Nearly all great Black golfers learned to play golf in the South!

“Did You Know”
Nearly all great Black golfers learned to play golf in the South!

During the early days of golf in the United States there were few opportunities for Black people to play golf. White golfers who had money belonged to clubs that accepted only White people as members. Only the large cities had public golf courses, and the ones in the South were open only to White golfers.

When it came to golf, Black people were mostly caddies. But, even as caddies with limited chances to play, some young Black men began to show promise as golfers. And, it was generally in the southern states.

Wanting to test their golf games against other golfers, Black players began scheduling tournaments, usually on public golf courses in the North where Black golfers were welcome. Before long there were more events with a bit of a schedule. Black golfers decided to form an organization named the United Golfers Association and have a yearly championship.

Their first championship was held at the Shady Rest Golf Club in Westfield, New Jersey on the Fourth of July weekend 1925. Harry Jackson, who was from Washington DC, won the 72-hole tournament with a score of 299, that edged out John Shippen by three strokes. Shippen, a veteran of six United States Opens where he had finished fifth two times, was beyond his best golf at age 45. On Labor Day weekend 1926 Jackson successfully defended his title at the Maple Dale Golf Club in Stow, Massachusetts.  The tournament became known as the Negro National Championship.

Two of the next three UGA Championships, 1927 and 1929, were won by Robert “Pat” Ball, who had grown up caddying at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta. Maple Dale’s host professional, Porter Washington, won the 1928 tournament. The 1930 and 1931 championships were won by Thomas Edison Marshall from Louisiana. Ashville, North Carolina’s John Brooks Dendy won in 1932. Then Howard Wheeler, a tall Black man from Atlanta playing cross-handed, appeared on the scene taking the 1933 title.

In 1934, Pat Ball won the UGA for a third time, and Alabama’s Solomon Hughes won in 1935. Dendy returned to the winner’s circle with victories in 1936 and 1937. The following year, 1938, Howard Wheeler won for a second time.

In 1939 the tournament was in Los Angeles, with California’s Cliff Strickland the winner. Georgia’s Hugh Smith won in 1940 and Pat Ball won his fourth NGA Championship in 1941. With the United States embroiled in World War II and gasoline being rationed, there were no UGA championships or even tournaments from 1942 to 1945.

With the end of WWII, golf was back. Wheeler, who was now living in Philadelphia and playing his golf at the city owned Cobbs Creek Golf Club, won the first three UGA Championships after the war, 1946, 1947 and 1948. Then a new man named Teddy Rhodes, who was heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis’ golf pro and chauffeur appeared. Louis paid Rhodes’ expenses and entry fees on the UGA Tour. Rhodes, who had as smooth a golf swing as anyone on any pro tour and dressed better, won the next three UGA Championships, 1949 to 1951. Along with that, at one point Rhodes won six straight tournaments on the UGA Tour.

Next it was Charlie Sifford, who had moved to Philadelphia and become Wheeler’s protégé, and by 1952 had taken over the NGA tour. Sifford won the UGA Championship for five straight years, 1952 to 1956. Rhodes grabbed a fourth NGA in 1957 and Wheeler a sixth on in 1958. Someone new to the winner’s circle, a school teacher from Baltimore named Dick Thomas, won in 1959. The next year Sifford won the 1960 UGA to tie Wheeler with six victories. Pete Brown took over in 1961, winning the UGA that year and the next year. And then it was Lee Elder who dominated, winning four NGA’s in five years from 1962 to 1967.

With the assistance of California Attorney General Stanley Mosk, Charlie Sifford had broken through the PGA of America’s “Caucasian Only” clause for PGA membership in late 1961. Black golfers could now become PGA members and try to qualify for PGA Tour tournaments.

Following Sifford and Brown on the PGA Tour with success were; Lee Elder, Calvin Peete, Jim Thorpe and Jim Dent. Elder was born in Dallas and then honed his golf game on the golf course at Fort Lewis, Washington. Elder won four times on the PGA Tour, and then won eight times on the PGA Senior Tour. Peete was picking beans on South Florida truck farms and selling jewelry out of trunk of his car when he began playing golf. Peete won twelve times on the PGA Tour and played on two Ryder Cup teams. Jim Thorpe was introduced to golf as a caddy in Roxboro, North Carolina. The son of a greenkeeper, he won four PGA Tour tournaments and 13 times on the PGA Senior Tour. Jim Dent grew up caddying at Augusta National Golf Club and Augusta Country Club. Dent won twelve times on the PGA Senior Tour.

Except for a professional from Massachusetts and one from Californian, every winner of the 40 UGA Championships began playing golf in a state south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Before they moved to Philadelphia, Wheeler played his early golf as a caddy in Atlanta at East Lake Country Club, and Sifford as a caddy at Carolina Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. Rhodes was a caddy at Nashville’s Belle Meade Country Club, and Pete Brown, who also won twice on the PGA Tour, was from Jackson, Mississippi.

It had to be more than a coincidence that most of the Black golfers who had success in tournament golf began playing golf in the South. It may have been because the well-to-do White people had second homes in the mountains or at the beaches, the golf courses were more available to the caddies during the summer months. Maybe the caddies could play more than Monday mornings. Maybe it was the “Great Depression” with many out of work and others working hard to survive that left golf courses open for caddy golf. Or, maybe being restricted from playing golf, made the young Black men even more determined to play the game.