Howard University’s women’s golf team, led by Jamaican freshman Emily Mayne, won the 2024 WGOLF National Collegiate Championship title. All five team players ranked among the top 10 performers at the event. Freshman Emily Mayne from Kingston, Jamaica, excelled in her first collegiate competition, maintaining the lead throughout the three rounds of the tournament which was held last month.
Dominated the competition
The Howard University team dominated the 54-hole event and won by 40 strokes. The tournament was held at The Golf Club at Cinco Ranch in Katy, Texas, which is par 71 over 6,098 yards. The Bison team shot a 901, or 49 over par, with a first-day performance of 302, or 18 over par.
A first-year sensation and experienced history maker
Emily Mayne, who is studying business management at Howard, is from Kingston, Jamaica, and participates on the golf team as a full-time student-athlete. She expressed her commitment to enhancing the diversity in the game of golf and said she is excited to grow and develop her talents at the university. Mayne’s debut at the National Collegiate Championship event was described as “brilliant.” She led the team from beginning to end, with a +11 over par 224 in the three rounds of the tournament, including a +1 over par 72 in the first round for a first-place finish. Koranis Boonmadee of Chicago State took second place at one stroke behind Mayne. Mayne is no stranger to making golf history: in 2022, she brought Jamaica its first individual female title at the 34th Caribbean Amateur Golf Championships in Puerto Rico. She and teammate Samantha Azan were instrumental in the nation’s third-place finish.
Standout performances by Howard golfers
The other members of the Bison team also displayed outstanding efforts. Second-year student Morgan Horrell of Dallas, Texas, was third overall in the tournament with a 14-over par. Marley Franklin of Los Angeles, California, came in fourth. Franklin holds the current Northeast Conference (NEC) Rookie of the Year title. Howard junior Jada Richardson of Suwanee, Georgia, tied for fifth place, and Kendall Jackson finished ninth.
Looking forward to the next tournament
The victory of Howard University at the 2024 WGOLF National Collegiate Championship has motivated the team to target other tournaments.
Photo – Contributed/Howard University