May 7, 2011
PORT ST. LUCIE, FL -- No matter where you put him along the Eastern seaboard, Fayetteville State's John Cole will find a way to be in contention.
Less than a week after finishing in a tie for seventh at the NCAA Division-II Atlantic/East Regional in Hershey, PA, to earn alternate status for entry into the NCAA National Championship, Cole enters the final round of the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship with the lead for medalist honors.
Cole, a freshman from Fayetteville, backed up his tidy first-round 73 with a 76 on Saturday at the Wanamaker Golf Course, good for a one-shot lead entering the final round on Sunday.
Cole, who has won three times, finished among the top 5 six times and finished in the top 10 eight times in his inaugural collegiate season, leads Lincoln's Kyle Brands (77-73-150) by one stroke and Winston-Salem State's Zach Sheets (79-72-151) by two. The Rams' Glendon Made (81-71-152) is three strokes behind.
Unlike week, when he played as an individual, Cole has some familiar company near the top of the leader board.
Fayetteville State got some strong play outside of Cole on Saturday as well. Lincoln Jackson (Jr., Southern, Pines, NC; 153) is right on the heels of the leaders and finds himself entering the final round in fourth place after rounds of 77 and 76.
Willie McClure (Jr., Fayetteville, NC) turned in a solid 77 after shooting 81 in the first round for a 158 total.
Other Broncos' scorers include Mike Wallace (Jr., Fayetteville, NC; 91-98-189) and Antonio Mayo (Fr., Jacksonville, NC; 96-100-196).
The Broncos shot 327 as a team after a first-round 322 for a 649 aggregate score. That puts Fayetteville State in fifth place, but the Broncos are only seven shots out of third. Lincoln, of Jefferson City, MO, (318-303-621) leads by one shot over Virginia State (315-307-622).
Celebrating its 25th year, the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship presented by Brown Capital Management originated in November 1986 following the Jackson State University Golf Tournament and has elevated golf in minority colleges and universities by providing opportunities to more players to compete in a national championship.
The 1986 organizational meeting brought together a significant group of founders: the late Dr. Herschel Cochrane, Dr. Joe D. Saunders of the National Negro Golf Association; Jackson State University Golf Coach Eddie Payton; Rose Harper-Elder of the Sports Management Institute; and William (Bill) Dickey, founder of the Bill Dickey Scholarship Association and recipient of the 1999 PGA Distinguished Service Award. The founders' goal was to provide a national stage for players from minority colleges and universities after being denied opportunities to compete in NCAA Collegiate golf events.
The inaugural Championship was conducted in the spring of 1987 at Highland Park Golf Course in Cleveland, Ohio. Since 1998, PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., has been host to the Championship, and in 2006, The PGA of America was granted complete ownership and management of the Championship by the National Minority College Golf Scholarship Fund.
