A Course of Their Own
Reviewed by J. Paul Leslie, History Department, Nicholls State University
MAY 31, 2005 archive
It was the golf shot seen around the world. Tied at five under par going to the sixteenth hole at the recent Master's Tournament, Tiger Woods chipped his ball from behind the green where it bounced on the playing surface, lost its momentum, and veered to the right. Slowly, the ball rolled up to the cup, where it appeared to pause, and then dropped in. From the gallery erupted a thunderous roar and, in his enthusiasm, Tiger clinched his fist, threw his arm into the air and hopped on the green in celebration. .
As most Americans know, Woods won and his victory enabled him to become the youngest golfer to claim four Master's Green Jackets. John Kennedy's A Course of Their Own reminds us that, before Tiger, there were many other black professionals whose abilities may have rivaled his but they never received the chance to play in the Masters nor in any other PGA sponsored events. Of course, golfing enthusiasts will recognize the names of black golfers such as Peter Brown, Lee Elder, Calvin Peete, Charlie Sifford and James Thorpe. But would they recognize the names of Pat Ball, James Black, Clyde Martin, Walter Speedy, Bill Spiller, Howard Wheeler, and Bill Wright. Probably not? Playing against black professionals, for example, Teddy Rhodes won at least 150 tournaments. Although he was born in 1910, Rhodes only began playing in PGA events in 1956. Before retiring, he entered 69 tournaments, finished in the money 24 times, and claimed nine top twenty finishes. It does not require too much imagination to realize that Rhodes' record of success would have been even more impressive if only he had begun playing in PGA sponsored events at an earlier period in his life.
In their desire to play, African American golfers, like Rhodes, had to face a problem inherent in the game of golf. A sport based on the concept of exclusiveness, in the early years of the nineteenth century before the emergence of public courses, players had to be members of a country club to play. Originally, the concept of a country club reflected the social and economic divisions within American society. The professionals were segregated to the pro-shop and the African American, to the kitchen or to the caddy shack. For a brief number of years before 1920, John Shippen, the son of an African American Presbyterian minister, challenged the divisions within golf's separate society. He established a playing relationship within the white world of golf. In 1896, he finished fifth in the U. S. Open at the age of eighteen; he played in four more Opens before becoming a "golfing instructor" at Shady Rest Country Club in New Jersey.
Shippen remained an exception within the realm of professional golf. After his exit from tournament competition, there were no black golfers to challenge the emerging white dominance of the game. But during the 1920s, as more African Americans took advantage of their newly discovered urban existence, golfing gained in acceptance. In fact, in 1924, two Washington, D. C. doctors, George Adams and Albert Harris, organized the United Gofers Association (UGA). Within a short time they were able to add twenty-six clubs to their organization to form a tournament circuit for both black amateurs and professionals. Without discussing the impact of the UGA, Kennedy suggested that its size and competitiveness became apparent. Fearing a challenge by black professionals, in 1934, the Professional Golfers Association codified the racism of the day at their annual meeting. In what began as an attempt by delegates from Michigan to exclude women ended as: "Membership in the PGA shall be limited to members of the Caucasian race, over the age of 18" (PGA Constitution and Bylaws, Section I, Article III.)
The establishment of an all-white PGA coincided with the growing determination of black golfers to mount a challenge for the right to make a living by playing professionally. Although the move was temporarily shelved by World War II, the post-War period witnessed a renewed determination to challenge golf's exclusive nature. Suits were filed and officials were confronted. Still, the PGA refused to drop the membership rules. Local officials became so adamant about being forced to admit blacks that tournaments were no longer held as open events but became "by invitation only." Throughout the controversy, George S. May of Chicago remained unique. A golfing promoter sui generis, he created the Tam O'Shanter extravaganza to bring the best golfers in the world to his course. As early as 1942, he invited both black amateurs and professionals to play for some of the largest purses on the tour. Using a carnival atmosphere, he highlighted not only the best in golf but also promoted the Army Relief effort; golfers were paid off in war bonds. In 1944, for a brief time, Calvin Searles excited galleries at the Tam by coming within five shots of leader Byron Nelson. At the sixteenth, the young man from New Orleans' game collapsed as he carded a sixteen and finished out of the money in twenty-fifth place.
Besides May's Tam O'Shanter, black professionals played regularly in the Los Angeles Open, the Canadian Open and, after 1951, the Phoenix and Tucson Opens. Additional opportunities emerged, especially after 1962 when the PGA repealed its all-white membership restriction. But the new opportunities to play, Kennedy claimed, did not remove the most subtle racist expressions that these golfers endured on the course. Often local officials refused to notify black professionals of their tee-off times, or called them boy, or refused to allow them to use the clubhouse facilities, particularly the locker rooms. In Phoenix, in 1952, a foursome that included Joe Louis and Charlie Sifford discovered that the cup on the first hole had been filled with human excrement. Later, in 1960, after an opening round of 68, Charlie Sifford was leading in the Greater Greensboro tournament in North Carolina. That night, he received threatening phone calls warning him not to show up the next day. Even after threats on his life, Sifford returned to the course and teed off in front of a group of hecklers who followed him around calling him "Smokey" and yelling other taunts in the middle of his backswing or his putting stroke. Calling it the toughest round he ever played, Sifford finished with a 72, and followed that with a 70 and a 75 to finish fourth in the tournament and collect a $1,300 paycheck.
As Kennedy so vividly pointed out, if one were black and wanted to play professional golf, he left the east coast or the south and moved to California. There, African American golfers found the opportunity to play and practice. Moreover, there existed increased opportunities to play for pay against the best golfers in the world and friends, such as the state's Attorney General, Stanley Mosk who used his office to pressure local PGA officials into removing racial restrictions on play. In California also, Maggie Hattaway switched from wanting to be a Hollywood starlet to writing scathing editorials for the Los Angeles Sentinel, attacking the PGA's segregated status and picketing tournaments that excluded blacks. This unsung hero of the Civil Rights movement, in the words of Kennedy, "spent twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, trying to get African Americans into tournaments." Finally, it was in California that the usually reserved Joe Louis openly chastised the PGA
An Assistant Professor of Communication at Rosemont College in Pennsylvania and a former reporter for the Boston Globe, John Kennedy has written a good introduction to the history of African American golf. Even though this is a reissue of an earlier edition (2000), very little new information appears to have been added. He collected numerous stories from published accounts as well as from interviews with individuals who provided an insight into over sixty years of racial injustice on America's golf courses. Kennedy's chapters follow a meandering chronology and serious readers will be distracted by his novel method of footnoting and his failure to include an index. However, these same readers should find Kennedy's work a first read in their quest to know more about the material. Readers should be forewarned that the reviewer found the author's parsimonious use of dates to be very distracting. More than once pages have to be turned backwards to find out what year the event occurred. Also, Kennedy would have made his work even more interesting if he had devoted additional space to the role that "hustling"played in the lives of African American golfers. There were many interesting characters that not only discovered a way to maintain a high level of play but were able to fill their bank accounts. They were exceptional golfers, both black and white, and a partial list of their names includes Moses Brooks, Titanic Thompson, Potato Pie (George Wallace) and Smiley Quick, who boasted to Doug Ford that he had won $250,000 in matches with Joe Louis.
Kennedy, John H. A Course of Their Own: A History of African American Golfers. Lincoln, Nebraska, 2005: University of Nebraska Press. 278 pp. Notes, Photos, and Afterword by Author. $15.95 (paper). ISBN: 0-8032-7819-5
Copyright © 2005 by J. Paul Leslie.