INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Committee announced that the Jimmie Austin Golf Club at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma will replace Ol’ Colony Golf Club in Tuscaloosa, Alabama as one of the six regional hosting sites for the 2022 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships.

The committee was recently notified by the University of Alabama, host institution in Tuscaloosa, that the Ol’ Colony Golf Club would be unable to host due to current course conditions. The course was on schedule to host, but a late freeze, followed by cooler temperatures and excessive rainfall prevented necessary corrections to the course and stalled other maintenance projects.

The six regional host sites for the 2022 championship will now include Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas (Texas A&M, host); OSU Golf Club – Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio (Ohio State, host); Yale Golf Course in New Haven, Connecticut (Yale, host); PGA National Resort – Champions Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida (Florida Atlantic, host); The Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton, California (Pacific, host) and now the Jimmie Austin Golf Club (Oklahoma, host), with play taking place May 16-18. The top five teams (30 teams total) and the low individual not on an advancing team (six individuals total) from each regional site will advance to play in the championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona on May 27–June 1.

The Jimmie Austin Golf Club has played host previously to five combined men’s and women’s NCAA Division I regional championships, hosting in 1998 (men), 2012 (men), 2013 (women), 2018 (men) and 2019 (women). The course also hosted the 1997 Oklahoma State Amateur, the 1998 and 2010 Big 12 Conference Women’s Championships, and U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships in 2009 and 2012.

“While this was a difficult situation for the committee to address in late April, the Jimmie Austin Golf Club is ready to host immediately and has a championship pedigree that will provide a great championship experience for our teams,” said Connie Hurlbut, chair of the Division I Men’s Golf Committee and senior associate commissioner and senior woman administrator at the West Coast Conference. “The committee also felt that Oklahoma, as the top ranked team in the country, earned the right to serve as the replacement host.”

Seen on the course playing a practice round, 15-time major champion Tiger Woods flew in to test out the greens in preparation for the season’s second major that is being held May 16-22, at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Woods plans to play in next month’s PGA Championship “barring a setback” after being spotted on Thursday having a practice round at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

At age 46, the iconic golfer has not competed since making a stunning comeback earlier in April at the Master, where he finished at a disappointing 47th. The Masters was Woods’ first competitive event since last February’s life-threatening car crash.

Immediately following the Masters the former world No 1, said that he could commit only to this summer’s Open Championship at St Andrews. Woods reportedly walked the entire 18 holes at Southern Hills on Thursday with the club’s head professional Cary Cozby as his caddie.

Pine Valley Golf Club, a prestigious, 700-member golf club in Camden County, which was established more than a century ago but only began accepting female members last springis facing a civil rights complaint alleging the management of membership along with a long history of gender-based discrimination in recruitment and other practices.

Acting Attorney General of New Jersey Matthew J. platkin Complaint filed on Wednesday against the club, outlining a long history of the “world famous” club for allegedly violating the state’s anti-discrimination law.

The law “prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in places of housing, employment and public accommodation, including gender, gender identity and gender expression, among other protected characteristics.”

“New Jersey will not tolerate policies or practices that discriminate on the basis of gender, including those that perpetuate the effects of past discrimination,” said Rosemary DiSavino, deputy director of the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights, who filed a complaint with Platkin.

The complaint argues that the club was a place of public housing due to a unique setup where the club owned all of the land in the borough of Pine Valley – which In January consolidation became a part of the Borough of Pine Hill.,

All Pine Valley residents and municipal commissioners said the complaint lived on club property and had some connection to the club through direct membership, relatives who were members, or work from the club. Without the club, the city would have “virtually no revenue and no residents.”

“As a result, the club effectively controlled the borough, and the club was the primary recipient of the services and benefits provided by the borough,” the complaint reads.

The complaint alleges that because the club was so involved with the city, setting tax rates and much more, the club was not “distinctly private”.

A club representative was not immediately available for comment.

READ MORE DARIKNEWS.COM

LANSING — At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there wasn’t much for many people to do other than sit at home. But as restrictions slowly lifted toward the end of spring 2020, many people turned, or returned, to a popular sport – golf – to fill their time.

Since then, its popularity has increased.

Golf remained a major go-to recreational activity in 2021, with rounds played increasing by 5.5% in the country and by 5.6% in Michigan, according to the National Golf Foundation.

But as play surges, Mark Wilson, the interim director of Ferris State University’s PGA Golf Management Program, said he’s having trouble recruiting students.

“There’s been a 10-year trend in this industry of declining interest, and this is really across the board, so it covers golf professionals, golf course superintendents and club managers,” Wilson said. “This started prior to the pandemic, and it’s leveled off for us a bit.

“This is a tremendous time of opportunity in the golf industry.”

Seventeen U.S. universities offer a PGA Golf Management program.

Wilson said seven years ago, the total enrollment for all of those programs — including one at Clemson University in South Carolina — equaled about 2,650 students.

Since then, Clemson’s program has been discontinued, and the total enrollment of students last year among the universities had dropped to about 1,450 students.

Ferris State is the only one that offers the program in Michigan. Elsewhere in the Great Lakes region, only Penn State University has a program.

The program at Ferris has a secretary, an adjunct instructor, an internship coordinator and himself, Wilson said.

Ten years ago, the freshman class had 77 students. The freshman classes the past two years numbered only 27 students.

He said he hopes to bring in over 30 students for next fall semester.

So what do these students do?

“I get that question a lot: What do these students do for four and a half years?” Wilson said. “Actually, they’re really busy.”

To receive a bachelor’s degree, students take a golf orientation course, three levels of instructional coaching and facility management courses and five semesters’ worth of internships. They then can become head golf professionals, directors of golf, general managers and golf instructors.

