February 4, 2021 | BY AAGD STAFF
All Access Golf will host their 2021 Black History Month program “Blacks In Golf” on February 25, at 7:00 p.m. (ET). The topic of discussion will focus on the Story of Shady Rest Golf & Country Club and golf professional John Shippen. The virtual event includes a documentary screening on John Shippen, who made history as the first American-born golf professional (Black or white) and the first American to compete at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island in 1896.
The virtual event will begin with a documentary film on the life of John Shipped and be followed by a panel discussion which includes:
- Sylvia Hicks, Chairperson, Preserve Shady Rest Committee
- Thurman Simmons, Chairman of the John Shippen Memorial Golf Foundation
- Gary Jones, former caddie at Shady Rest Golf & Country Club
- Sheenah Pergeron, president, Scotch Hills Golf Course
VIEWERS CAN JOIN THE ZOOM MEETING AT
https://bit.ly/2Mz6aJR
Shady Rest is a little 9-hole golf course located thirty miles west of New York City is the first African American Country Club in the United States and was the home of John Shippen, Jr., the first American-born golf professional. A Black Man.
In 1931, John Shippen Jr. became the head professional golfer and groundskeeper for Shady Rest, a capacity in which he served for more than 30 years before retiring in 1964.
The golf course is now owned by the town and known simply as Scotch Hills Golf Course, but it was once a thriving Black-owned country club and focal point of African American middle-class society in the early 20th Century. Shady Rest Golf and Country Club is now a largely forgotten example of a time in history when Black people had to carve a niche in a space where we were actively barred from participating in.
The remnants of this clause are still felt to this day with low minority interest, access, and participation in the sport. So, to recognize this man’s mere existence would contradict the longstanding racial tropes, stereotypes, and beliefs that are as intertwined in our society as the fabric of the American Flag. To recognize this man’s existence would shake the foundational core of the belief that this sport is inherently “white” when, in fact, the game of golf in America was pioneered by a Black Man.
Shady Rest regularly held golf tournaments organized by the United States Colored Golf Association such as the first National Colored Golf Championship in 1925. It also held high-level tennis tournaments and was a frequent stop for Althea Gibson, a tennis great, and the first African American to win a Grand Slam title.
All Access Golf is a Brooklyn (NY)-based organization that increases the accessibility, relatability, and visibility for minorities in the sport of golf. Started in 2018 by Kelley Pierre (CEO), Winston Gordon (COO), and Leonard “Lenny” Brown (CFO).
