![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/218\/2022\/08\/mens-golf-inside-900.jpg\")
The $2.7 million endowed scholarship fund for the men’s golf program is one of the largest of any sport at Furman.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n The fundraising effort began in February 2014, when Furman announced it planned to eliminate the men\u2019s golf program. But before that could happen, a number of alumni, including many former men\u2019s golfers, approached the Furman administration to discuss saving the program.<\/p>\n Former Paladin golfers Frank Ford \u201974 and Rob Langley \u201905 were among first to begin to the fundraising efforts. The original goal was to raise $330,000 to cover the program\u2019s operating costs for the following two years and then begin to raise money to endow men\u2019s golf scholarships.<\/p>\n \u201cWe obviously wanted to save the program, and we knew we could raise $330,000 in short order, but we always had our sights on the larger goal of endowing the entire program so that it could once again compete at the highest levels nationally,\u201d said Ford.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were happy to save the Furman men\u2019s golf program, but we ultimately want the program to provide opportunities for young men all over the country to compete at the highest level of Division I golf and receive a great education,\u201d said Langley. \u201cThis combination of competition, discipline and learning has pushed Furman men\u2019s golf alumni into leadership positions all over the world. The program is important to us, but more importantly, it is important to keep it in place for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n After the initial goal had been reached, the men\u2019s golf advisory committee, which consists of professional golfer Brad Faxon \u201983, Heyward Sullivan \u201959, Jeff DeLoach \u201999, Fred Stubblefield \u201986, along with Ford and Langley, undertook a three-year campaign to raise an additional $2.7 million, establishing one of the largest endowed scholarship funds of any sport at Furman.<\/p>\n The completion of the goal was made possible by the Stubblefields, who were inspired to issue the \u201cStubblefield Challenge\u201d in January 2015. The couple made an initial gift of $600,000 and then made a challenge to the men\u2019s golf community. If Furman supporters would collectively contribute another $1 million, the Stubblefields would make an additional gift of $450,000.<\/p>\n Men’s golf coach Todd Satterfield said it was “nothing short of amazing” what the program’s alumni have accomplished in the last three years.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n On Dec. 31, 2016, the Stubblefield Challenge was officially completed. According to Clint Hill \u201903, Furman\u2019s director of athletics development at the time, the men\u2019s golf committee recruited nearly 100 donors over a two-year span, raising $1,003,259 to meet the challenge and support the men\u2019s golf endowed scholarships.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t an easy road, and there were many phone calls, meetings and emails discussing the process of the fundraising effort and how to meet the Stubblefield Challenge,\u201d said Furman Athletics Director Mike Buddie. \u201cThe men\u2019s golf advisory committee was relentless in its effort and expectations, and they deserve a standing ovation for their service to Furman.\u00a0 They put their money, time and hearts toward this effort. They truly made this happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Faxon, who is assuming the presidency of the men\u2019s golf advisory committee from Ford, is excited about the future of the Furman program.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is incredible to see how far we have come in the past three years but we aren\u2019t satisfied yet,\u201d said Faxon, a 34-year PGA Tour veteran and current golf analyst with FOX Sports. \u201cOur goal is to return the program to the highest level of competition. Furman has world class golf facilities, great weather and a stellar academic program. With the appropriate funding, we know we can compete at the highest level and we will continue to work diligently to build the scholarship endowment so that the experience that I was able to have is available to future student athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n Todd Satterfield, the men\u2019s golf coach at Furman, said, \u201cIt\u2019s been nothing short of amazing what our alumni have done to support our current and future players. I will always be grateful for their efforts and look forward to the continued effort to endow all of our scholarships.\u201d<\/p>\n For more information, contact Julie Pare at 864-303-3200.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A little more than three years ago, the men\u2019s golf program at Furman University was on the verge of being eliminated. Today, the program has made a remarkable comeback. Sparked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":17287,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-stories"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/218\/2022\/08\/mens-golf-inside-satterfield-900.jpg\")