April 10, 2019
The United Golfers Association (UGA) was formed in 1925 by a group of Black businessmen to provide equal access and opportunity to the game of golf. The organization operated a series of golf tournaments for blacks during the era of racial segregation. Many talented golfers played on this tour, including Ted Rhodes, Bill Spiller, Pete Brown, Lee Elder, Willie Brown, Jr. and Charlie Sifford. At the time, the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) had an article in its by-laws stating that it was “for members of the Caucasian race.” When this by-law was repealed in 1961, the United Golfers Association eventually disbanded.
According to HomeTeamsOnline.com, Black golfers, like other Black athletes, not only had to overcome these hurdles but often they had to do so as individuals with little help. Additionally, the efforts for desegregation in golf happened at a much slower pace than compared to more mainstream sports such as baseball and boxing.
“The Champ”, Joe Louis himself became an avid golfer and advocate for equal rights in the game, helping the likes of Ted Rhodes, Bill Spiller, and Charlie Sifford become nationally-renowned figures within the African American community.
A significant period of development for Black golfers was the immediate post-World War II era, 1947-1954. Black golfers, many of whom were military veterans, struggled to play in white golf tournaments and on white courses, claiming that Jim Crow facilities under the “separate but equal” doctrine were inherently unequal. Ironically, in the context of the emerging post-war civil rights movement, Black golfers thrived in some regards.
The United Golfers Association (UGA), formed in 1925 as the United States Colored Golf Association, persisted and arguably reached its highest point of development in the post-World War II years as the black alternative to the Professional Golfers’ Association of America until the latter removed its exclusionary “Caucasian Clause” in 1961.
Journalistic coverage of Black golfers by leading African American newspapers in the post-World War II era was fairly extensive. The principal databases for this research project — the city edition of the Pittsburgh Courier and the national edition of the Chicago Defender, two papers with large readerships — had regular golf columns and player profiles. Both newspapers rigorously covered UGA events as well as efforts by Black golfers around the country to challenge segregationist policies and play on white golf courses.
YOU MAY LIKE: Heated Battle for Equal Rights on the Greens in Jacksonville, Florida Paved the Way for Many Other Black Golfers
At a time when civil rights issues, in general, were coming to the nation’s political forefront, the experience of Black golfers, and the coverage of golf by the Black media, highlight how Blacks continuously fought for equal rights in golf, while demonstrating, simultaneously, how they flourished in their own leagues in spite of Jim Crow restraints.
While World War II, as it did for most activities, disrupted golf play for years, in some ways it helped the game grow in African American communities. In the period preceding the war, there was a stark contrast as to how northern and southern blacks gained access to golf.
Northern Blacks, many of whom were wealthier than their southern counterparts, were generally not exposed to the game “until they became prosperous enough to enjoy it as a pastime.” Southern Blacks, on the other hand, were heavily involved in the game before and after the war as caddies.
Northern blacks generally had more disposable income to found their own clubs and create their own courses, but also played golf at Black colleges mainly in the south. Caddying gave southern Blacks the opportunity not only to golf regularly but to golf on white courses when whites permitted them to tee off.
Charlie Sifford, who was among the first Black golfers “approved” to play on the PGA Tour in spite of the PGA’s “Caucasian Clause,” recalled how the opportunity to caddy as a child in Charlotte, North Carolina heavily influenced his golf game: “to me and the other caddies, most of whom were Black, the golf club was like our little clubhouse…I knew everything about the golf course, like where the trouble was, where the bad lies were, which direction to best approach the green, and how each putt would break.”
As such, to those exposed to it, golf was much more an integrated part of a southern Black’s lifestyle, because often exposure meant direct involvement via caddying, working in a clubhouse, or in the exceptionally rare case, playing. In spite of being among the talented golfers of the pre-war period, southern blacks were constantly reminded that they were welcome and free to shoot on white courses as caddies, not as players of equal status to whites.
RELATED: Op-Ed: KKK Golf?
World War II, however, was an outlet that exposed Blacks to golf at a time when the game was still very much a niche activity – especially in African American communities. In the context of desegregation of the military, “during and after the war, Black soldiers and sailors enjoyed more access to courses on military bases, while Black middle-class citizens joined a growing number of private (although still segregated) clubs.” 11 Black celebrities such as (Joe) Louis helped expand the game’s popularity immediately after the war. Interestingly enough, the attention these celebrities gave to the game, in addition to social factors brought on by Jim Crow’s persistence after the war, continued to shift opportunities for Black golfers to the north.
Though southern Blacks continued to caddy, they faced greater limitations on where they could golf compared to northern blacks, who continued to found their own courses. UGA events were also, in general, regionally-bound northward.
