SAS, OCTAGON, AND THE BLACK COLLEGE GOLF COACHES ASSOCIATION PARTNER FOR INAUGURAL “HBCU INVITATIONAL” TOURNAMENT AS PART OF 2022 SAS CHAMPIONSHIP
October 10, 2022
75 Students from 12 HBCU Schools to Participate in Two-Day, 54-Hole Tournament Alongside PGA Tour Champions Event, October 15-16
HBCU Invitational to Include Special Career Day and Champions Dinner with Tour Legends
CARY, North Carolina – October 10, 2022 – SAS and Octagon today announced a partnership with the Black College Golf Coaches Association (BCGCA) to host the inaugural SAS Championship HBCU Invitational as part of this year’s PGA Tour Champions event. The ground-breaking tournament is scheduled to take place alongside the 22nd annual SAS Championship at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, North Carolina, from Saturday, October 15 – Sunday, October 16.
The first-of-its-kind collegiate event will feature 75 students from 12 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) across the country to compete in a 54-hole team competition at the PGA Tour-sanctioned event. Men and women from each of the 12 schools will break up into 16 teams in search of claiming their very own SAS Championship trophy.
In addition to the tournament, the students will also participate in a special SAS Career Day event, “From the Course to the Office,” featuring insightful panel conversations with former HBCU students who now work at the software and services giant. The student-athletes will also join PGA Tour legends for an intimate dinner at the annual SAS Championship “Champions Cookout.”
Octagon, which has operated the SAS Championship for its entire 22-year history, will coordinate and manage the event.
“SAS has always been committed to education initiatives that promote learning for all and build a global community of innovators. We are dedicated to helping to create a pipeline of future talent representing a diverse population. With the widening skills gap in STEM-related areas, companies struggle to find qualified and diverse candidates for technical roles,” said Danielle Pavliv, SAS Chief Diversity Officer. “The inaugural HBCU Invitational is one way that SAS and the PGA are strengthening strategic partnerships with HBCUs to develop the diverse talent of the future.”
“The SAS Championship is one of the longstanding gems on the PGA Tour Champions, and Octagon is honored to work with our amazing clients at SAS, the PGA Tour, and new partners at the BCGCA, to bring this incredible event to life,” said Jeff Kleiber, Senior Vice President, Integrated Marketing, Octagon. “We are delighted to help shine a spotlight on these incredibly strong collegiate golf programs, while simultaneously giving these student-athletes the opportunity to not only compete on a Tour-level facility, but also the chance to learn from golf legends and industry-leading business executives.”
The student-athletes participating in the inaugural HBCU Invitational represent 12 HBCU schools, including Chicago State, Florida A&M, Howard, Johnson C Smith, Livingstone, Maryland Eastern Shore, Miles, North Carolina Central, Prairie View A&M, Savannah State, Virginia Union, and Winston-Salem State.
ABOUT SAS:
SAS is the leader in analytics. Through innovative software and services, SAS empowers and inspires customers around the world to transform data into intelligence. SAS gives you THE POWER TO KNOW.
ABOUT BCGCA:
The BCGCA is a 501(c)3 that provides student-athletes from around the world with unique opportunities to compete in college golf while developing academic and interpersonal skills to compete in the “real world” on a global scale. The core of our efforts is to bring our team’s fresh ideas and passion to the range of activities we’re involved in. Through all of our endeavors we hope to display the conviction behind our beliefs.
ABOUT OCTAGON:
Octagon is the preeminent global creative, integrated marketing, and talent management agency in sports, entertainment, and culture. The agency creates distinctive marketing campaigns for some of the largest brands and Fortune 500 companies across the globe and represents more than 900 of the most prominent and influential athletes, talent, and properties in the world.
With more than 1,000 employees worldwide, based in 50 offices in 20 countries, Octagon has consistently pushed the boundaries of the industry with ground-breaking marketing campaigns, experiential and hospitality services, industry-leading data, insight, and strategy capabilities, media expertise, as well as an unmatched talent management portfolio of the most high-profile and successful athletes and personalities.
– OCTAGON –