PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship Returned to TPC Sawgrass since 2021.
The tournament is Collegiate Golf's Most Diverse and Culturally Significant Championship.
And to kick things off, PGA of America Golf Professionals hosted a "Youth Day" for kids.
"You see a lot more representation on all of the tours. The PGA Tour, the Korn Ferry tour," said Kennie Sims, the Senior Director of impact for the PGA Reach Foundation.
The golfing world is changing.
"They have to see that, right? If they say it's for all, then we have to see all out here. And this is one of those events where all are here. All walks of life, all races, all ages now," said Mackenzie Mack, the Director of diversity equity inclusion and engagement for Topgolf Calloway Brands.
Back then, there was very little representation for minorities in the golf community.
So in 1986, the PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship stepped in.
"The reason it was formed was because more of the HBCU college teams were not invited to regionals, so this was their national championship for many years," Sims added.
Mack said the narrative has to change.
"My sister played division 1 golf as well," she added.
"We were usually the only two that were at events, so coming to this and other junior events, it was one or two other minorities in general".
According to the National Golf Foundation, 23% of all on-course are people of color.
This marks a new high in racial and ethnic representation.
"Those numbers don't look the same in the PGA Tour, or the LPGA and those numbers don't look the same when you walk in the golf shops around the country, so I think this kind of shows there's an opportunity for us to expand and grow and show people of color all around this country that there is place they can get involved," Sims added.
Here are some more numbers from the Golf Foundation:
In 2023, there were 6.1 million people of color on-course golfers. that's 1.4 million more since 2019.
The 2024 PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship is from May 6th to the 8th.
For more information on the Golf Foundation, click HERE.