PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Prairie View A&M men’s golf coach Kevin Jennings never talks about winning.
“I put on the back of our T-shirts, ‘Trust the Process,’ and it’s strange how things work out from time to time,” said Jennings after his team wrapped up the school’s first team title at the PGA Works Collegiate Championship on Wednesday. “Yeah, it’s a great feeling.”
On a warm, windswept day, the Panthers erased a one-stroke deficit at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, first catching overnight leaders Howard University and then fending off Alabama State to capture the title by four strokes. Prairie View shot 18-over 306 in the final round, an effort bettered only by Alabama State (303). Florida A&M and Howard, finished third and fourth, respectively.
If it is true that winning breeds winning, the Panthers are on a roll, having recently secured its third consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference Golf Championship. When the victory string began in 2018—last year’s conference championship was canceled due to COVID-19—it marked the school’s first conference title since 1979.
“This is a good group,” Jennings said. “The other two championships that we won in our conference, the SWAC, they were a different type of win. We had ‘leaders,’ so to speak. At conference (this year), we were down 10 strokes after one round, they got it back to one stroke after two rounds – just like this – and that’s another reason I have confidence in my guys. They understand what to do and how to do it. And they went out and got it done, and it was truly a team effort.”
Lorenzo Elbert Jr., led the way with a final-round 2-over 74. Jordan Stagg’s round best exemplified the no-quit attitude of the Panthers. He overcame a triple-bogey at the par-5 ninth at TPC Sawgrass to shoot 3-under 33 on the second nine, including a chip-in for eagle at 16 and a birdie at the island-green 17th, en route to shooting 3-over 75.
“It was a rough start, but a good finish,” Stagg said.
“He and I had a little conversation between 9 and 10, ‘let’s get focused, let’s hit fairways and greens and trust the process.’ And we were able to hit more greens and more fairways and things started to happen,” Jennings said. “Sure enough, he was able to chip in at 16 and hit it tight at 17 – I’m sure he’ll remember that shot with a Sunday pin. He made a great up and down on 18, a true testament to the short game. Short game is like defense – it wins championships. And that’s a testament to what we work on every day, that’s what we start practice with.”
Isaiah Wilson (77) and Zane Brooks (80) rounded out the scoring for the Panthers. (Christian Latham’s score didn’t count.)
“That’s the thing about this team, it’s a true team effort,” said Jennings, who already was flashing his SWAC championship ring. “No one individual played the best that he can play, nor did all of them play the best that they can play. However, collectively, they got it done.”
Not only did the Panthers collect a trophy before leaving TPC Sawgrass, but they learned their season would continue at the NCAA Southwest Regional at the University of New Mexico, May 17-19. Prairie View A&M alum and PGA member Eric Clark, who was the tournament’s first medalist in 1987, may have summed up best what winning the PGA Works meant to the school when he said, “I might be happier than our team.”
