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DULUTH, Ga. – Bethune-Cookman Women’s Golf welcomes five newcomers to the quad for the opening of the 2025-26 campaign under head coach Harry Stokes, as the Wildcats begin the new campaign at the third annual Bridgestone HBCU Invitational beginning Wednesday, Sept. 3, at TPC Sugarloaf.
The 54-hole event is an element of the Bridgestone Collegiate Development Program, a key initiative within the PGA TOUR’s Pathway to Progression, which aims to achieve greater diversity in golf through an increased focus on developing talent from diverse and historically underrepresented communities.
The Invitational includes three rounds of competition, culminating with the crowning of the overall men’s and women’s team winners on Thursday, September 4, who will earn a trip to TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, for the HBCU Performance Experience presented by Bridgestone.
Joining Bethune-Cookman is this year’s women’s field will be teams from Alabama State, Howard, North Carolina A&T and Texas Southern. As a course, TPC Sugarloaf will play as a par-72, 7,259-yard layout.
Live scoring for the Bridgestone HBCU Invitational is available here.
ABOUT THE COURSE
TPC Sugarloaf earned the coveted first place in the private club category of Golf Inc. Magazine’s “Renovation of the Year” award, designed to recognize the most outstanding golf course renovations and restorations completed in late 2019. Design, conditioning and a reverence for nature are the hallmarks of truly great golf courses, and TPC Sugarloaf’s three outstanding nine-hole layouts are no exception.
TPC Sugarloaf’s par-72, 7,259-yard championship golf course (also known as “The Stables and The Meadows” courses) was crafted to fit harmoniously with its surroundings on the site of the former Rollins Farm. Named by Golf Digest among the “Best New Private Clubs in the U.S.” when it debuted in 1997 and by Golfweek among the “Top 100 Best Residential Golf Courses for 2007-2008,” the course features tree-lined Bermuda fairways and a challenging layout featuring streams, lakes and hills.
The course includes a third nine, The Pines course. While these nine holes are slightly shorter in distance, The Pines course is every bit as compelling as The Meadows and Stables courses. All three nines offer four sets of tees on each hole, enabling golfers of all abilities to enjoy the subtle nuances and intricate design features.
WILDCATS IN THE FIELD
1. Lathika Krishna (Jr.) – Bengaluru, India
2. Reese Wilson – Chicago, Ill.
3. Skylar Kew (Sr.) – Dundas, Ontario
4. Lana Bowen (Fr.) – Ada, Okla.
5. Mia Bernier (Fr.) – Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
QUOTES FROM STOKES
“I am really looking forward to getting out there on the course and seeing some of the newcomers in action. I think this team has a lot of potential, and I expect us to get better as the season progresses. Starting this early in the fall portion of the season has been a bit hectic, but I think the team is ready to go out and compete.”
“I like the mixtures of veterans and newcomers, particularly freshmen, that we have on the team, and I think it’ll be really good for us to get into some sort of travel routine.”
“Lathika [Krishna], Reese [Wilson] and Skylar [Kew] have all looked really strong in qualifying, and I think they are poised to have a really strong year, individually.”
WILDCATS NOTEBOOK
• Bethune-Cookman welcomes five new student-athletes to the 2025-26 roster, including freshman Mia Bernier, Lana Bowen and Sanai Lambert.
• Transfers Lathika Krishna (LIU) and Reese Wilson (Butler) join the team with high expectations from Head Coach Harry Stokes.
• Skylar Kew averaged 86.33 last season, now holding a career mark of 84.93 in three seasons for the Wildcats.
• Last season, Kew ended the campaign 13th in the SWAC Championship.
• Harry Stokes is now in his fourth year at the helm in Daytona Beach, arriving prior to the spring in 2022.
• The last time B-CU competed in an HBCU Championship was the SAS HBCU Championship hosted by North Carolina Central in Cary, North Carolina, back in October 2023, with the Cats taking fourth place in the seven-team field.
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE CATS
Katie Robinson fired a final round 4-over 76, while sophomore Meeya Marquez fired a final round 79 with Bethune-Cookman taking third place overall in the 2025 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Women’s Golf Championships taking place at Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Oxmoor Valley.
Bethune-Cookman posted a final-round team score of 329 (+41) to complete the 54-hole championship at 996 (+132), finishing six strokes behind second-place Southern University (990). For the second consecutive season, Alabama State (970) claimed the team trophy.
Katie Robinson, a senior and the 2024 SWAC Individual Champion, led the Wildcats charge on the final day with an impressive final-round 76 (+4), tying for the second-best score of the day. Robinson’s consistent play throughout the tournament (81-81-76) earned her a third place finish at 238 (+22), just one stroke behind Alabama State’s Lucia Parada, who took second at 237 (+21). Meeya Marquez showed tremendous improvement in Wednesday’s final round, carding a 79 (+7) to move up the individual leaderboard. Marquez, who opened with rounds of 89 and 85, finished in a three-way tie for 13th place at 253 (+37), and produced her best round of the event in her final 18 holes of the campaign.
Also contributing to the Wildcats’ third place effort were junior Skylar Kew, who posted a final-round 86 to finish tied for 13th at 253 (+37), and senior Kamary Leaf who closed with an 88 to tie for 11th at 252 (+36). Another junior for the Wildcats, Ohio native Leiahnni Smith, rounded out the B-CU lineup with a three-day total of 327.
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