Historically black college and university athletics have become more prevalent in recent years, largely in part due to NFL legend Deion Sanders and his work with Jackson State’s football team. On the golf side, Howard has shown over just two years what can be accomplished when resources and opportunities are paired with hard work.
According to a Black Golf Directory listing, 31 HBCUs have golf programs spanning NCAA Divisions I, II and NAIA. Eleven schools have both a men’s and women’s program, 19 are men only while Delaware State is the lone school to have just a women’s team.
“I would double that number. If you go back to the early 90s, at least double that amount,” Black College Golf Coaches Association (BCGCA) board member Jamila Johnson said of how many HBCUs used to offer golf programs. After a recession of lost programs over the years, the tide is beginning to turn as HBCU popularity continues to grow. Now the focus is on making these positive changes a movement, not just a moment.
Johnson’s mother, Selina, started the Hollywood Golf Institute, a junior golf program in her native Detroit, Michigan, when she was 6 years old. She played on and was captain of a co-ed team when she was in high school and then became the first female athlete recruited for Jackson State’s women’s team by legendary coach, Eddie Payton, in the early 1990s during the second wave of Title IX. When the government began enforcing the law – which prohibits discrimination in any school or education program that receives federal funding based on sex – one route a number of colleges, not just HBCUs, took to address the inequity was to create women’s golf teams.
Back then, every SWAC school had a men’s and women’s team. Today, seven of the 12 member schools have either a men’s or women’s team, and just three schools have both.
“If you go back far enough, you had so many HBCUs that actually had teams, even though the players were not necessarily welcome to play at some of the local facilities,” said Johnson. “We haven’t recovered yet to the number of teams that we once had, but what I will say is that the quality of the events and the experiences, the quality of the venues, and the experiences that we are able to offer this generation of golfers is definitely trending in the awesome direction. We played nice courses, but this generation of golfers and HBCU golfers, they’re having the opportunity to play better venues, they’re having the opportunity to see what life looks like after golf as far as careers.”
One of those venues is Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, which hosted the Charlie Sifford Centennial Cup earlier this year, an exhibition that featured six top HBCU programs. While discussing what needs to happen for HBCU golf programs to continue to grow, Howard head coach Sam Puryear keyed in on HBCU programs not just recruiting the best black talent, but developing and supporting it.
“Programs systematically and schematically have to be set and sound as it relates to practice, types of practice, leadership, running the programs, and putting the different things in place that will allow them to be successful,” said Puryear. “I think if you do that, and I think if you create competitive schedules, all those programs are going to get better. It’s like the proverb, iron sharpens iron. I think at the end of the day, that will happen.”
“I think to keep driving HBCU golf forward we need to put more out there, show the kids what we do, where we play, give them more information,” said Howard senior Everett Whiten Jr. “I feel like a lot of kids, they only see the big schools, they don’t really focus on HBCUs.”
The Hollywood Golf Institute has introduced over 6,000 children to the game of golf and have sent close to 350 golfers to school on full or partial scholarships, and 41 years later the program is still producing talented players. The BCGCA has created tournaments in various regions around the country so schools don’t have to travel as far for tournaments. While opportunities to play are important, those experiences only last so long.
“For me, it’s just about more opportunities and people actually being present throughout these opportunities, like mentorships,” added Greg Odom Jr. “I have people to talk that are at a different type of level, and that’s helped me grow as a person with these opportunities.”
When the BCGCA was started 35 years ago, Johnson praised the association’s efforts of partnering with high school coaches to educate them on what was needed to help their student athletes reach the next level. While developing players and talent on the course is undoubtedly important, Johnson argued that supporting, empowering and developing the existing coaches is the next step.
“I think golf has proven itself to be an investment worth investing in for HBCUs, for people, for the culture,” added Johnson. “It might be a recession where we’ve lost some teams, but I think we’re seeing a trend where schools are seeing the value and they’re starting to build these teams again and teams are recovering and coming back where they weren’t there before.”
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