More Than Just an Athlete: Tiger Woods (Part 2)

This is the second installment of a mini series on Tiger Woods. If you have yet to read part one you can find that here.

Before delving too deep into Tiger and what he has meant to the game, it would be prudent and necessary to look at the history of African-Americans in golf. Ever since the game crossed the Atlantic from Scotland in the late 19th century, golf has existed primarily within the exclusive domain of white America. Until the PGA dropped its color barriers in 1962, golf was surrounded by impenetrable walls of race and classist exclusivity. Furthermore, it was not until the early 1990’s that most private country clubs began opening their doors to blacks. Yet despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacles faced by blacks, they hardly stopped many from enjoying the game. Indeed, there is a rich history of blacks in golf. It is a history of a great number of black golfers who overcame racial prejudice to assimilate the game for themselves. From their efforts, a special and unique heritage of blacks in golf would emerge.

Despite shoddy historical golfing records, there is ample evidence to consider George Franklin Grant to be the first African-American golfer in the United States. It is not known exactly when Grant took up the game, but records from his daughter Frances indicate that she caddied for him during the mid-1880s.[1] Though Grant is known as America’s first black golfer, he is more famous for one of the game’s greatest inventions: the golf tee. In 1899, Grant was given patent number 638,920 for his invention that moved the game in a modern direction.[2]

Golf grew in popularity rapidly amongst whites but it was slow to catch on with post Civil War African-Americans. Indeed, it seems that from the very outset, White America would not welcome blacks on their golf courses. When the U.S. Open was set to be played at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on Long Island, white golfers came close to a boycott. They were acting out against the idea of competing against John Shippen, and African-American, and Oscar Bunn, a full-blooded Shinnecock Indian. Eventually, when the US Golfing Association threatened to hold the tournament with just Shippen and Bunn, the white players relented and reluctantly played.[3] By this time, blacks were enjoying the game with the same fervor as whites. But in the years following World War I, xenophobic and racist sentiment, combined with Jim Crow laws and socio-economic realities saw blacks excluded from nearly all municipal golf courses and private country clubs.[4]

Reacting to the joint restrictions of the USGA and all-white country clubs, Robert Hawkins, a golf enthusiast from Massachusetts, founded the United Golf Association Tour to foster competition among black amateurs and professionals.[5] The UGA was golf’s equivalent to baseball’s Negro Leagues and the Tour was a resounding success in the black golfing community. The UGA sponsored events throughout the summers, culminating with their major championship equivalent, the Negro National Open. Known affectionately in those days as the “Chittlin’ Circuit,” the UGA was home to golfers such as Teddy Rhodes, Pete Brown, Charlie Sifford and Lee Elder. “It launched my career. Without the UGA, I never would have played competitive golf,” said Pete Brown, who won the National Negro Open four times and would later go on the capture two victories on the PGA Tour.[6] Brown described the Tour as “a good time. It was not dog-eat-dog thing.” Indeed the UGA was a community, born out of racial times to provide blacks their own opportunity to enjoy the game they loved.

Charlie Sifford was certainly one of the Tour’s most popular stars. He was fun-loving and outstanding at golf, winning the Negro Open five consecutive times from 1952-56. Sifford ultimately bridged two eras by becoming the first black golfer on the PGA Tour. Sifford lobbied long and hard for over nine years before getting his Approved Tournament Player’s card in 1961 and full PGA Tour Membership in 1964. Sifford was courageous and a pioneer. He persevered through hecklers and death-threats to become the first black to win a PGA event—the Hartford Open in 1967.[7] Indeed, Sifford’s actions opened up the game for blacks due to his insistence that he be treated equally and fairly. Eight years after Sifford’s first victory, Lee Elder became the first African-American to tee it up at the Masters in 1975, the same year that Tiger Woods was born. Indeed, our pas is not as distant as we sometimes make it to be. The story of blacks in golf is a history rich in community, perseverance and courage. Indeed, men like Sifford and Elder did much of the foundational work that would allow Tiger to build an empire.

[1] Venita Robinson, “African American Culture and Physical Skill Development Programs: The Effect on Golf After Tiger Woods,” Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 33, No. 6, (July, 2003) 807.
[2] Ibid, 811.
[3] __ “Teeing Off: The History of Blacks in Golf,” Black Enterprise, (September 1, 1994)
[4] __ “Tiger Woods Cards a Bogey,” The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, No. 37 (Autumn, 2002) 60.
[5] __ “Remembering the old UGA Tour—All Black United Golf Association,” Black Enterprise, (September 1, 1997)
[6] Pete Brown, quoted in “Remembering the old UGA Tour”
[7] Ron Sirack, “Charlie Sifford to be the First Black Voted Into the World Golf Hall of Fame,” 14 June 2003, (4 May 2008)