Mr. James Black turned 80 years old on May 28, 2022, and with every year of celebration, his legendary status is only shining brighter. Black was excellent at his sport and good enough to win tournaments on the United Golf Association (UGA) tour, the primary tour for Black players for decades. That’s where he met Joe Louis and Jackie Robinson, who played in some UGA events, and he took his game on the road, wherever it led him.
The former exceptionally skilled pro golfer had 11 career starts on the PGA Tour and won many times on the UGA Tour. A number of people familiar with golf would probably say that Tiger Woods was the first Black professional golfer to score a 67 in the first round of his first tournament. Woods did that in the Greater Milwaukee Open in 1997. Black, who was a self-taught caddy and child prodigy, accomplished that feat at the age of 21 at the L.A. Open back in 1964. That week, Black would finish in the top 10, one of two top-10 finishes in five PGA Tour starts that year, earning $2,425 in 1964 according to tour records—proving his ability to play at the highest level of the game, an opportunity many Black players were denied.
Black is also the only African-American golfer to win the Negro Junior, Amateur and Professional titles in UGA events.
He enjoyed his special 80th birthday surrounded by Terrell Osbourne and several other admiring guys at the Charlie Sifford Golf course in Charlotte NC. Avid golfer Terrell Osbourne arranged for the group to celebrate with Mr. Black for a birthday to remember. “Everything went well and PGA TourJames Black Talks About the Intertwining of Life & Golf was in good spirits,” said Terrell.
Happy birthday to the octogenarian Mr. James Black.
