by Sarah Wolff ’28 on October 2, 2025
Friar Sports
The 2025–26 season will mark a revival in Providence College athletics as they have officially reinstated the men’s golf program as an NCAA Division I varsity sport. The Friars had a golf team from 1960–2002 until the sport was dropped, along with other men’s programs, due to Title IX compliance. In revamping the men’s program, Providence is simultaneously creating a women’s varsity golf team. The revived men’s team is operating on a non-scholarship basis, and it is a way to strengthen the school’s overall competitiveness in the Big East and the expansion of all kinds of student athletes. The head coach of the new program is Lou Parente, who was officially named in October of 2024. Parente’s roster could be seen as relatively young or new to this level of competitiveness; however, that can be very promising. He has time to bring up his roster and build on it. The incoming class, announced in July 2025, includes three freshmen, three juniors, and two graduate students. The first graduate student is Logan Jaeger ’25, ’26G, who graduated from PC last year and was on the club golf team. In April 2024, he became a co-individual champion of the National Collegiate Club Golf Association, and in December 2024, he was a part of the team that won the National Collegiate Club Golf Invitational Championship. Jaeger will bring lots of experience and guidance to his team. The second graduate student is Kevin Legnard ’25, ’26G, who was also a part of the team that won the NCCGA Invitational, as well as the president of the Providence club golf team. The freshmen to look out for are Will Spring ’29, Callan Fahey ’29, and Liam O’Grady ’29. Finally, the juniors on the team, Joe Halferty ’27, Evan Buddenhagen ’27, and Campbell Skelly ’27, do bring prior competitive experience that should help the Friars stand out.
Although this is the first time in over 20 years that the program has been active, Providence has wasted no time getting some fall tournaments under its belt. Their first tournament was the Sacred Heart Fall Classic, where they placed No. 8 out of 13 teams. Then, just two weeks later, the Friars had already made great strides as they placed No. 6 out of 15 teams at the Ryan T. Lee Memorial Collegiate Tournament. Up next for them includes the UConn Invitational (Sept. 28–30) in Hampden, MA, the Bash in the Boro (Oct. 13–14) in Statesboro, GA, and the Crusader Invitational (Oct. 20–21) at Worcester Country Club. Reestablishing a varsity program from the ground up is—in just one word—tough. The team must build its chemistry and cohesion, be able to compete at a consistently high level, and with that, have the confidence to perform under pressure. There is no denying that the program entered with a strong momentum. The club team had huge success, including a national championship in 2024, and as that preceded the varsity switch, there is automatically an established team of culture and competitiveness. After more than two decades of inactivity, the Friars are teeing off once again, and expectations and intrigue for this team have not fallen short.