PGA Professional Charlie Sifford may soon join an extraordinary group of icons and others as a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, according to ongoing efforts by those who love Sifford and love golf. The award recipients are usually announced around September/October and the actual presentation normally takes place in Washington, D.C. in November.
On July 31, 2014, Congresswoman Renee Ellmers (R-NC-02) released the following statement this afternoon after leading a bipartisan letter with Congressmen James Clyburn (D-SC), Spencer Bachus (R-AL), and John Yarmuth (D-KY) to President Obama, encouraging him to award a Presidential Medal of Freedom to golfer Charlie Sifford, the first African American to play on the PGA Tour:
“The game of golf was forever improved by the courage and determination of Charlie Sifford – one man who rose to become the first African American to play on the PGA Tour. He earned the right to play the sport he loved, and by excelling at the game, he ushered professional golf into a new era”
Click here to view the letter to President Obama on behalf of Charlie Sifford.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom, established in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy, is our nation’s highest civilian honor. The medal has been presented to more than 500 individuals who have made especially “meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.
Sifford, now 92-years old (born on June 2, 1922 in Charlotte, N.C.), is consider the Jackie Robinson of golf. Sifford broke the game’s stringent color barrier in 1961 when he became the first black athlete to compete on the PGA tour. His early exposure to golf came on the courses of North Carolina, where Sifford worked as a caddie. He earned 60 cents a day on the course—nearly of all of which went into the pocket of his mom to help keep the household going. He went on to win multiple Negro Open championships and challenging the Professional Golf Association’s whites-only rule. Sifford succeeded in desegregating the organization despite harassment and death threats, and was a contender in subsequent PGA tours.
Sifford wrote his 1992 autobiography Let Me Play. In 2004, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, just the 104th athlete and first African American to receive the honor. Then, in early 2009, came the creation of the Charlie Sifford Exemption, which allows for the invitation of a player to the Northern Trust Open (formerly the Los Angeles Open) who represents the advancement of golf’s diversity.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded by the President of the United States “for especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors”; it is awarded to individuals selected by the President or recommended to him by the Distinguished Civilian Service Awards Board.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is in the form of a golden star with white enamel, with a red enamel pentagon behind it; the central disc bears thirteen gold stars on a blue enamel background (taken from the Great Seal of the United States) within a golden ring. Golden American Bald Eagles with spread wings stand between the points of the star. It is worn around the neck on a blue ribbon with white edge stripes.
