Bethune-Cookman sweeps PGA Minority Collegiate titles

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PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman swept the Men’s Division I and Women’s Team competitions at the 30th PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship, contested at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida, but not without the Wildcat men requiring an extra hole of work.

Although not mathematically impossible, a playoff in college golf is at least mathematically improbable. After three days and 216 holes, Bethune-Cookman and Tennessee State University were implausibly tied, having each taken 907 shots.

Fittingly, both programs reported to the first hole of the Wanamaker Course, where everything started on Friday morning.

Two groups and 25 minutes later, Bethune-Cookman emerged as Men’s Division I champions, having required only 20 shots to Tennessee State’s 21 on the 487-yard, par-5 opening hole.

Playoffs in collegiate team golf are “pretty rare,” according to Bethune-Cookman Head Golf Coach Loritz “Scooter” Clark. “Truthfully, at the end, I was just hoping for a playoff. I wanted an opportunity to see if we could continue it and pull it out. We were able to do just that. What was fun was, on the first green, during the playoff, seeing a different level of focus and determination from all our kids. They earned this. Tennessee State played very well and pushed us.”

Tennessee State’s bid was led by freshman Drew Owens, who was the Division I Men’s medalist at 221.

At 897, Bethune-Cookman’s women again asserted their dominance in the Women’s Team Division, claiming their record fifth consecutive title in the PGA Minority Collegiate Championship. The victory was also the Wildcats’ 13th in the 19-year history of the Women’s Division. A freshman, Shamiso Hatchard, set the tone for Bethune-Cookman’s 30-stroke victory over runner-up Chicago State University (927).

Hatchard’s three-day total of 222 made her the Women’s Team Division medalist and earned an exemption into an upcoming Symetra Tour event. She will choose from either Island Resort Championship in Harris, Michigan (June 24-26) or the Tullymore Classic in Canadian Lakes, Michigan, Michigan (July 1-3).

“Shamiso is so mild mannered and she has a poker face” said Clark of Hatchard, who hails from Milton Keynes, England. “This is actually fitting because she recently received the most improved student-athlete award on the women’s team. She’s been working very hard, probably harder in the classroom than on the golf course.”

Hatchard edged out Tiana Jones of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, although Jones’s three-day total of 223 made her the Women’s Individual Invitational Champion. Rachele Orme (241) of Savannah State University was the runner-up.

In Men’s Division II, Cal State University-Dominguez Hills took home a team title for the second time in as many years. Cal-State Dominguez Hills won by a whopping 17 shots over runner-up Texas A&M International after residing in second place after both the first and second rounds.

The Toros’ Sunday surge was engineered by three players, each of whom carded final rounds of 73 or better: Christopher Pham (71), Drew Dufresne (72) and Andrew Banuelos (73).

The University of Houston-Victoria, at 954, won the NAIA Division, which was played on the Wanamaker Course. The victory is the Jaguars’ second in the last three years. They were led by sophomore Cristian Esparza of Houston, who tallied a three-day total of 238 to take home NAIA medalist honors.

At 225, Siyan Liu of Palm Beach Atlantic University earned the first individual collegiate title of his career in the Men’s Individual Invitational.

Liu’s 71 on Sunday erased a four-shot deficit and resulted in a two-shot victory over Norman Blanco of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

“This win feels great, it’s my first in the United States,” said Liu, who is from Beijing, China. “I’ve been playing very well lately, and after finishing second last year, I wanted to finish the job.”

The PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship has elevated golf in minority colleges and universities by providing opportunities for players to compete in a national championship. In 2006, the PGA of America was granted complete ownership and management by the National Minority Collegiate Golf Scholarship Fund.

