EAST CANTON, Ohio – Soon after Renee Powell was born in 1946, she started spending time at what her father referred to as a grass farm. At nights, he worked at a factory, and during the days he spent hundreds of hours converting a former dairy farm into a golf course.
So, it was only natural that at age 3, Powell started swinging clubs at Clearview Golf Club, the start of her journey to share her family’s powerful love of the game all over the world.
This week, Powell turned 70. She is the same age as the family’s historic golf course in East Canton, where she is the head pro following a ground-breaking career as the second black golfer in the Ladies Professional Golf Association.
Clearview was the nation’s first golf course designed and built by an African-American –- William “Bill” Powell. Today, it is one of just 13 golf courses owned or operated by an African-American (out of 15,500 courses in the United States), according to a list compiled by the African American Golfer’s Digest. Clearview is a public course owned by the Powell family’s foundation, the Clearview Legacy Foundation, and Renee Powell’s brother, Larry, is the club superintendent.
Just like her late father, Renee Powell is an ambassador for diversity in the game of golf. He started building the course in 1946 because upon returning home from World War II, he was denied access to courses because he was black. His daughter has actually been touting the sport for four decades, playing, teaching, designing golf apparel and managing golf courses. These days, she is courting women veterans, young people, novices and seasoned golfers alike to play a game that continues to impact her life.
That’s why she’s often tapped as a resource for a wide variety of causes, including the PGA of America’s national diversity committee.
“They’re trying to get more people of all colors and of all diverse backgrounds into the sport of golf because it’s lacking and golf needs to look more like what our country looks like, and currently it does not,” said Powell, who is among just six African-American women who have ever played in the LPGA. Powell was the second, following Althea Gibson. Cheyenne Woods, Tiger Woods niece, is the most recent.
On a recent morning, while sitting in the clubhouse at the golf course, Powell drank a cup of coffee and settled into cordial mode for an interview. She’s no stranger to attention, but that doesn’t mean she likes it. In an attempt to deflect attention from herself, she made it clear she first wanted to know more about the interviewer. As much as she’s a giver, she likes to be in control.
Powell rubs shoulders with royalty like princesses and kings and billionaires, and with stars like actors and actresses, but no glitter remains on her. She is most comfortable back home in Ohio with everyday people like her friends, who could care less about the several national and international awards she continues to accept, or taking time to encourage others to pursue their passions with a vengeance — kids and adults alike.
“Anything that you do, if you’re going to do it right, or be more than average, you have to apply yourself and do a lot of it,” said Powell, who recalls hitting between 500 to 1,000 golf balls everyday as a child, and started competing in tournaments at age 12. Her father was the only coach she ever had.
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