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In celebration of National Golf Day, the Police Athletic League of Buffalo (PAL) announced the opening of registration for its summer golf clinics. This initiative, in partnership with First Tee Western New York, is designed to introduce youth ages 5-17 to the sport of golf, providing them with invaluable skills and experiences while fostering a love for the game.
Recognizing the need for greater accessibility, Buffalo PAL is committed to diversifying the game by reaching out to underserved communities. Through ongoing initiatives like Buffalo PAL’s golf clinics, youth golfers are now more diverse than the overall golf population. A 2023 report by The National Golf Foundation highlighted a 40% increase in junior golfers since 2019, the largest gain of any age group. Through the summer golf clinics, Buffalo PAL aims to continue breaking down barriers and creating opportunities for youth to explore the world of golf.
“The Police Athletic League of Buffalo provides opportunities for youth to engage in various sports and activities that expose them to new experiences and broaden their outlook on sports recreation,” said Nekia Kemp, executive di rector of The Police Athletic League of Buffalo. The game of golf can improve quality of life, as it has many physical, emotional, and social benefits. We are grateful for our partners at First Tee Western New York, who will help coach our youth at the golf clinics. We encourage parents to enroll their youth in this summer program before it reaches capacity.”
The summer golf clinics will consist of five sessions on Mondays at the Delaware Park golf course. Partici pants will receive expert in struction from golf coaches, who will teach them fundamental techniques and etiquette essential to the game. With a limit of 100 slots available, parents are encouraged to register their youth promptly to secure their spot. The summer golf clinics will begin on July 15.
“First Tee Western New York is excited to partner with Buffalo PAL to offer free golf clinics to the youth of Western New York”, said Timothy Karches, execu tive director of First Tee Western New York. “This collaboration exemplifies our commitment to making golf accessible to all, re gardless of background or financial means. By joining forces with Buffalo PAL, we’re able to reach even more young people in our community, providing them with valuable life skills, mentorship, and opportunities for personal growth through the game of golf.”
In addition to youth programming, Buffalo PAL offers opportunities for game of golf. As part of their spring lineup, adults can experience golf simu lation at the last spring Golf Social Mixer on May 23 downtown at Buffalo Golf Social. Adults looking for an authentic or more competitive experience can attend Buffalo PAL’s Annual Golf Classic, which will take place on Sunday, June 9 at Glen Oak Golf Club. The event offers a day of friendly competition and camaraderie.
For more information and to register for the summer golf clinics, please visit The Police Athletic League of Buffalo website at buffalopal.org.
National Links Trust Celebrates Black Golfers With ‘Uneven Fairways’ Documentary Screening
By Amber D. Dodd,
Special to the AFRO
adodd@afro.com
Charlie Sifford smiling as he wins the 1969 Los Angeles Open, 13 January 1969. Photo: Ben Olender, Los Angeles Times / Wikimedia Commons.
The AFRO – BlackPressUSA – To celebrate Black History Month, The National Links Trust (NLT), a non-profit organization created to protect and promote municipal golf courses, showed the documentary “Uneven Fairways” on Feb. 20. The screening took place at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill.
“The legends of Black golf have forged for inclusion at the highest levels of golf competition for all people,” said Damian Cosby, executive director of NLT.
Released in 2009, Uneven Fairways is narrated by actor Samuel L. Jackson, an avid golfer whose activism and work in Black communities stretches back to being a student at Morehouse College in the 1960s.
The film highlights the pantheon of Blacks – from Pete Brown, the first Black golfer to win a PGA Tour event at the 1965 Waco Open, to Jim Thorpe, a 75-year-old golfer and Morgan State University graduate with 21 professional wins – who reflect the vanguard of Black golfers who were barred from the professional ranks but persisted in the sport until the PGA’s racial barriers ceased in 1961.
Peggy White, the daughter of Ted Rhodes appeared in the documentary, too; Rhodes was widely considered to be the greatest Black golf player before Tiger Woods’ emergence. Rhodes did not get a chance to compete on the PGA Tour.