To boost enrollment, Wilson said he encourages golf club professionals, superintendents and club members to steer interested high schoolers to his program.

“If they see a young person that works in the bag room, works on the golf course or works in the dining room at a facility, they could tap them on the shoulder — anybody that’s interested in the future of the industry — and head them in the right direction,” Wilson said. “Head them in the right direction, and we’ll take care of them.”

Some golf professionals may be nearing retirement, according to Wilson. Younger professionals can fill those positions.

If the disparity between the growth of play and the decline in enrollment in management programs continues, Wilson said he fears the future of some local and mid-level golf clubs may be at stake.

“One of the reasons I say that there’s going to be a lot of opportunities is that along with these numbers that we’ve talked about, about 53% of all PGA professionals are over age 50,” he said. “That means there’s going to be significant changes and retirements in the next 10 to 15 years, and so the younger people who might want to move into the industry will have some great opportunities.”

Wilson said about 40% of PGA staff members come from a four-year university program. The other 60%, he said, come from an associate program offered directly through the PGA.

John Rogers III, the director of Michigan State University’s Golf Course Turfgrass Management Program, said the reason there’s been a decline in the industry is due to the low wages and difficult hours of entry-level positions.

Read more at ShoreLineMedia.net.

The Championship, hosted by the Union League of Philadelphia,
features exemptions for Korn Ferry Tour and Epson Tour events

FRISCO, Texas (April 26, 2022) 一 PGA REACH, the 501(c)(3) charitable foundation of the PGA of America, today announced the field for the 2022 PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship (PWCC). The PWCC will be hosted by The Union League of Philadelphia, which donated two of its courses for the 54-hole stroke-play Championship – Union League Liberty Hill and The Union League Golf Club of Torresdale – from May 2-4.

The PWCC, considered the most culturally significant championship in collegiate golf, will feature a competitive lineup of 30 teams representing Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving institutions and other minority-serving institutions from all over the country.

DIVISION I (MEN’S)
Alabama A&M University
Alabama State University
University of Arkansas – Pine Bluff
Chicago State University
Florida A&M University
Howard University
North Carolina A&T State University
North Carolina Central University
Prairie View A&M University
Texas Southern University

DIVISION II (MEN’S)
Bluefield State College
California State University, Dominguez Hills
Fayetteville State University
Johnson C. Smith University
Kentucky State University
Lincoln University
Miles College
Savannah State University
Virginia State University
Virginia Union University

WOMEN’S DIVISION
Alabama State University
Chicago State University
Delaware State University
Howard University
Lincoln University
North Carolina A&T State University
Prairie View A&M University
Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi
Texas A&M University – Kingsville
Texas Southern University 

The individual divisions will see 56 competitors representing 40 programs. Howard University, thanks in part to NBA Star Steph Curry making a six-year commitment to fund its golf program, will return to the PWCC for the second consecutive year. The men’s team will play in the Men’s Division I Team Division and is the highest-ranked team in the field, while the Bison will also compete in the Women’s Team Division. 

Prairie View A&M (Men’s DI), Miles College (Men’s DII) and Texas A&M – Corpus Christi (Women’s) will all return this year, looking to defend their respective titles.

For the second year, exemptions from the Epson Tour and Korn Ferry Tour can be earned. 

The top three finishers and ties in the Women’s Team or Individual Divisions will be eligible to apply for an “MVP Invite” exemption into the Epson Tour’s Guardian Championship, Sept. 16-18 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Capitol Hill – Senator Course in Prattville, Alabama. The Guardian Championship Tournament Committee will review applications and award the exemption. 

Korn Ferry extended its sponsor exemption applications to the top three finishers in the Men’s Division I, Men’s Division II and Men’s Individual Divisions. Those individuals can apply for the exemption into the 2022 Price Cutter Charity Championship, July 21-24, at Highland Springs Country Club in Springfield, Missouri.

“We are extremely excited to partner with the Union League in Philadelphia to provide this deep field the opportunity to compete at two phenomenal and historic courses,” said Scooter Clark, Director, PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship. “There is so much significance to this partnership and venue, as the Union League celebrates its 160th anniversary, and it will truly benefit the student-athletes competing.”

Clark adds, “The Union League has carried out this mission through the lens of inclusion and community engagement which strongly aligns with the PGA of America’s commitment through PGA WORKS to enhancing the experience of our underserved and underrepresented programs and students. The PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship allows us a great opportunity to connect with hundreds of student-athletes from diverse backgrounds, most of whom will continue to play golf throughout their lives.”

For more information on the PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship, visit www.PGAWORKSCollegiate.org. 

Like last year, National Golf Day once again will be staged virtually, taking place on Tuesday-Wednesday, May 10-11.

“A Culture of Belonging” 90-minute virtual forum (centered around Make Golf Your Thing and workplace inclusivity) will be held on Tuesday, May 10, from 2:30-4 p.m. ET. The forum will be moderated by Golf Channel & NBC host and reporter, Damon Hack. Click HERE to register. The forum is open to all who wish to participate.

On Wednesday, May 11, more than 230 industry professionals will conduct over 250 virtual meetings with members of Congress. National Golf Day will provide a great opportunity for the industry to further advance the positive momentum the sport has experienced over the past 18 months, and also provide a platform for advocates to reinforce golf’s economic, societal, environmental and health benefits. 

Registration is open, and we ask that you visit the  National Golf Day landing page and follow the “Register Now” prompts to learn more. Attendees who wish to participate in the legislative meetings are required to attend a mandatory virtual “issues briefing” on May 10 from Noon-1:30 p.m. ET. The registration link will be sent directly to each advocate via email. Please contact [email protected] with any questions.