Sam Puryear: A Lifetime Focus on Maximizing the Potential of Young People
Samuel G. Puryear, Jr. was born in Winston-Salem, NC. He is a 1992 honors graduate receiving his bachelor’s degree in speech communication and theater from Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tenn.  During Puryear’s time as a collegiate golfer & team captain at Tennessee State University, he played under the leadership of Coach Dr. Catana Starks, the first woman to coach a men’s Division I golf team.

Currently, Puryear serves as the Director of Golf of the Howard University Golf Program in Washington, DC and serves as the president of PURYEARGOLF.COM and Pure Swing Golf Solutions, LLC. Puryear is a progressive entrepreneur with an in-depth knowledge of collegiate and professional golf. With more than 25 years in the golf industry, his specialties include junior golf development for collegiate placement, motivational speaking, mentoring students and coaching. He has extensive work in the non-profit industry specializing in fundraising, board development and organizational development. Puryear has worked extensively abroad with junior golfers and continues to work with golfers and their families in China, Taiwan, Dubai, Mexico and Uganda. He has helped to bring these players to the United States to play golf.

With more than a two-decade career in the game of golf, Puryear has contributed to maximizing potential in the young people that he has worked with and is an advocate for education & professional growth. He found a niche in developing golfers and mentoring new coaches, directing junior golf clinics and camps, adult golf instruction and private corporate outings. Puryear is also a recurring facilitator and coach for collegiate camps and Nike golf camps around the country.

Championships
Puryear’s coaching career has culminated in 1 national championship, 1 Big Ten Championship, 3 Coach of the Year honors, 1 PGA Works National Minority Championship, 1 MEAC Title,  2 Conference Carolina Titles and 2 South Atlantic Conference championships. More than 13 of Puryear’s former players have played in at least one professional golf event.

COACHING CAREER
In his professional life, Puryear’s coaching career began at Stanford University. Puryear took part in a process that saw the Cardinal jump from a No. 42 team ranking all the way to No. 1, according to Golfweek, the Nike Coaches Poll and Golfstat. In 2006, Stanford finished sixth at the Pac-10 Championships and tied for 14th at the NCAA West Regionals. One year later, Puryear helped the Stanford program reach a different level. The Cardinal won a school record seven tournaments and earned a No. 1 seed in the 2007 West Regional. At the NCAA Championship, Stanford captured the national title with a 12-stroke victory in Williamsburg, Va. In just two years at Stanford, Puryear recruited several top-ranked freshman, including Joseph Bramlett (2007 U.S. China Cup Team and 2007 Second-Team All-American) and Steve Ziegler (2007 Junior World Team). He also placed a heavy emphasis on player development as Rob Grube earned second-team All-America honors in 2007, after being an honorable mention selection the prior two seasons. In total, five Stanford student-athletes earned All-America accolades in 2007. After Puryear’s departure, his recruiting efforts continued to shine as the Cardinal finished 2nd and 5th in the next two seasons.

Puryear departed “The Farm” out in Palo Alto and transitioned to East Lansing, MI as the Head Coach of the Michigan State Spartans during the 2007 season. His four-year tenure at MSU included a Big Ten Coach of the Year nomination (2008), a Big Ten Championship title (2008), and two NCAA Championship appearances along with an individual qualifying for the NCAA Championship during his third season.

In addition to team accomplishments, Puryear’s MSU teams registered nine individual tournament wins and recorded double digit top 5 finishes during his four-year tenure. Puryear also coached the only Spartan in school history to qualify and play in the Masters Tournament. The Spartans golfers excelled both on the course and in the classroom. Students received All-America status, All-Academic Big Ten honors, and the teams gaining All-Academic recognition by the Golf Coaches Association of America. This award is given to programs that maintain a minimum team grade point average of 3.0 or higher. Puryear’s tenure at MSU as a Head Coach marked the first by an African-American at a major Division I BCS program in the history of NCAA collegiate golf.

Due to family illness, Puryear left MSU and moved closer to home and became the Director of Golf at Queens University in Charlotte, NC. He managed the men and women’s intercollegiate golf teams. He also led the university’s Professional Golf Management Program (PGM).

In Puryear’s first year at Queens, he led the women’s golf team to their first conference championship in program history. The Royals then repeated as conference champs during the 2012-13 season. The pair of titles remained the only in the program on the women’s side until the 2015-16 season which culminated with four consecutive victories, including the South Atlantic Conference Championship title. The Royals also touted SAC Player of Year, Grace Glaze, during the 2015-16 season, and she would go on to graduate as the best women’s golfer in program history. Glaze was one of Puryear’s first recruit.

The men’s golf team saw great success under Puryear’s tutelage as well. The men captured the 2012-13 conference championship title to give Queens a sweep of both the men’s and women’s titles during the same season. Additionally, Queens advanced to the 2013-14 NCAA DII Men’s Golf Southeast Regional and completed the season ranked 23rd in the country. That same year, Puryear was awarded SAC Coach of the Year honors. The men’s team won at least one tournament during each of Puryear’s six seasons.

Combined, the golf programs at Queens amassed more than 16 tournament victories during Puryear’s tenure. 

Samuel G. Puryear, Jr. has been a leader within the golf industry by touching lives and instilling dreams on the collegiate level and within the local community. Puryear’s started his career in the golf profession in 1998 as the Executive Director of the East lake Junior Golf Academy in Atlanta, Ga. From 1998-2006, he increased enrollment from 150 to 1,000 students. Understanding the importance of junior golf in a community, Puryear was a prominent spokesperson for the topic and directly impacted the revitalization of the East Lake community, which at one time was saturated with crime.

Puryear has raised more than $4M during his non-profit career.

He has extensive experience in developing boards and working with key leaders in sports, banking and finance, entertainment, the legal sector, the nonprofit arena, and faith-based organizations. These relationships have led to the recruitment of top-level volunteers and industry professionals.

Accolades and Achievements
Puryear’s accolades include being recognized by several media outlets as a prominent spokesperson discussing the future of minorities in golf. He has served on a golf panel on CNN. Puryear’s work with student-athletes has also been featured on ESPN, Inside the PGA TOUR, and the Disney Channel. His efforts contributed to a larger community revitalization in metropolitan Atlanta that was prominently featured in Fortune magazine, New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Puryear was featured with two former golf students on the Disney Channel in a segment promoting kids to follow their dreams.

In 2007, the mayor of Winston-Salem, N.C., Puryear’s hometown, proclaimed June 11 “Samuel G. Puryear Jr. Day” because of his contribution to the game of golf and the local community.

Puryear also served as a consultant for the making of the movie “From the Rough,” starring Academy Award nominees Taraji P. Henson as Coach Starks, Tom Felton of “Harry Potter,” and Michael Clarke Duncan from “The Green Mile.”

Puryear has amassed a bevy of accomplishments, but his biggest joy and the thing that truly makes him smile are his three amazing children and his family.