For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7
I was proud to see Tiger Woods being one of the shining stars at the Masters Golf Tournament this year. During his stellar career he has won at least 75 professional tournaments, and has garnered over $800 million in prizes and endorsements.
But, was it always like this for Black golfers? Ostensibly not. After looking into the matter, I learned that there were many others who laid ground work for Tiger and his contemporaries of color.
To paint this colorful picture, let me present a succinct timeline for Black golfers based on various sources, primarily BlackThen.com and Blackpast.org:
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The Shady Rest Golf & Country Club (1880) in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, becomes the first African American golf club in the United States. I am told it was an essential stop on the Chitlin Circuit for Black entertainers.
John Matthew Shippen Jr. is recognized as the first African American professional golfer. I consider him a pioneer. He achieved this distinction when he competed in the U.S. Open in 1896. He got his start by working as a caddy, an instructor, and a repairman at Shinnecock Hills golf course. He subsequently went on to design and sell his own golf clubs. The PGA granted him posthumous membership in 2009.
Born into slavery, Junius Groves took full advantage of his new freedom. He went on to become one of the most prosperous Black men in America. He, his wife and their 12 children produced the most bushels of potatoes per acre of anyone else in the world in 1902. In fact, the Union Pacific Railroad built a tract to his property because of his shipping quantity. He created a town called Groves Center in eastern Kansas that included a golf course for African Americans.
United Golf Association, formed by and for Black people in 1925.
Lil Willie Adams, numbers runner (bolita), businessman and venture capitalist was part of a team who financed lawsuits around 1944 all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court for integration of Baltimore Maryland’s golf courses.
Bill Powell was the first Black person to design, construct, and own a professional golf course (1946) in the United States.
Theodore “Ted” Rhodes was a trailblazer. According to legend, he paved the way for other African American golfers by touring the circuit sponsored by the United Golfers Association (UGA). In 1948, Ted sued the Professional Golfers Association for its “Caucasians only clause.” Astonishingly, he won. After closely reviewing that case, I learned that the PGA would settle out of court, but changed its tournament policy to that of “invitationals.”
According to the Library of Congress, Althea Gibson, was a Florida A&M University graduate who eventually became the first Black athlete to win accolades in both international tennis and golf. Of course, most people know she won tennis titles like the French Open, Asian Open, and Wimbledon titles (personally receiving the trophy in 1957 from Queen Elizabeth), some of us may not be aware that in 1964 she also became the first Black woman to join the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour.
Leonard Reed may be most remembered as an entertainer who co-created the famous Shim Sham Shimmy tap dance routine that has been replicated by dancers the world over. Even so, he was a close comrade of boxer Joe Louis during the heavyweight’s efforts to break down golf’s color barrier. Notably, they helped force the PGA to abandon the “Caucasians Only” clause in its charter in 1961.
Dr. Earl Miller was the first African American board-certified urologist west of the Mississippi river. While practicing general medicine in Columbus, Georgia, during the 1960s he was an active leader in desegregating the city’s golf courses.
James Baccate, a Gullah Geechee historian, and others visited Jekyll Island State Park seeking fun in the sun. They were denied access to the golf course. He and the NAACP filed a desegregation lawsuit in 1964 and won. Coincidently, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act that same year.
Lee Elder was the first African American to break the color barrier and play in the Masters Golf Tournament (1975).
During his 20-year career on the PGA Tour, Calvin Peete finished fourth on the money list in 1982. When comparing Black golfers, he had 12 wins, a record that would be surpassed only by Tiger Woods.
Renee Powell is one of only seven women, and the only Black to be inducted into the Royal and Ancient Golf Club located at St. Andrews, Scotland (2015). As most folks know, that place is considered the birthplace of golf.
Based on an article in The New York Times Upfront magazine we affirm the landmark ruling from the case, Plessy v. Ferguson (1892), was one of the most consequential. As a result, the U. S. Supreme Court endorsed the “separate but equal” clause.
It segregated populations in public facilities based on race, while not giving full consideration to racial practices that caused Black people and other minorities to be excluded from tax sponsored venues such as golf courses and country clubs.
Nonetheless, the lone dissenter on the bench, Justice John Harlan, a Caucasian, wrote: “In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful.”
Because of folks like him, we can all partake in the true meaning of the U.S. Constitution as it states “all men are created equal in accordance with the law.”
Even at playing golf.
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