30th PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship presented by CastleOak Securities
Sunday, May 8, 2016
PGA Golf Club, Port St. Lucie, Florida

*** FINAL SCORES ***

Men's Division I
PGA Golf Club/Wanamaker

T1. *Bethune-Cookman University--296-304-307--907;
Connor O'Brien 75-73-76--224;
Joel Ramirez 71-74-81--226;
Jackson Kneeshaw 74-80-77--231;
Leon Fricker 76-84-73--233;
Bradley Peil 76-77-82--235;
* - Won on first playoff hole

T1. Tennessee State University--295-308-304--907;
Drew Owens 71-75-75--221;
Todd McGill 74-78-72--224;
Jermey Fultz 75-77-79--231;
Rosario Falzone 75-83-78--236;
Sam Gatlin 80-78-81--239

3. Savannah State University--314-318-308--940;
Kevin Metzger 77-74-77--228;
Adam Walden 77-78-74--229;
Zach Otto 80-79-76--235;
Riley Keagle 80-87-81--248

4. North Carolina Central University--331-314-306--951;
Jordan Bohannon 80-75-72--227;
Zane Lewis 76-79-75--230;
Sumner Tate 83-80-80--243;
Michael Wilson 94-89-79--262;
Jerome Bostwick 92-80-94--266

5. Florida A&M University--322-325-312--959;
Kevin Parker 77-78-73--228;
Omari Whitmore 77-77-83--237;
Dennis Minefee 83-82-77--242;
Brian Bowman 85-88-79--252

6. University of Maryland Eastern Shore--317-326-326--969;
Blair Waters 77-77-78--232;
Demarkis Cooper 78-80-79--237;
Darius Davis 79-80-87--246;
Timothy Mitchell 83-89-82--254;
Christian Owens 95-94-98--287

7. Chicago State University--333-328-329--990;
Brendan Baldwin 79-75-81--235;
Miles Bailey 84-85-81--250;
Austin Egbert 87-83-82--252;
Drew Vanoy 83-87-85--255;
Brandon Skelding 87-85-86--258

Women's Team Division
PGA Golf Club/Ryder

1. Bethune-Cookman University--295-302-300--897;
Shamiso Hatchard 73-74-75--222;
Saraid Ruiz 75-72-76--223;
Mackenzie Butzer 73-78-72--223;
Yudika Ann Rodriguez 74-78-77--229;
Alejandra Sanchez 75-79-77--231

2. Chicago State University--303-316-308--927;
Rachel Johnson 74-78-73--225;
Felicia Davenport 77-75-76--228;
Fernanda Valdes Solis 76-78-81--235;
Talialaina Letoi 76-85-80--241;
Taneka Sandiford 77-88-79--244

3. Tennessee State University--332-335-321--988;
Natalie Spicer 83-75-78--236;
Sarah Needleman 78-82-77--237;
Kelly Merkel 81-81-83--245;
Paige Harlin 90-97-83--270

4. Hampton University--334-331-328--993;
Britney Smith 79-80-73--232;
Zora Moore 83-83-82--248;
Treliah Samuels 83-83-84--250;
JiHyun Park 89-92-89--270;
Milan James 93-85-92--270

5. Texas A&M International University--335-347-323--1005;
Stephanie Gonzalez 81-81-76--238;
Bailey McCawley 83-83-80--246;
Sasha Linauskas 82-89-83--254;
Mitzi Cantu 93-94-84--271;
Hannah Jiao 89-95-94--278

6. University of Houston-Victoria--359-348-352--1059;
Shelbi Vincent 75-79-78--232;
Brooke Brasseaux 79-80-74--233;
Reid Whaley 99-93-87--279;
Jo Ellen Canales 106-96-113--315

Men's Division II
PGA Golf Club/Ryder

1. California State University Dominguez Hills--304-306-291--901;
Andrew Banuelos 77-74-73--224;
Christopher Pham 75-79-71--225;
Drew Dufresne 76-77-72--225;
Bret Gleason 76-76-75--227;
William Yang 85-83-77--245

2. Texas A&M International University--299-318-301--918;
Steven Martinez 70-75-76--221;
Benjamin Page 75-79-73--227;
Zach Jackson 75-78-79--232;
Sam Goldfarb, III 79-86-73--238;
Adam Jefferson 96-88-95--279

3. Livingston College--305-314-305--924;
Philip Harrison 74-73-73--220;
Stephen Washington 74-78-72--224;
Lenorris Williams 74-83-75--232;
Harry Standberry 83-80-85--248;
Telvin Walker 86-86-91--263

