Jackson State's Shasta Averyhardt gets taste of big time

Former JSU star Shasta Averyhardt played in her first USGA championship last week at the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links. She made the cut of 64 and won her first match before losing the second 3 and 2. "It was different... it was fun," said Averyhardt, who was meet medalist for the 2008 SWAC champion Lady Tigers. "They treated me like a queen. I can definitely get used to it."

The atmosphere was a little different playing on the pristine Erin Hills Golf course in Erin, Wisc. - the scheduled host of the 2011 U.S. Amateur. From the strict pace of play to the locker rooms to the length of the course, the event was a taste of big-time professional golf.




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The 6-1, 22 year old Averyhardt is from Flint, Michigan and is scheduled to complete her degree requirements in accounting at JSU in December 2008. She has exhausted all four years of her eligibility in collegiate golf.

Unstoppable Bethune-Cookman takes both men's and women's titles

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Bethune-Cookman University of Daytona, Fla. captured both the Division I men's and women's titles Sunday at the 22nd PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

In the men's division, Bethune-Cookman carded a team-total of 8-over-par 872 to defeat Jackson (Miss.) State University by 17 strokes. The University of Texas-Pan American finished in third place overall.

Carl Corbin of Bethune-Cookman won the Division I men's individual standings title after carding a final-round 3-under-par 69. Corbin finished two strokes ahead of Brett Benson of Jackson State.

In the women's division, Bethune-Cookman won for the third consecutive year after carding a team-total of 918 to defeat the University of Texas-Pan-American by 16 strokes. Becky Dowell of Bethune-Cookman claimed the women's individual medalist honors with a three-day-total of 225. She edged Mariale Camey of Texas-Pan American by one stroke.

"I am very satisfied with the overall performance of my team at this Championship," said Head Coach Dr. Gary Freeman. "I have super group of kids that I am able to coach and it was a privilege to watch them play out here this week."

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South Carolina State to host Bulldog Golf Classic

By SCSU Sports Information

South Carolina State men's golf team will host the two-day Bulldog Golf Classic Saturday and Sunday (April 5-6) at the Hillcrest Golf Course in Orangeburg. The event, in its sixth year, returns to the Par 72, 6,722-yard course where it was played the first four years before being conducted at the Orangeburg Country Club last year.

The competition gets underway at 8 a.m. Saturday when 18 holes will be played. The final 18 holes will be played Sunday, beginning at 8 a.m.

Nine teams, including the host Bulldogs, will be participating in the tournament, which will have a practice round on Friday. This year's field is the largest since the inception of the event.

Other participating teams are Bethune-Cookman, the 2005 and 2006 champion, Charleston Southern, 2007 winner Florida A&M, Hampton, High Point, Savannah State, St. Augustine and Winston-Salem State.

Coach Richard Arrington's Bulldogs have been the runner-ups each of the last two years.

Tennessee State University alum coaches Michigan State Spartans golf team

Photo: Michigan State University Spartans head golf coach Sam Puryear

Life coach: The Sam Puryear impact

Photo Gallery: Sam and the Spartans, http://www.golfweektv.com/gallery/SamPuryear

It’s been another frigid winter in central Michigan. Snowfall in East Lansing has been about 14 inches above average, which isn’t good news for Michigan State senior Nate Gunthorpe. The Spartans have putting practice at 6 a.m. three days per week, and it’s a few miles from his off-campus house to the school’s indoor Rearick Golf Complex.

“Waking up, getting snow off your car, warming it up and being there by 6 ready to putt,” Gunthorpe said. “We definitely know why we’re doing it.”

Waiting for Gunthorpe and his teammates is first-year head coach Sam Puryear. Standing 6 feet tall and dressed impeccably in Spartan green, Puryear is a man with a plan. His energy is palpable, and his preparation is relentless. Always approachable and never short on one-liners, Puryear is just nine months removed from his first college coaching job, a 1 1/2-year stint as Stanford’s assistant coach, in which he helped head coach Conrad Ray guide the Cardinal to the 2007 NCAA championship.

Now, as the first black head golf coach in a major NCAA Division I conference, Puryear has the reins of the Spartans, a team that rose into the top 20 earlier this season.

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Mini Bio:
Sam is a 1992 graduate of Tennessee State University. He served three years as the assistant golf coach at Stanford University, winning the NCAA Division I national golf championship last season (2007). Prior to joining Stanford, he served as Executive Director of East Lake Junior Golf Academy in Atlanta, GA., where he managed the development of golf instruction and curriculum for an academy serving more than 1,000 youth. Puryear has a proven track record for fundraising, campaigning, and program support.

Samuel G. Puryear Jr. was born and raised in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Great article!!

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Bethune Cookman women's golf captures Rutgers Invitational Tournament title

by BCU Sports Information

Wildcats beat Ivy League power Yale by nine strokes in victory

Piscataway, N.J. - Freshman Kimberly Wong posted her third consecutive Top 5 finish of the fall season over the weekend while leading Bethune-Cookman University women's golf team to a much-heralded first place trophy at the Rutgers Women's Invitational in Piscataway, N.J.

Bethune-Cookman is looking like one of the best teams on the east coast right now as they played their way to their second first place title of the season, while finishing second in the only other tournament thus far. The Wildcats shot a two-day score of 624 (+48) to finish nine strokes ahead of the field of 18 teams.

Kim Wong, only a freshman mind you, continues to blaze her way towards all kinds of B-CU freshman records as she collected a two-day score of 154 (80 / 74) for her season low in a 36-hole event to finish third overall for the weekend. She has now finished amongst the top five golfers overall in every tournament she has suited up for the Wildcats this season. All-America honors certainly appear to be in the future of this young golfer.

Photo: BCU's Fern Grimshaw collected her first Top 10 finish of the fall.

Yale University--a perennial power amongst the Ivy League, rode the strength of its top golfer Ellie Brophy to finish second place as a team. The Bulldogs shot a team total of 633 (+57).

Meanwhile, junior golfer Becky Dowell still remains as one of the most steadfast golfers in the past four seasons at B-CU as she finished tied for fourth overall. Dowell's 154 (+10) allowed her to finish alongside Siena's Katelynn Mannix.

For Dowell, this was her first top five finish of the campaign, while registering her second top 10 mark for the fall.

Transfer Emma Tayler was just behind her fellow Wildcat golfers with a 158 (+14) for a sixth place finish, and her third top 10 finish of the season. Tayler is now second on the team in total wins-losses with a 190-13 record.

Also shooting well for the `Cats was sophomore Maria Garrido with her first-ever top 10 finish at Bethune-Cookman with a two-round mark of 160 (+16) to tie for ninth place. Alongside Garrido was junior Fern Grimshaw, just another in a long line of great European student-athletes to cross the path of B-CU head coach Dr. Gary Freeman, with a 160 (+16) as well.

For Grimshaw, it was her first top 10 finish of the fall season, as well as her second top 20 finish.
Sophomore Maria Urquiola posted a 164 (+20) to tie for 24th place in the tournament.

B-CU is now, as a team, 35-1 this season ... making this the best start for the Wildcats in recorded history.

Brittany Lambertson earned a medal in second place for St. John's as she scored a 151 (+7) on rounds of 77 and 74 for the Red Storm. St. John's finished third as a team.

Siena (645) would be fourth, while Bucknell, Rutgers and USC Upstate all posted a 666 to finish tied for fifth overall.