament wins - The University of Memphis (2) UNCW Men & UNCW Women (12)
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3 CAA Conference Champions at UNCW - L. Anderson (‘18), P. Khine (’19), S. Oliva Pinto (’19)
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Coached 12 individual tournament medalists - Univ. of Memphis (2) and UNCW (11)
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UNCW Men’s Golf Records: 1 CAA Player of the Year - 4 NCAA Regional Appearances -10 Team Wins - 34 Team Top-5 Finishes - 57 Team Top 10 Finishes - 9 Individual Wins - 37 Individual Top-5 Finishes - 68 Individual Top-10 Finishes - 12 All-Conference Selections - 14 UNCW Men's Golf Letter-winners - 12 GCAA All-American Scholars - GCAA All-Academic Team - 2018, 2019, 2021 - GCAA All-Region - (2019) Segundo Oliva Pinto - 1 CAA Freshman of the Year (2019: Segundo Oliva Pinto) - 8 CAA Golfers Of The Week - 1 CAA Freshmen Of The Week - 3.6 Team GPA
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UNCW Women’s Golf Records: 15 WGCA All-American Scholars - 5 CAA All-Tournament Team Players - 5 All CAA First Team Players
Throughout my collegiate coaching career, I discovered that what I enjoyed most about coaching college golf was providing scholarship opportunities to junior golf families and helping my players improve all aspects of their golf games each season. I have also had the opportunity to mentor junior golfers by coaching junior golfers one-on-one, being involved with junior golf camps, The First Tee of Wilmington, and as a member of several junior golf Q&A panels. I am excited to make the transition from coaching college golfers to coaching junior golf families on how to best navigate the college recruiting process in an ever-changing world. I believe that if junior golfers take the necessary steps throughout middle and high school they will provide themselves the best opportunity to flourish as they begin to compete at the college level. I look forward to continuing to give back to golf and serve others who enjoy the game after everything it has given me.
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I begin a new journey in golf...
NXT Level Golf is the culmination of my passion for growing the game of golf. I'm so excited to be able to partner with junior golf families who share the same passion for the game and who have been in search of guidance when it comes to finding the best college golf experience for the son. When a young adult's social, academic, and athletic needs are closely aligned throughout their college experience then their future success as an adult is without limits.
For over 30 years, I have either been preparing to play Division I college golf, coaching junior and college golfers, recruiting talented golfers from around the world to play college golf, or caddying for top-ranked amateur and professional golfers.
Before starting a career in coaching, I attended Furman University, located in Greenville, SC, to study Business Administration and play four years of college golf. In the years following my collegiate playing career, I have had the opportunity to coach hundreds of golfers both young and old, while also developing his coaching knowledge by learning from several top instructors (including his father Bo Bowden) across the United States, coaches like Daniel Gray, Dana Dahlquist, Paul Woodberry, Steven Boo, James Oh, James Sieckmann, Mike Bender, and Sean Foley.
Over the past 20 years, I have been fortunate to have taught over 500 lessons and to develop a successful junior development program that has produced many junior, college, and professional champions. I have coached athletes that have attended and competed for Auburn University, Wofford College, Furman University, USC Upstate, Anderson University, Limestone College, Columbia International University, The University of South Carolina, Michigan State, and more. Athletes I have coached have participated in many of the most prominent amateur golf tournaments including the 2017, 2018, and 2019 NCAA National Championships, the 2018, 2019, 2021 NCAA Regionals Tournament, and the 2010, 2016, 2017, and 2022 USGA Men's U.S. Amateur Championship.
Jonathan utilizes TPI, Trackman, Sportsbox 3D Golf, Blast Golf, SAM PuttLab, and CoachNow training technology to help his athletes improve all aspects of their golf game.
I partner with not only the athlete, but all members of his or development team, including trainers, coaches, instructors, and sports psychologists. I also partner with several collegiate teams to help coaches understand the individual players on the team and how to better motivate them and communicate with them; I work with each athlete to help them develop their self-awareness and manage their natural tendencies.
My focus is on taking what is natural for the athlete, and helping that person learn how to use that to his or her advantage. Self-awareness is a big part of a competitor's development and understanding why the athlete makes the decisions they do and perform the way they do is essential when trying to improve. Without understanding why, it simply becomes trial and error, and that learning curve tends to be much longer and more frustrating for all.
By providing several comprehensive College Recruiting Programs and Performance Coaching Programs, I have the opportunity to guide young male golfers towards the best college golf program and also share with them life, personal, and professional skills that they can take with them even after graduation. The ability to have a positive impact on others while passing along the many lessons golf teaches all of us is why I love this new journey in golf.
