Furman announced last month that, thanks to donations from golf alumni, the men’s golf team will be able to continue operations, reversing the Board of Trustees’ decision to cancel the program for budgetary reasons.
The university will also be setting up a scholarship endowment fund with alumni donations.
At a meeting Feb. 7, the Furman Board of Trustees originally deliberated and voted on which programs to amend or cut for the upcoming 2014-2015 school year, ultimately deciding to cut varsity men’s golf.
Director of Athletics Gary Clark and Interim President Carl Kohrt referred to the discontinuation of the men’s golf program as an unfortunate but necessary course of action in light of the university’s budget deficit.
However, the affiliates of the men’s golf program received support from generous men’s golf alumni. Many of the alumni, such as former All-American golfer Brad Faxon, made considerable donations to keep the program operational in the short term. The donations will be put towards an endowment that will help pay for scholarships for male student golfers.
Clark originally stated that an endowment of $9 million would be necessary to keep the program operational, but after discussions among the alumni and the Board of Trustees, the committee settled on a new number. However, this amount has not yet been released publicly.
In the university’s press release, Richard Cullen, the chair of the Board of Trustees, explained the trustees’ position on the reinstatement.
“We said at the outset that the initial decision was not an easy one, but necessary to ensure that Furman's resources support its core mission,” Cullen said. “This plan maintains our position. The goodwill with which the alumni have approached us, their genuine concern about the university's well-being, and their commitment to the tradition of golf at Furman has been inspiring."
Since the reinstatement of the golf program, Furman placed 11th in the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Invitational and 14th in the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational. This past weekend the team finished in fifteenth place at the Linger Longer Invitational in Greensboro, Ga.