EDWARD S. WANAMBWA

Blog: August 2013

SERGIO GARCIA’S REMARK
TO TIGER WOODS

Edward. S. Wanambwa
Senior Editor
African American Golfers Digest

As the Senior Editor of the African American Golfers Digest and as an African American male in the United States of America, I am appalled and extremely offended by the recent remarks made by professional golfer Sergio Garcia. Garcia made these remarks in response to a question posed to him concerning Tiger Woods and their much-publicized verbal battle in the media after the 2013 Players Championship.

His comments were not only inappropriate, and hurtful they were racist and insensitive. In this day and age comments of this nature have no place in society and certainly not in the game of golf. Sergio’s remarks are reminiscent of similar remarks made by professional golfer Fuzzy Zoeller after Tiger’s win at the 1997 Masters Tournament. Moeller’s remarks were wrong and hurtful then and sixteen years later the racial tone associated to Sergio Garcia’s remarks are just as inappropriate. Comments of this nature dredge up thoughts of a sad and disgraceful period in this country’s history not only to African American’s but to people of all races and walks of life.

I am sure that Sergio Garcia and his team will draft a response to his actions and work diligently to address this issue in a timely manner. However, Garcia will not a get a pass from me. Regardless of how off the cuff or stupid his comments were they point to his mindset and to a racist belief system that he possesses. It is clear that Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia have always had a tenuous relationship at best both on and off the golf course, but the comments uttered by Sergio Garcia clearly cross the line of basic decorum and decency.

I call on Sergio Garcia and his sponsors to take immediate and appropriate action to rectify his actions. A failure to issue a sincere and meaningful apology will only cause this regretful situation to get worse. The fact that Sergio Garcia isn’t willing to admit to the racist overtones of his comments only goes to show his lack of concern and sensitivity about the struggles, challenges and painful history of the African American experience.

Sergio Garcia’s press conference soon afterward did very little to change my mind or my views on this sad and unfortunate situation. I urge both TaylorMade Golf, Adidas Golf and Sergio Garcia’s other sponsors to address this issue immediately and make sure that the players who represent their brands don’t possess such racist and insensitive mindsets and attitudes.

Let me know your thoughts on this. Find me on Facebook.

Edward S. Wanambwa

Doug Smith

Blog: June 2012

“My Letter To The Industry”

The letter below is very special letter to me. I wrote this during a very tough time in my life. When I wrote this piece my mom was losing a year long battle with pancreatic cancer. My mom passed 3 days after the date on the letter … she listened as I read this to her that evening. February 24, 2009 was the day I stopped chasing my dream, it was also the same day
I lost my best friend.

I recently watched Uneven Fairways: A Discussion on The Golf Channel, and my mouth dropped. I was appalled upon hearing answers that were given, by a panel of “experts”, in an attempt to explain why there is not more minority representation in professional golf.

Money and lack of talent development were the two main factors voiced by the panel as the achilles heel of minority involvement in golf. I am writing this letter to briefly give a firsthand account of my experiences trying to make it in to the professional ranks.

I believe I am more than qualified to speak on this subject matter since I am a 25 year old, Florida A&M University graduate and former golf team member. Also having played golf at the University of Louisville, not to mention 2005 Independent Division Medalist at the National Minority Collegiate Championship qualifies me to speak on the subject at hand.

I was not born to a rich family, but my parents would have sold the shirt off their backs to see me succeed in golf – they damn near did, a few times. In my case, financially, I was limited to statewide and area tours as well as coaches. My family couldn’t afford to send me to the Leadbetter Academies, Jim Flick, Jim McClean or to see Dr. Bob Winters unlike my white competitors. I played junior tours from my 6th grade year clear through to my senior year of high school and never had the company of my own race in the field. It bothered me at first, but I got used to being the only Black kid.

Local and state wide tours are all fine and dandy, but college coaches want to see how you stack up against players from around the country. I came from a family where both of my parents worked. It would have been a difficult task for them to miss work just to take me to golf tournaments. Now contrast my dual parent household to a single parent household that many minority children face each day. It was tough for me to get to tournaments, it would have been twice as difficult for a single parent to fund a junior golf career.

As a youngster I was unaware of the bigger tours like Ajga, FCWT, orthe IJGT until my senior year in high school. I never knew about tournaments like Junior World or the U.S. Junior Am until I was too old to compete! Had it not been for the National Minority High School Championships, along with the Bill Dickey Invitational and the Toledo Minority Golf Association tournaments my name would have never drifted beyond the borders of Kentucky.

Speaking for me and hundreds of other minority players around the country talent was never the issue, it was a lack of opportunity to display our talents is the reason minority players go unnoticed . I believe there are more families out there that do not know about various avenues that can be taken to get their child nationally known, just like mine.

I graduated high school in 2003 without a golf scholarship or a place to play, but I was fortunate enough earn a scholarship through academics to the University of Louisville. Due to the cold, like in most mid-west states, play is suspended from mid-November to the end of February, if we are lucky. In those months I did not miss a beat. Although I was not playing golf I stayed very active in the sport by mentoring members of the Louisville Urban-League Youth Golf Program during the first semester of my freshmen year.

Once weather broke I began taking lessons from the Head Golf Professional at The Cardinal Club in Simpsonville, Kentucky. The Pro was surprised to see the talent I displayed without going to the bigger named coaches in the country, which is a testament to the coach I had received lessons from at local practice facility.

