Two weeks after winning the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament in golf, the Paine College men were supposed to be bidding for the school's first national championship this weekend.

Instead, the team is in disarray after athletic director Ron Spry informed the players of the school's decision not to participate in the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship, a 54-hole event which began Friday in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The Lions officially withdrew Thursday.

"The athletic director told us the school wasn't going to fund it because it was an 'unnecessary expenditure,' " freshman Sean Lucas said. "It's frustrating. We won the first golf championship at Paine. That's enough reason, I believe, for us to play in the tournament."

Spry said the decision came down to limited resources at the end of the fiscal year.

"I guess I'm not very popular with the golfers right now," he said. "It's regrettable, but the decision was made. As athletic director, I share information sometimes that individuals don't want to hear."

Lucas, an SIAC All-Conference first-team member, left Thursday for his native Los Angeles with plans to transfer. He said freshman Daniel Augustus, a SIAC second-team member, planned to leave as well.

With the graduation of senior Antwan Hawthorne, a SIAC All-Conference first-team member, Paine could end up losing its top three golfers.

After winning the SIAC tournament Paine was expected to be one of the favorites in this weekend's event, where they were fourth last year.

Then, coach Fred Summers, who didn't return phone messages left by The Augusta Chronicle, told his players of Spry's decision.

Spry met with the team Thursday morning. He informed them personally of the decision and told them he was going to do everything in his power not to let this happen again.

"I plan to meet with the necessary people to assure our golf team they would not be faced with this in the future," Spry said.

"But it's like anything else. You've got to have protocol and go through the proper channels. So I'm going to do my part as a supporter and as athletic director that they won't have to face this, hopefully, in the future."

David Usry, the head pro and general manager at Forest Hills Golf Club, was surprised to hear the news.

"I've never heard of such," he said. "Usually when a team makes it to the national championship, the college sends them.

"Can you imagine Augusta State doing something like that?"

Hawthorne's father, Charlie Bussey, questioned the timing of the decision, because the school knew for two weeks the team had qualified for the championship.

"All of this is last minute," Bussey said. "The coach told me if he'd known, he could've done something different."

Lucas claimed Spry had a grudge against the golf team.

"It seems like it was something more so on the personal level with the athletic director and the golf team being successful," Lucas said. "It's super-frustrating. I've heard from upperclassmen the athletic director is the type of person to deprive you of whatever you've earned."

Spry said that's not the case.

"I would not waste my time or energy to prohibit any individual or any sport from being successful," he said. "I think common sense for anyone would know as athletic director you'd like to see all your programs successful, because it enhances the institution, the community and your leadership."