The following year he became the first Black head coach in major-college golf at Michigan State . Puryear immediately won Big Ten coach of the year honors for leading the Spartans to the conference title with a team that included current Tour pro Ryan Brehm .
“ I ’ ve got an incredible network of people who know how to get things done ,” said Puryear , 50 , who last coached at Queens University of Charlotte ( N . C .) from 2011- 17 . He was running his instructional company Puryear Golf when Howard , which was assisted by Curry in its search , called .
“ Honestly , this is a great fit ,” Puryear said . “ I just thought if I could put the excitement Howard has for this together with my knowledge and experience , we could really build an incredible program .”
To be sure , there are significant challenges facing the only Division I men ’ s program launching
this year , according to the Golf Coaches of America .
Puryear must start securing sustainable funding to endow the program at typical Division I levels , $ 500,000 to $ 1 million a year , after Curry ’ s donation runs out . The NCAA allows D-I teams , which normally number seven to 10 players , to award the value of 4.5 full scholarships to men and six to women .
Puryear said he will make a point of recruiting Black players , although some existing Division I HBCU programs — 12 for men and nine for women — struggle to find Black players good enough to compete at the top collegiate level . Data gathered in 2019 by the National Golf Foundation show only three percent of recreational golfers are Black , although a quarter of junior players are non-Caucasian .
OPENING DOORS
An avid basketball player growing up , Whiten said a friend introduced him to golf in seventh grade . He said “ the bug ” bit him fast , and it turns out Whiten was a natural .
In short order , he was good enough to qualify for the national Drive , Chip & Putt finals at Augusta National the weekend before the 2015 Masters . He missed winning his 14-15 age group by a half-point .
Whiten was fortunate . His father is a mechanical engineer , his mother a physical therapist . He had the financial means to play at now-closed Cahoon Plantation and work with a swing coach , Dan Shea . Much like Howard ’ s golf benefactor , Whiten pays it forward now by working when he can at the First Tee of Hampton Roads , exposing golf to young athletes for minimal fees .
“ Many kids don ’ t even hear about golf ,” Whiten said . “ But golf can open up so many doors in your life .’’
Puryear said he ’ s convinced Whiten ’ s talent , instincts and work ethic will unlock the doors of his own golf journey .
“ E . J . has the tools make some money playing golf if he really wants to ,” Puryear said . “ I think he ’ s special .”
Thanks to the vision and aim of Curry , it ’ s no long shot to say Howard golf has the potential to be the very same .
“
I think the sky ’ s the limit for what this could truly mean .
“
ASSOCIATED PRESS
24 V IRGINIA G OLFER | M ARCH / A PRIL 2021
vsga . org