Notebook: Golf pioneer Renee Powell to speak at Welcome Dinner

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – The 28th PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship begins Friday and runs through Sunday at PGA Golf Club.

The 54-hole, stroke-play Championship will feature over 200 student-athletes representing more than 40 colleges and universities. They will be competing for a National Championship in six divisions:

• Men's Division I
• Men’s Division II
• Men’s NAIA
• Women's Team Division
• Men's Individual Invitational
• Women’s Individual Invitational

PIONEER POWELL TO SPEAK: Golf pioneer and PGA Professional Renee Powell, one of only three African-American women to ever play on the LPGA Tour, will be the keynote speaker at the Welcome Dinner Thursday evening.

She is the daughter of the late PGA Member William Powell, the only African-American to design, build, own, and operate a golf course in the United States.

Powell made her professional debut on the LPGA Tour in 1967, and her first tournament was the U.S. Women's Open. She competed in 250 professional golf tournaments and won the 1973 Kelly Springfield Open in Brisbane, Australia, posting a final-round 67 to set a course record.

In 2011, Renee founded Clearview HOPE (Helping Our Patriots Everywhere), which is the sole year-round women’s military rehabilitative golf program in the country. The chapter currently serves nearly 60 female veterans from throughout Northern Ohio.

TITLE SEEKERS: Four of the six division champions from 2013 will return to PGA Golf Club to defend their titles:

• Robert Grant, Alabama State University – Men’s Individual Invitational
• Bethune-Cookman University (Daytona Beach, Florida) – Division I Men’s, Women’s Division
• Lincoln University (Jefferson City, Missouri) - Division II Men’s

Alexis Belton of Texas Wesleyan, who won the Women’s Individual Invitational and Talladega (Ala.) College, which won the NAIA Men’s Division, will not return to defend their titles in 2014.

CAREER EXPO TO OPEN WEEKEND: In 1990, a Career Fair was conducted for the first time in conjunction with the National 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. 

A variety of golf industry associations and companies will be on site Thursday afternoon, just prior to the Championship Welcome Dinner.

HIGHLIGHT SHOW TO AIR THIS SUMMER: The 2014 PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship highlight show will air on Wednesday, July 9 at 9:00 p.m. ET on Golf Channel.

Additional re-air times are Tuesday, July 22, at 2:00 p.m., and Wednesday, Aug. 11, at 2:00 p.m. All times are Eastern.