Though the ultimate goal for Blacks was to play on the PGA tour, the UGA offered numerous opportunities for professional men, women, and amateurs to hone their craft. With tournaments in Washington D.C., Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Detroit among other locations, the UGA had somewhat of a national following and arguably reached its height of popularity during and after the 1947 to 1954 period.
Despite for the most part being geographically restricted to the northeast, the UGA continued to experience growth and success until the removal of the“Caucasian Clause” from the PGA bylaws. Most tournaments were held on less than stellar municipal courses, but the turnout by spectators and golfers alike was consistently high. In spite of many struggles, post-war Black golfers also had many opportunities.
YOU MAY LIKE: No Doubt! ‘He was a racist’: Legacy of Springfield golf legend Horton Smith faces scrutiny, PGA of America renames award
Heightened media coverage following the war gave golf an expanded audience in the black community, with UGA tournaments becoming significant social events. Pittsburgh emerged as one of the key tournament stops for Blacks on the UGA tour. In 1947, Pittsburgh Courier sports writer Wendell Smith, a future Baseball Hall of Fame member who traveled with Jackie Robinson, indicated that the year would “be a banner year for Negro golfers and the number of big tourneys being held across the country indicates that the game is growing by leaps and bounds within this particular group of people.”
Smith continued by addressing the increase of exposure to the sport due to the participation of Black celebrities, stating “where the game once attracted the idle rich and excaddies, it now has lured the likes of Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson, Ike Williams, Ray Robinson and many others…When such luminaries as those are bitten by the golf fever, others catch it, too.”
It was Joe Louis’s direct involvement in the game that helped other golfers break down color barriers. Among them was Ted Rhodes, in 1947 widely regarded as the best Black golfer in the country. Rhodes was heralded, after winning the Texas Open, Miami View Open, and Courier-Yorkshire tournament in Pittsburgh in 1947, as a year away from being able to “compete in the big tournaments against the best white golfers and hold his own.”
YOU MAY LIKE: Former PGA Senior Director of Diversity Wendell Haskins Sends Counter Letter to PGA Officers
Rhodes would soon try and make this dream a reality, fighting for his right to compete at the highest level.
Along with another prominent Black golfer, Bill Spiller, Rhodes demanded the opportunity to play in PGA events in 1948. He and Spiller sued the PGA and Richmond Golf Club because they were denied the opportunity because of their race. Spiller recalled how he and Rhodes had legitimately qualified for the event: “In the 1948 L.A. Open me and Teddy shot low enough to finish in the top sixty. According to the tour’s system, that automatically qualified us to play in the next tournament, up in Richmond [outside Oakland.] So we go up there and play a couple of practice rounds… [PGA national tournament director] George Schneiter comes over and says he wants to talk…I got to see the PGA by-laws. It said in there that membership was for Caucasians. I said it doesn’t say Caucasians had to qualify for the tournament.”
YOU MAY LIKE: Black PGA Pros Struggle To Find Jobs
Spiller insisted on taking a stand in spite of the great risk to his own career, arguing that the Caucasian-only clause not only limited Blacks from playing at tournaments but limited them from having steady jobs in clubhouses as instructors.
“They said if you work five years in a pro shop you get a PGA membership. But who was going to give me a job?
Bill Spiller, professional golfer
His and Rhodes’s persistence, along with the vehement insistence of Joe Louis, resulted in the PGA’s creation of “Approved Entries” (which would not even come to full fruition till 1953,) an alternative to full PGA membership allowing “select” golfers – in reality, Black golfers – to partake in PGA events. In retrospect, Spiller recognized that speaking against the PGA may have ruined his career but he refused to be bitter: “They said if you work five years in a pro shop you get a PGA membership. But who was going to give me a job? I was the one who spoke up. But I was disciplined. Golf teaches you that…[the sacrifice was] rewarding. It may not be monetary, but it has a lot to do with the things you represent.”
While Spiller’s and Rhodes’s fight for the right to play may have fallen short, continued efforts towards equal opportunity by others in the Black community persisted. However, there were some instances of a double-standard, even in the Black community, as women were at times excluded from tournaments. In 1947, coordinators of the Joe Louis Open, having just increased the purse for professional and amateur winners, rescinded invitations to women to play after allowing them to do so for the first time the year before. The main reason was apparently due to “several disputes center[ing] around women competitors…One particular that caused the committee to frown on the gals was the disturbance created by a young woman who denounced the prize she was given.”
