Howard University’s golf program is back in action, opening its fall season at the third annual Bridgestone HBCU Invitational in Duluth, Georgia.
The men’s and women’s teams entered the tournament after the 2024–25 season, highlighted by the men’s back-to-back Northeast Conference Championship (NEC) title and the women’s runner-up finish at the NEC Championships. Junior Paris Fieldings also won the 2025 NEC Women’s Individual Title, making her the first Bison in school history to claim the title.
The Bridgestone Invitational is a 54-hole team and individual stroke play event hosted by Miles College. It was held Sept. 3-4 at Tournament Players Club (TPC) Sugarloaf and featured 10 HBCUs, including Alabama State University, Bethune-Cookman University, North Carolina A&T State University, Jackson State University and Florida A&M University.
The event began in 2023 as part of the Bridgestone Collegiate Development Program. The program focuses on elevating competition and providing mentorship and professional development resources to support diverse and underrepresented groups in golf. The initiative is connected to the PGA Tour’s Pathway to Progression, which focuses on building diverse golf talent.
The men’s team placed second overall with a combined score of 867 (+10). Junior Mathis Perroni tied for third overall with rounds of 70-72-69 for a 211 (-5), while freshman Francisco Perez placed fifth at 213 (-3) in his collegiate debut, securing Howard two of the top five spots on the leaderboard.
“This was the first tournament of the year, so we were all very positive without too many expectations, considering there are new players on the team,” said Perroni, an economics major. “It was really nice learning how we play together, and now we’re only going to improve.”
The women’s team also placed second overall with a three-round total of 904 (+40). Senior Marley Franklin led the Bison with a 220 (+4), finishing second in the 25-player field. Freshman Mia Melendez opened her collegiate career by tying for fourth at 226 (+10), followed by Paris Fieldings, who finished sixth at 227 (+11).
“Last season we fell short of the NEC title by one stroke, and that’s been our motivation going into this year,” said Franklin, a television and film major. “We want to make sure we finish on top because when we play as a team, we perform as a team.”
The North Carolina A&T State University women’s team and the Florida A&M University men’s team won this year’s Invitational, earning a trip to TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, for the HBCU Performance Experience presented by Bridgestone.
Head Coach Sam Puryear, who joined Howard in 2020 as the program’s first director of golf, has more than a decade of collegiate coaching experience, including stints at Stanford University and Michigan State University.
With support from NBA star Stephen Curry’s Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, Puryear has overseen Howard’s transition into Division I competition and led the program into national events such as the Bridgestone Invitational and the Jackson T. Stephens Cup.
Puryear is also recognized as the first African American head coach to lead a men’s golf program at a Power Five university, a milestone he achieved at Michigan State in 2008.
For Puryear, the season opener was an early test of chemistry with a roster that includes new players.
“We played four new players out of five, and I wanted to see how they interacted, traveled and overall worked together in competition,” Puryear said. “Now I know where we stand, and I’m very confident. We have an incredible group of young, talented men and women, and this will be a very exciting year.”
As the Bison season continues, the team will return to competition Sept. 15- 17 at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup at Shoreacres in Lake Bluff, Illinois.
Copy edited by Daryl R. Thomas Jr.