4. Fayetteville State University--308-301-330--939;
Jared Chinn 74-77-74--225;
Christopher Jackson76-73-87--236;
Isaiah Shaw 78-72-86--236;
Christian Villanueva 80-79-83--242;
Austen Parlett 93-88-91--272

5. Lincoln University--319-321-305--945;
Deaven Vincent 77-80-71--228;
Blake Lammers 75-79-76--230;
Cody Shaw 86-78-79--243;
Drew Geritz 81-86-80--247;
Jacob Womack 89-84-79--252

6.Miles College--311-326-312--949;
Vitthal Parker 76-79-71--226;
Jacob McCurry 77-79-78--234;
Kyle Kerns 77-81-77--235;
Cameron Wilhite 81-87-86--254;
Josh Lewis 84-90-86--260

7. Benedict College--336-317-334--987;
Mohammed Nu-Mann 79-80-82--241;
Rajai Cousley 85-78-81--244;
Kelly Allen 83-79-88--250;
Rhalston Jones 89-80-83--252;
Marqus Edwards89-84-92--265

8. Morehouse College--326-333-329--988;
Lennard Long 82-78-76--236;
Harvey Allen 79-81-88--248;
Anthony Body 81-87-82--250;
Tommy Swearingen 84-87-88--259;
Kenneth Dames 95-99-83--277

9. Virginia Union University--342-340-336--1018;
Joshua Mohun 81-79-78--238;
Bartosh Kaminski 79-79-81--239;
Brandon Bailey 87-88-86--261;
Austin Haynes 95-95-91--281;
Ricardo Andrews 102-94-101--297

10. Elizabeth City State College--358-343-333--1034;
Curtis Vinson 81-79-82--242;
William Fallon 84-82-82--248;
Tyler Futrell 84-82-85--251;
Daniel Nobles 109-100-84--293

NAIA Division
PGA Golf Club/Wanamaker

1. University of Houston-Victoria--316-313-325--954;
Cristian Esparza 80-76-82--238;
Hunter Huff 78-78-84--240;
Kaleb Presley 83-79-79--241;
Kirby Amburg 78-85-80--243;
Adrian Saenz 80-80-85--245

Women's Individual Invitational
PGA Golf Club/Ryder

1. Tiana Jones, University of Maryland Eastern Shore 75-75-73--223
2. Rachele Orme, Savannah State University 80-82-79--241
3. Cathleen Wong, Florida Gulf Coast University 80-79-83--242
4. Pia Serrano, Chicago State University 81-87-77--245
5. Sydney Woolfolk, Savannah State University 91-87-79--257
6. Jasmin Cunningham, University of Maryland Eastern Shore 95-92-89--276

Men's Individual Invitational
PGA Golf Club/Wanamaker

1. Siyan Liu, Palm Beach Atlantic University 80-74-71--225
2. Norman Blanco, University of Maryland Eastern Shore 74-76-77--227
T3. James Lee, Rice University 74-78-76--228
T3. Benjarong Murray, Palm Beach Atlantic University 76-76-76--228
5. James Blackwell, Ball State University 74-81-79--234
T6. William Godfrey, Francis Marion University 78-78-82--238
T6. Phil Soo Kim, University of Nevada, Las Vegas 79-80-79--238
8. Albert Jennings, Ball State University 81-81-77--239
9. Angel Ramos, Florida Institute of Technology 83-76-81--240
10. Noel Sims, South Mountain Community College 86-74-83--243
11. Kenneth Gaither, Hampton University 84-82-79--245
12. Jerrell Hubbard, Paine College 86-84-78--248
13. Brandon Rincon, Albion College 82-88-82--252
14. DeJuan Powell, Johnson C. Smith Universirty 79-80-95--254
15. Trevor Pueblo, Haskell Indian Nations 87-94-84--265
16. Jordan Hall, Methodist University 95-92-84--271
17. Joshua Steger, Johnson C. Smith University 94-89-92--275
18. Djimon Dixon, Paine College 97-105-90--292
19. Marquis Usher, University of Maryland Eastern Shore 97-100-98--295
20. Khaliq Dansby, Miles College 101-105-95--301
21. Stephen Fitzgerald, University of Maryland Eastern Shore 90-106-106--302
22. Eddie Crawford, Methodist University 99-104-104--307