In spite of instances like this, in general efforts towards equal opportunities in golf, both along gender and racial lines, progressed during the late 1940s and into the 1950s. In many instances, Black golf clubs reached out to white golfers to play in interracial tournaments, such as a tournament in Gary, Indiana in August of 1947 in which Blacks and whites competed at both the amateur and professional levels.
Unlike the Joe Louis Open, women were allowed to compete as well. In a few instances, Blacks succeeded in their fights for equal opportunity on the golf course. In September 1947, Charlie Sifford made news by playing in the MGA Golf Tournament in Boston, almost winning the tournament. Whereas mainstream coverage in papers such as the New York Times only rarely covered UGA events such as the National Negro Open, Black newspaper highlighted the accomplishments of the UGA golfers and Chicago Defender regularly did so.
Generally speaking, Black athletes had widespread support from Black journalists.
Coverage was largely geared towards the struggle for civil rights by both amateur and professional golfers, but at the same time, the UGA was largely heralded as one of the most prominent sports leagues. Generally speaking, Black athletes had widespread support from Black journalists. Sports such as track and field, tennis, and even bowling received national attention, as attempts were made to promote Blacks in all sports. While Jackie Robinson and, later, Willie Mays’s endeavors in Major League Baseball captivated Black audiences, many golfers were held in almost a similar light.
There is no question that Joe Louis’s involvement in golf contributed to the growth of coverage and popularity. The 1935 AP Male Athlete of the Year, Louis had broken stigmas of black inferiority through his courageous in-ring battles. Joe Louis’s iconic status followed him onto the golf course, and in turn led to the exposure of the pre-eminent black golfers such as Ted Rhodes, and later, Charlie Sifford.
Especially in northern cities such as Louis’s adopted hometown of Detroit, golf and the UGA continued to grow. The involvement and attendance of Black celebrities like Robinson and Louis at tournaments further contributed to the appeal of golf to Blacks all around the country.
By 1950, golf had dramatically increased in popularity and media coverage in the black community compared to only a few years earlier. That year, the Pittsburgh Courier expanded its coverage of the sport by implementing a ranking system based on the results of the sixteen sanctioned UGA events. Top Black golfers were ranked based on tournament records and positions. As Black communities across the nation displayed increased interest to the sport, efforts to integrate tournaments continued.
However, a 1950 tournament hosted by music legend Bing Crosby was marred by discriminatory practices, as Ted Rhodes and other prominent Black golfers were once again denied the right to play. Crosby himself was outraged and disappointed that Rhodes was not permitted to play, especially after Crosby received a letter from Joe Louis who voiced his displeasure at the entire affair. This particular instance of discrimination proved a catalyst for Louis to get more involved in the fight against racial discrimination on golf courses. The culmination of Louis’s effort to fight Jim Crow practices was the exclusion of Black golfers from the Long Beach Open in 1950. Renowned sports commentator Sam Balter questioned, “Does being qualified mean that [a player] has to be white?”
During the 1950s, as golf continued to rise in popularity among the Black population, increased attention was given to female Black golfers. Arguably the most prominent of the female Black golfers of the time was Ann Gregory, who “captured six of the seven tournaments in which she played in [1950].” In spite of her immense level of talent, Gregory faced both the hurdles of race and gender simultaneously, and as such was not always recognized for her talent. In spite of being the UGA women’s champion in November of 1950, Gregory was notably left off a national list of the best women golfers: she “figured if she was good enough to beat the field for the [UGA] title, she was good enough to be ranked among those she whipped.” Because of her race, Gregory was not able to regularly participate in white events until later in the 1950s. Nevertheless, Gregory’s popularity was comparable to many adored male Black golfers at the time, and she is today heralded for trailblazing a path not just for Black women golfers but all female athletes.
As he had not done enough already to promote golf in the Black community, in 1952 Louis took a monumental step towards advancing the opportunities of his race to play the game. In January of that year, Louis challenged the Professional Golfers’ Association of America to be allowed to play in the San Diego Open. Frustrated with the constant exclusion of the members of his race from PGA events, Louis expressed that “it’s time this whole thing was brought out into the open…I plan to do it here in San Diego.”
At a time when America’s football, basketball, and baseball leagues were making consistent efforts to desegregate, Louis was upset that golf had stagnated behind when it came to integration. He exclaimed that “colored athletes are getting their chances to make good and are making good in all sports – and the PGA is just about the only holdout which doesn’t want to give our good golfers a chance.” Louis was unsatisfied with his experience in San Diego: he had brought along Bill Spiller and fellow amateur Black golfer Eural Clark with him, hoping that they would be allowed to tee off. Charlie Sifford recalled how only Louis was allowed to play due to having a sponsor exemption, and that because of PGA bylaws both Spiller and Clark were out of luck. The PGA rationalized that because Spiller and Clark were ineligible for PGA membership, they were barred from PGA competition. Of course, the reason for “ineligibility” was strictly race, not lack of playing ability or inability to play as PGA members, as the Black media argued.
