(photo: SaveHiawatha18.com)
November 19, 2019
The 80th Annual Upper Midwest Bronze Tournament was held in Minneapolis on July 27, 2019. Organizer Darwin Dean is passionate about the popular outing but the Hiawatha golf course on which the tournament is played offers an even richer and intriguing history.
The Upper Midwest Bronze Golf Tournament was originally called the Minnesota Negro Open Golf Tournament. It was started in 1939 by Jimmie Slemmons and run by him for several decades. Thaddeus Nicholas and Dick Kelly took over the running of the tournament from Jimmy Slemmons. In 2012, Darwin Dean took over the responsibilities for the tournament.
From 1939-1990’s, the tournament was played on 3 Minneapolis golf courses:1939 Armour Golf Course (now Francis Gross golf course)
- 1940-1941 Theodore Wirth Golf Course
- 1946-1967 Theodore Wirth Golf Course
- 1968-1990’s Hiawatha Golf Course
The first tournament was held in 1939 at Armour Golf Course. The next year it moved to Theodore Wirth Golf Course. During World War II, the tournament took a hiatus but resumed again in 1946 at Theodore Wirth Golf Course.
The Annual Bronze Tournament attracted an array of golfers and celebrity participants such as heavyweight boxing champ Joe Louis, Alice Landry and Ann Gregory, who at the time was known as “The Queen of Negro Women’s Golf,” and who was also the first African American to play in a USGA national championship. Louis won the tournament in 1957 at Theodore Wirth Golf Course. The winner of the woman’s division that year was Ann Gregory, thought the be one of the best female black golfers in the history of golf.
Located at 4553 Longfellow Avenue on 140 acres in south Minneapolis, the 18 hole, 73 par regulation course sits next to Lake Hiawatha. It offers lots of amenities today: locker room, snack bar, free wireless Internet, golf lessons, practice green, FoodGolf, leagues, and more. During winter months there is cross-country skiing, lessons, and snowshoe rentals.
The Hiawatha golf course is a municipal course managed by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. It was built when dredging began in 1929. Over 1.2 million cubic yards were dredged out of the previously swampy Rice Lake area creating Lake Hiawatha on the 28th Ave. side. The course was created on the west shore of the lake using the dredged fill material. The clubhouse was built in 1932 for $14,864. The course opened in 1934. Extensive remodeling to front nine holes in 1993 and the back nine holes in 1999 have given Hiawatha patrons of all abilities a Championship-type golfing experience.
Hiawatha Golf Course has been the host facility to many MGA, MWPGA, National Pub-Links, and State Amateur Sectional Qualifiers. The golf course has an enormous amount of character and since it is located in the heart of South Minneapolis, it is easily accessible from all directions. Hiawatha also boasts City Pages’ “Best Golf Course” in 2004 and 2008 as well as Best Park Readers’ Choice for 2009.
Below is a short video of Darwin Dean on the preserving of a historically black golf course where the Bronze Tournament was/is played. Dean talks about the historic significance of the Hiawatha Golf Course in Minneapolis and the impact it would have on the African American community if it were to be lost.
Read more about Hiawatha Golf Course at SaveHiawatha18.com
