2023 edition includes 3-day tournament and SAS-hosted career day for 17 teams
CARY, NC (May 17, 2023) – After a successful debut in 2022, the SAS Championship HBCU Invitational will return in 2023 as a part of the annual PGA Tour Champions Tournament. 17 teams from 14 leading Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) will compete from Oct. 13-15 alongside the legends of the PGA TOUR Champions, with seven schools returning from the 2022 field.
“SAS has always been committed to education equity initiatives that promote learning for all and build a global community of innovators. We are dedicated to helping to create a pipeline of future talent, representing a diverse population. With the widening skills gap in STEM-related areas, companies struggle to find qualified, diverse candidates for technical roles,” said Danielle Pavliv, SAS Chief Diversity Officer. “We are dedicated to creating a pipeline of future talent that represents the diversity of our world through outreach, targeted recruitment and programs like the HBCU Invitational.
The SAS Championship, a PGA Tour Champions event in its 23rd year in 2023, in collaboration with the PGA Tour and the Black College Golf Coaches Association, created the HBCU Invitational in 2022. The inaugural edition was the first event of its kind to have student-athletes from HBCU schools compete at the same time and location as the pros from the PGA TOUR Champions. Fans could watch both events simultaneously and the weekend culminated with the HBCU Champions taking photos with 2022 SAS Champion, Fred Couples.
The 2023 field will include seven women’s teams and 10 men’s teams playing in the three-round event. The seven women’s teams will compete in one division. Howard will try to defend its 2022 title while North Carolina Central and Prairie View A&M also return. Alabama State, Bethune-Cookman, Delaware State and North Carolina A&T round out the women’s field.
“We’re excited to return to the SAS Championship HBCU Invitational and continue to watch it grow,” said Miles head coach and President of the Black College Golf Coaches Association Leonard Smoot. “This is a great opportunity for our student-athletes to compete in a professional setting along with allowing them to learn more about opportunities after golf.”
The men’s Division I group will be headlined by defending champion Florida A&M with North Carolina Central also returning. Alabama State and Prairie View A&M will be two of three schools with both its men’s and women’s squads competing while Arkansas Pine Bluff makes its debut in the Division I draw. The Division II group also returns its 2022 champion, with Smoot’s Miles College squad battling against returners Livingstone and Winston-Salem State as well as newcomers Johnson C. Smith and Fayetteville State.
Play will start on Saturday, Oct. 14 with competitors playing a pair of rounds on the Fairways Course at Prestonwood Country Club, which also hosts the SAS Championship. Competition will close on Sunday, Oct. 15 with a third round followed by the crowning of the men’s and women’s Division I and Division II team champions as well as individual champions.
In advance of the competition on the course, analytics giant SAS will host a Career Day on SAS Campus on Friday, Oct. 13. The student-athletes will tour the expansive SAS Campus, and participate in a series of panel discussions, seminars and lunch with SAS HBCU Alumni employees designed to help prepare the student-athletes for their careers after golf. The student-athletes will also have a chance to meet both their fellow competitors and the pros from the PGA Tour Champions during the Champions Cookout, which will take place on Saturday following the first two rounds of play.
2023 SAS Championship HBCU Invitational Field
Division I Men:
Alabama State (Montgomery, AL)
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (Pine Bluff, AR)
Florida A&M (Tallahassee, FL)
North Carolina Central (Durham, NC)
Prairie View A&M (Prairie View, TX)
Division II Men:
Fayetteville State (Fayetteville, NC)
Johnson C. Smith (Charlotte, NC)
Livingstone College (Salisbury, NC)
Miles College (Fairfield, AL)
Winston-Salem State (Winston-Salem, NC)
Women:
Alabama State (Montgomery, AL)
Bethune-Cookman (Daytona Beach, FL)
Delaware State (Dover, DE)
Howard (Washington, D.C.)
North Carolina A&T (Greensboro, NC)
North Carolina Central (Durham, NC)
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About the SAS Championship
For 22 years, the SAS Championship has provided countless memories for fans and attendees young and old as golfing legends have walked the fairways of Prestonwood Country Club each year, battling for one of the largest purses on the PGA Tour Champions. The tournament partners with the YMCA of the Triangle as the host charity and in those 22 years, more than $5 million has been donated to area youth educational initiatives. Championship week includes events to bring the community together, including the Championship 5K, Women’s Day, Food Truck Friday and the HBCU Invitational.
About the Black College Golf Coaches Association (BCGCA)
The BCGCA is a 501(c)3 that provides student-athletes from around the world with unique opportunities to compete in college golf while developing academic and interpersonal skills to compete in the “real world” on a global scale. The core of our efforts is to bring our team’s fresh ideas and passion to the range of activities we’re involved in. Through all of our endeavors, we hope to display the conviction behind our beliefs.
About PGA TOUR Champions
PGA TOUR Champions is a membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older, including 35 members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. The Tour’s mission is to provide financial opportunities for its players, entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back and generate significant charitable and economic impact in tournament communities. Follow PGA TOUR Champions online at PGATour.com, on Facebook, on Twitter (@Championstour), on Instagram (@pgatourchampions) and on TikTok (pgatourchampions).
