We want to let people know that Black kids can play golf and they can play it in a mighty way .”
— Sam Puryear
Fast forward to 2019 . Puryear was out of coaching at the time , but he was acquainted with Curry , having played golf with him in the past . Puryear said he was sitting in his home office when he saw the news that Curry had made a significant donation to seed the men ’ s and women ’ s programs at Howard .
“ The ticker ran across the bottom on ESPN , and the phone started ringing ,” Puryear said . “ I must have had like 35 calls , people saying , ‘ Did you see what Howard ’ s doing ? The only person who can do that job is you . You should call Howard .’ I said I wasn ’ t going to call Howard .”
Howard , instead , found him . Once the school contacted him , it was a quick sell .
“ Steph is a super , super person ,” Puryear said . “ And I know with him supporting the program , there would be no shenanigans . They want winners . So it was easy to get behind it . In a non-traditional way , that ’ s how it all happened .”
→ PUTTING IT TOGETHER
The next task : Building a roster . One of Puryear ’ s first calls was to Whiten , a past VSGA scholarship recipient who began his career at Hampton University but was in limbo after the Pirates ’ program disbanded during the COVID-19 pandemic , due to lack of funding and resources .
“ My coach at Hampton , we really didn ’ t see eye-to-eye ,” Whiten said . “ My game was good enough to where I didn ’ t feel like I needed to practice as much . I could shoot a score if I needed to . I kind of wanted a new start , and just wanted to put the clubs down and focus on the five-year MBA program at Hampton . But I got that call from Sam , and it gave me a little burst of joy and made me want to go at it again .”
Whiten ’ s relationship with teammate Justin Green played a huge role in that call . Green ’ s father was the one who tipped Puryear off on Whiten . “ Justin ’ s
Everett Whiten Jr . was the individual medalist at last season ’ s PGA Works Collegiate Championship . a pretty big part of my story . I probably wouldn ’ t be here if it wasn ’ t for him ,” Whiten said . Green and Whiten both play out of Greenbrier Country Club in Chesapeake .
Puryear has built a team of hungry players —“ guys with an edge ”— who may not have had the best opportunities in their first college golf go-arounds . Gregory Odom Jr . barely cracked the lineup at Memphis but is now ranked 151st in the PGA Tour University rankings heading into the spring season , afforded plenty of opportunities to lead and play at Howard . C . M . Mixon played once in four seasons at Louisville but is a lineup mainstay at HU .
Whiten , a sixth-year grad student , admitted he didn ’ t know much about Puryear ’ s background when he fielded that initial call . After doing his research , he came away impressed .
“ Coach Sam has a lot of experience ,” said Whiten , who posted a team-best 71.8 stroke average in the fall . “ He ’ s been around a lot of great golfers . Listening to him talk about past players , past experiences , past tournaments — I mean , he was part of a national championship team ( at Stanford ). Just being around him in that environment , he ’ s helped me tremendously . I ’ m grateful for all the things he ’ s put me in a place to do and to keep doing . He ’ s helped my game with knowing how guys at the next level hit a certain wedge , or a certain shot off the tee . Just through experience , seeing those guys at Stanford and Michigan State and bringing that to an HBCU , it ’ s helped my game a lot .”
→ HBCU OPPORTUNITIES
Both Whiten and Green admitted that playing for an HBCU was not a top priority
PGA OF AMERICA
24 V IRGINIA G OLFER | J ANUARY / F EBRUARY 2024 vsga . org