“I don’t think my father was aware of the trailblazer he was,” White said. “He had a dream that he would be the finest golfer in the world, but I don’t think he realized he accomplished that goal.”
Throughout the film, golfers detail how the PGA’s color barrier was upheld by a longstanding clause in the PGA. From 1929 to 1961, Article III Section I of the PGA’s handbook stated that, “Male professional golfers of the Caucasian race, over the age of eighteen (18) years, residing in North or South America, who can qualify under the terms and condition hereinafter specified, shall be eligible for membership.”
While the documentary tells the story of the individual experience of being Black in golf, Uneven Fairways also highlights the founding of the United Golf Association, commonly known as the Chitlin Circuit, which provided Black golfers opportunities to compete.
“Black people, being very resourceful, wanted to play, and so in 1925, a group of Black businessmen met in a YMCA in Washington, D.C. and basically said ‘Well, PGA won’t let us play on their tour, so we’ll start our own tour,’” said Pete McDaniel, author of Uneven Lines: The Heroic Story of African-Americans in Golf.
Later that year, the first National Negro Open was contested.
The Chitlin Circuit served as an incubator for many of golf’s first popular Black players and served as fertile ground for future golf giants.
Speaking to the documentary’s name, golfers talked about the conditions of golf courses that UGA players conducted golf tournaments on, citing shoddy landscapes and uneven grounds, usually played on municipal golf courses.
“One of the reasons why I love municipal golf is that it brings people together,” Cosby said. “It’s the easy way to get a young Black kid who’s probably never seen as much green grass on a golf course to keep them out there. That’s what I love about it; it connects people to the game and brings people to the game.”
Inclusivity was no question for the UGA. Black women were automatically members of the association. Renee Powell, the second Black woman to participate in the LPGA tour, who spoke about her admission into UGA as a teenage golfer, was mentioned in the documentary.
“All the young Black golfers, that’s where they played,” Albert Green, a UGA/PGA player, explained. “Lee Alder, Charlie Sifford, Calvin Peete, Teddy Rhodes, that’s where those guys got their start.”
Ron Terry called the Chitlin Circuit a family affair, “It was a tour where you got to know everybody,” he said. “It was more like a fraternity than anything.”
Many mentioned how players supported one another in efforts on and off the course.
“We all traveled together anyway, so we helped each other…if you were hungry, we’re going to feed you, we weren’t going to let go around hungry,” Leonard James explained.
Members often paid for and provided their own resources, which they were happy to share with others.
“They were going to eat because I always carried electric pots with me and a frying pan,” James Black joked back.
Although an alternative league was created, it was still very clear that the color line imposed barriers that didn’t impact White athletes.
“It was a joy to be around but it was separate, totally separate and not equal,” said John Merchant, a former USGA executive committee member.
Though golfers made their own efforts to break the color barrier of the golf world, the documentary shed light on how Joe Louis, the former heavyweight champion broke the color barrier in the PGA-sanctioned tournament in 1952 San Diego Open. Louis spoke against the PGA as they would become the final major American sports corporation to integrate Black athletes.
Louis’ son, Joe Louis Barrow Jr., spoke on behalf of his father’s racial contributions in both boxing and golf. “If you ask any of those older golfers, the reasons they’re playing golf today, or throughout their career is because of Joe Louis,” Barrow said.
Along with streaming Uneven Fairways, NLT specializes in restoration of municipal golf courses, including the Langston Golf Course in Northeast D.C. which highlights their mission of exposing more youth of color to the game of golf via public golf courses.
“For us at NLT, we personally have a special connection to this story, Langston was built for Black players in the age of segregation,” Cosby explained. “It opened in 1939 and is one of the oldest Black golf clubs in the country.
Black Achievements in the Game of Golf
By Michael Dean
In the game of golf there is also a history timeline filled with events that were chronicled and have a place in history. Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA.
