24TH PGA MINORITY COLLEGIATE GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

The 24th PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship will be played for the 13th consecutive year at The PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., May 7-9, 2010.

Education through Golf
The PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship originated from a meeting in November 1986 following the Jackson State University Golf Tournament. The late Dr. Herschel Cochrane, Dr. Joe D. Saunders of the National Negro Golf Association, Jackson State University Golf Coach Eddie Payton, Rose Harper-Elder of the Sports Management Institute and William (Bill) Dickey founder of the Bill Dickey Scholarship Association and the 1999 PGA Distinguished Service Award winner, are credited as the founders of this Championship.

The goal was to elevate the game of golf in minority colleges and universities by giving them a chance to compete in a championship (because of a lack of opportunities to compete in NCAA Collegiate Golf events.) The first Championship was conducted in the spring of 1987 at Highland Park Golf Course in Cleveland, Ohio. Since 1998, The PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., has been host to the Championship.

In 2006, The PGA of America was granted complete ownership and management of the Championship by the National Minority Collegiate Golf Scholarship Fund.

In 1990, a Career Fair was conducted for the first time in conjunction with the Championship to provide corporate sponsors the opportunity to interview and recruit outstanding college students for future employment. As a result, the Career Fair has developed into an invaluable resource to assist students in gaining internships and full-time positions within the golf industry.

Also, State Farm Insurance has extended its sponsorship to support the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship through 2010. The State Farm sponsorship provides funding of a one-hour Championship highlight program on Golf Channel. Students from participating schools in the 2008 Championship can apply to receive scholarship awards from State Farm Insurance for their academic excellence at their respective institutions.