![]() There are far more male professional golfers than female, but we seem to be advancing further at this time. In the 1970’s, there were about a dozen blacks on the PGA Tour so, we have unfortunately gone backward in that area. So hard for me to imagine when there are only two on the PGA Tour, Harold Varner and Tiger woods. We have Sadena Parks, Cheyenne Woods, Mariah Stackhouse on the regular Tour and Ginger Howard on the Symetra this year. Looking at my career–from spending 13 years on the LPGA Tour where I was the second black on Tour after Althea Gibson–and now, I look at the LPGA Tour and there are four young ladies teeing-it-up in 2017 – 50 years after I first did. Hard for most to realize that these two clubs have been striving for 80 years, and, I want to say CONGRATULATIONS to both!! This year, two black organizations that hosted tournaments are celebrating 80 years of existence and both are women’s golf clubs: The Wake Robins and the Chicago Women’s. My mom was an assistant tournament director in the Midwest Division, so I had a chance to watch the workings of a tournament from a young age. The good thing about staying in the same motels and eating at the same venues is that one had the opportunity to get to know people like Joe Louis and the wonderful singer Billy Eckstine, both who too play these events Many of us stayed in Howard Johnson Motels because they were welcoming, mostly we ate at cafeterias. I can remember in those early days–in the late 50’s and early 60’s–we traveled only in the daytime to tournaments because it was safer than night travel. Most major cities had two municipal golf courses which allowed us to play their courses. ![]() The UGA, although a black organization, was open to anyone who chose to tee it up and participate in the tournaments. Every year, each member club hosted a golf tournament which consisted of a women’s division, men’s, junior (boys and girls) and many had a division for professional golfers.
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