The Truist Championship is expanding its impact beyond the PGA TOUR competition with the launch of an annual women’s collegiate golf summit designed to combine competition, education, networking and professional development.
The inaugural initiative will bring together six college women’s golf teams for a two-day experience featuring networking and educational programming followed by a 36-hole competition. Tournament sponsors have committed to supporting the initiative through 2031, signaling a long-term investment in developing opportunities for women in collegiate golf and creating pathways that extend beyond the course.
A key component of the summit will be the participation of Ashaunta Epps, founder and CEO of A Perfect Swing, Inc., who will deliver a keynote address to the participating teams. On Monday, the LPGA Top 50 Best Teacher and Class A Member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) will serve as a Starter for the tournament. Epps brings a distinctive perspective to the event, combining her experience as an LPGA golf professional, leadership development strategist and business-golf strategist with her work helping professionals use golf to build relationships and advance their careers.
For Epps, golf is about much more than learning how to hit a golf ball. Her professional philosophy centers on using the game as a strategic platform for networking, leadership development, relationship building and business growth. Through A Perfect Swing, she works with professionals and organizations to help them become more comfortable and effective in golf environments where important business relationships often develop.
Epps’ own introduction to golf provides an important part of her story. After spending a few years in corporate America, she recognized that she was missing networking opportunities because she did not play golf. After picking up a club, she became committed to learning the game, practicing frequently and studying golf etiquette before entering her first fundraising tournament. That experience ultimately helped shape the mission of A Perfect Swing.
Today, Epps is described by A Perfect Swing as a sought-after keynote speaker who helps high-achieving leaders understand golf as a vehicle for relationship capital, executive presence and long-term business growth. She is also the author of A Perfect Swing: Lessons in Perseverance, Purpose, and Preparation From the Fairway of Life. Her work gives her a particularly relevant message for college athletes preparing for careers in an increasingly competitive professional environment.
A New Chapter for the Truist Championship
The summit adds another dimension to a tournament with a substantial history on the PGA TOUR. The event’s lineage dates to 2003, when David Toms won at what was then the Wachovia Championship. Over the years, the tournament has featured an impressive list of champions, including Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Max Homa, Wyndham Clark and Sepp Straka.
The tournament has also become closely associated with Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 2026 Truist Championship was contested May 7-10 at the club, a par-71 layout measuring 7,583 yards. It was a PGA TOUR Signature Event with a $20 million purse and 700 FedExCup points awarded to the winner.
Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan captured the 2026 championship, shooting 15-under-par 269 to earn his first PGA TOUR victory and a $3.6 million winner’s share.
The tournament is scheduled to return to Quail Hollow Club in 2027, May 10-16, continuing its presence in Charlotte and its broader commitment to golf in the region.
The women’s summit represents an important evolution of that commitment. By placing collegiate women golfers in an environment that combines competitive golf with leadership and business education, the initiative recognizes that the value of the game extends well beyond tournament scores.
Epps’ keynote is particularly fitting because her career has been built around that very concept. Her message to the teams is expected to emphasize preparation, confidence, relationship building and the importance of understanding golf as a professional tool.
For the participating student-athletes, the summit could provide an introduction to another side of the game—one in which the connections made on the golf course can become opportunities in the boardroom, corporate workplace and entrepreneurial community.
The Truist Championship’s investment through 2031 also gives the program an opportunity to grow into a lasting platform for women’s collegiate golf. With Epps helping launch the initiative through her message of golf, leadership and business development, the summit has the potential to become an important part of the tournament’s identity while helping prepare the next generation of women golfers for success both on and off the course.