NNPA NEWSWIRE — Dr. Carter G. Woodson conceived the idea of “Negro History Week” in 1926 and worked long and hard over the years to see that the week be extended. The week-long event officially became Black History Month in 1976 when U.S. president Gerald Ford extended the recognition to “honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” Black History Month has been celebrated in the United States every February since. In the game of golf there is also a history timeline filled with events that were chronicled and have a place in history. Here are a few:
The Arizona Republic published a piece titled, “How Black History Month Came to Be” on Sunday that was written by Amaris Encinas of USA TODAY. The article focused on the month-long commemoration created to reflect on the past, acknowledge the continued struggle for racial justice and draw inspiration from the achievements of African Americans. Dr. Carter G. Woodson conceived the idea of “Negro History Week” in 1926 and worked long and hard over the years to see that the week be extended. The week-long event officially became Black History Month in 1976 when U.S. president Gerald Ford extended the recognition to “honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” Black History Month has been celebrated in the United States every February since.
In the game of golf there is also a history timeline filled with events that were chronicled and have a place in history. Here are a few.
In 1896, John Shippen became the first Black golfer to play in the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills where he worked as a caddie at the age of 17. He tied for sixth place and won $10.00. Shippen is the first Black Golf Professional.
In 1899, Dr. George Grant, a dentist invented the modern wooden golf tee.
In 1922, Joseph Bartholomew began his career as a golf course architect by creating a new course at Metairie GC in his native New Orleans. Because of the color of his skin, Bartholomew was never allowed to play the course because of racist practices. In 1926, the same year that Black History Week was established, Robert Hawkins held his first tournament for Black golfers and in 1928 he created the United Golf Association which provided a place for golfers who were excluded from PGA events because of the color of their skin.
In 1939, Clyde Martin was named head pro at Langston, a segregated golf course, in Washington, D.C.
In 1946, William Powell, with aid from two Black doctors and his brother, began building Clearview GC in East Canton, Ohio. The nine-hole course was opened in 1948 and Powell became the first Black to build, own and operate a golf course. Another nine holes were added to the site in 1978.
In 1948, Bill Spiller began his fight against racist practices by the PGA Tour that wouldn’t allow Black golfers to participate. That same year, Teddy Rhodes became the second Black golfer to compete in the U.S. Open Championship that was held at Riviera CC in Pacific Palisades, CA.
In 1956, Ann Gregory became the first Black female to enter the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
In 1957, Charlie Sifford won the Long Beach Open, an event co-sponsored by the PGA and in 1961 became the first Black player to earn a PGA TOUR card after the “Caucasian Only” clause was struck from the bylaws. He went on to win the 1967 Greater Hartford Open and the 1969 LA Open, both PGA TOUR events. Sifford became the first Black golfer inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004 and in 2009 the Northern Trust Open created the “Charlie Sifford Exemption” specifically to increase diversity in the game. Today the event is the Genesis Open hosted by Tiger Woods.
In 1963, Althea Gibson became the first Black to compete on the LPGA Tour.
In 1964, Pete Brown became the first Black golfer to win a PGA-sanctioned event, the Waco-Turner Open. In 1970 he went to the winner’s circle after winning the Andy Williams Open in San Diego.
In 1967, Lee Elder earned his PGA Tour card after finishing 9th out of a class of 122 golfers. He began playing the tour in 1968 and in 1974 won his first tour event, the Monsanto Open. After the win Elder received and accepted an invitation to play in the 1975 Masters. He was the first Black golfer to be invited. In 1979, Elder was a Ryder Cup participant, another first for the storied golfer.
In 1975, Calvin Peete joined the PGA Tour and distinguished himself by becoming one of the most consistent golfers ever. Peete had 12 tour wins in his career and led in driving accuracy for ten straight years, 1981- 90. His greatest accomplishment was winning the PLAYERS Championship in 1985. Peete was the second Black golfer to participate on the U.S. Ryder Cup Team in 1983 and 1985.
In 1986, Harold Dunovant established the National Black Golfer’s Hall of Fame. That same year, the Minority Collegiate Golf Championship was established to elevate the game for primarily minority colleges and universities because the schools were denied opportunities to compete in NCAA collegiate events. More next week.