Riled by the fact that his friends could not participate in the tournament, Louis persisted to challenge the PGA once again. After pressing PGA President Horton Smith to act, Louis succeeded in gaining Black golfers entry to the Phoenix Open in early 1952. This incident was extensively covered by the Black media: the PittsburghCourier’s Wendell Smith heralded Louis once more as a fighter for justice and a hero to his race. He characterized Louis as always being “a fighter for racial equality. He has always been an ardent advocate for equal rights in this country. The ex-champion has never gone around looking for “incidents” but whenever or wherever he has found them, Louis has put up his dukes and fought back in no uncertain manner.”
The 1952 Phoenix Open was a monumental event for Blacks, especially Black golfers, being one of the first times that Blacks were allowed to compete at, arguably, the highest level of competition. Complementing this was the effort of the top Black professional golfers not only to keep fighting to desegregate PGA events but at the same time to compete on the UGA circuit in order to keep up their game. For Black women, the UGA remained a crucial avenue for developing their game.
By the end of 1952, UGA mainstays Ann Gregory, along with Eoline Thorton, were considered by some to be the best female golfers of any race. The UGA tour remained the best opportunity for these golfers, and it continued to enjoy popularity while these fights for equality persisted. Pete Brown, a Black golfer who got started in the 1950s and would later join the PGA tour, argued that the UGA “launched my career.
Without the UGA, I never would have played competitive golf.” Similar sentiments were felt in 1952: Will Robinson, golf writer for the Pittsburgh Courier, highlighted how the organization put excess revenue to the growth and exposure of golf within the black community. He highlighted the UGA’s own expansion, citing how by 1951 the organization had “fifty-three clubs whose total individual memberships numbered approximately 8,235. Of this total, 6,873 were men and 1,362 women.”
The UGA’s 1952 National Tournament, played in Pittsburgh, was one of the most widely covered events both locally and across the nation. It continued to draw the top black competitors in addition to black celebrities to the event. The UGA tour remained a celebrated part of black America, still popular in 1953 and still offering unique opportunities for black golfers.
At the professional level, the top Black golfers from 1947-1954 performed at a level so high that detractors and critics could no longer ignore their athletic ability. Though the likes of John Shippen had broken ground decades before, the efforts of Joe Louis, Ted Rhodes, Bill Spiller, Howard Wheeler, and others both in the UGA and in limited action in white tournaments helped eliminate many obstacles for future Black golfers. Though only a few from this generation, including Charlie Sifford, were able to enjoy the benefits of this period of struggle, without the great play of these individuals, as well as their legal challenges, advancement to the PGA would have been even more delayed.
During this period, while it offered extensive coverage of many events, the Black media isolated specific individuals, cases, and tournaments as of superior importance. No figure had a more crucial role in the development of the sport than Joe Louis. Even as his boxing career was ending, Louis remained an African American hero who became the vanguard in the continuous fight for equal opportunity. Not surprisingly, the two events that drew the most media attention for Black golf writers during this period involved Louis: the San Diego Open and the Phoenix Open. In spite of the hardships that Louis and his fellow golfers felt during those tournaments – especially the Phoenix tournament – writers lavishly praised to the efforts of these men.
Despite these golfers’ pioneer efforts, Blacks certainly did not have a perfect experience in integrated tournaments; the presence of African Americans in golf, even to this day is fairly limited. But this does not mean that these efforts were in vain. The success of Sifford, Pete Brown, Lee Elder, and even Tiger Woods would likely have been more limited had Bill Spiller and Ted Rhodes not made the career jeopardizing decision to pursue legal action after the 1948 Richmond Open. Likewise, had Joe Louis not persisted in 1952 to play at San Diego and Phoenix, Black progress within and contributions to the game may have not received as much media attention.This, in turn, would have curbed Blacks’ exposure to the game and limited the opportunities of many of these golfers.
In spite of their, exclusion from the most prominent of events on the PGA tour, these Black golfers inspired other African Americans to pursue the sport with their play on the UGA tour. As with baseball, one argument made – both by historians and by the Black media of the time – is that the “negro leagues of golf” were just as if not more competitive than that of the white “major” league. Though the UGA was celebrated, many Black golfers refused to accept that segregation was their only option. As they fought for equal access, so did many less celebrated “everyday” citizens.
