Houghton Discontinues Men's and Women's Golf Programs
HOUGHTON, N.Y. – The Houghton College Department of Athletics has announced that men's and women's golf will no longer be offered as intercollegiate sports at the college.
The decision is effective immediately and will mean the cancellation of all remaining matches for the 2013-14 academic year.
"The current economic climate and ever increasing competition for students has caused colleges across the country to re-think how they best use their institutional resources. We all want to be sure that we are carefully investing our budgets in programs that benefit the most students and most directly impact the mission of our college," said Houghton Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics H. "Skip" Lord.
Lord said the decision was not an easy one, especially since it affects both staff and student-athletes. He pointed to several reasons why this move was the best for the college and department, including the number of student-athletes that would be affected, the potential impact on future student-athlete recruitment, the potential impact on the Empire 8 Conference, and the budget savings.
"It is our sincere hope that this move will position us to move forward in a stronger way with our continuing, strong commitment to the Empire 8," said Lord.