Call it good fortune or sheer happenstance the Head golf pro at Cardinal Club was also the assistant golf coach at Louisville and set up a tryout for me with the Head Coach. Cardinal Club was 32 miles from the dorm I lived in. I remember meeting the Head coach and him saying, “So you’re the guy I’m here to see”, half surprised that the buzz was created from a Black kid from Versailles, Kentucky.

As well as the story began all was not well for me at Louisville. The first qualifying rounds I did not play good golf at all. Truthfully, I did not know how to actually play the game. The coach was gracious and patient with me knowing my road to the team vastly varied from the polished players he had recruited. With time and some hands on attention from coaches and fellow teammates, I was competing in qualifiers by the third tournament of the year. During a series of qualifying rounds I actually earned a spot to travel, but I was not afforded the chance.

I was called in to coaches’ office one morning after workouts and was congratulated on my good play, but notified I would not be traveling because he believed I was, “Raw Talent.” He made me aware that may game, though good, was not good enough to travel with the team.

Earning a spot to play after walking-on to a program meant the world to me. I thought I had finally arrived and all the mornings of hitting ball before and after class in high school had paid off. But in the blink of it an eye it was all taken way. Being told you were not going to be able to do the very thing you had worked and strived for devastated me.

In the following semester my effort put into golf dwindled then almost stopped. I had no incentive to continue to work as hard as I had, because there was going to be no pay off for it. Noticing my flat-lining efforts the coach told me that my performance in amateur tournaments during the upcoming summer would be the deciding factor to determine if I would have a position on the team for the 2005-06 season.

I learned how to play golf at the University of Louisville. I learned how to play the “game”. I learned the elements of course management, and how to pick a course apart. I learn how to manage my emotions as well as develop my shot shaping abilities. I am thankful for the time I spent in Louisville and the lessons learned while there, but I believed I was better than raw talent. So I decided to transfer and play golf where I felt I would be appreciated, so I went to Florida A&M University.

As I listened to the show, I heard Pete McDaniel talk about creating academies to teach youth how to play the game, sign them up to play in bigger tournaments in an attempt to increase minority participation in Division I athletics. All players that were not as developed should attend HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). I had the opportunity to do both, being on both sides of the fence HBCU’s lack vital things necessary for players to be successful:

1. Structured Programs
2. Adequate practice facilities
3. Booster funding
4. Manufacturer recognition

We can send players to our HBCU’s, but if the programs in place are not structured to help advance the player what good is it going to? It is not uncommon for coaches at HBCU’s not play college golf; in actuality few of them have formal training in golf. Not taking anything from the coaches as a people or their efforts exerted, but how is a coach with no firsthand playing experience going to help guys get to the tour?

Now, there are schools that have coaches with playing experience like Edward Waters College, but all HBCU’s cannot be coached by legends like Calvin Peete. Often time’s golf coaches at HBCU’s merely schedule tournaments, buy clothes, and drive to the tournaments, that coincide with the other roles they play for the university. Without basics things like scheduled practices and structured and team workouts, how are historically black colleges and universities programs going to produce tour caliber players?

I enjoyed my time at FAMU. I was able to do some great things because of FAMU that I will be eternally grateful for, but I believe the great players ascend upward from the programs from which they come. The schools that have structured programs and money, that is funneled in through booster donations, create tour players.

There is no lack of skilled black players, I am one of them, but trying to make a jump from the college to the professional ranks is hard. If I were asked the question how to increase minority involvement in the professional ranks, I would stop giving so much attention and funding to programs like that First Tee (which are great, I love the First Tee and all that they stand for) and put some money in the pockets of the players that have proven themselves to be worthy adversaries from the HBCU’s.

On the show the panel discussed this notion of “Black Wealth” amongst the endowed members of the black community making the case that blacks need to ban together and back players with potential. If this were the case money should pooled together and put behind players like Doug Smith, James Petty, Willie Mack, Carl Corbin, Joshua Wooding, and the list goes on and on. Where are the pioneers?

How are they helping people like Bill Dickey and Ernie Ellison help the progress of black golf? There is a sea of black players out here that are good enough to play professionally other than Kevin Hall, Stephen Reed, and Tim O’Neal, but they are not getting a chance to display their talents.

People wonder where the influx of Black players is since Tiger Woods burst on the scene 11 years ago. I’ll tell you where they are: working 9-to-5 jobs trying to earn enough money to fund their own careers, but by the time life gets through with them they’re just left wondering what if….

Still trying to make it,
Doug Smith.

Doug Smith is an Account Executive in the College division of IMG Worldwide. Doug played his college golf at the University of Louisville and Florida A&M University. If you would like to reach Doug email him at [email protected]
Follow him on Twitter @DouglasFresh8.

GLADYS M. LEE
Blog: December 2011-January 2012

Roaring Lambs Golf Reunion

Hello Confidants, Constituents and Comrades,

As a teacher, coach and mentor my pursuit of happiness and balance has been achieved by nurturing youth not only in the areas of Dallas/Fort Worth, Michigan, Arizona and Georgia, but youth all over the nation.

Over the past 25 years countless boys, girls, parents, friends, sponsors and supporters have gone through our programs which brings us to the greatest celebration we could ever hope to have honoring the successes’ of the “Roaring Lambs” past and present.

June 15 and 16, 2012 we are celebrating 25 years of Roaring Lambs International Junior Golf Academy, in addition to paying tribute and honor to Marty Leonard , Tiger Woods and Tiger’s Dad, Earl Woods, for their recognition and contributions to the Roaring Lambs.

June 2002 Tiger and Earl Woods gave their time, money, motivation and inspiration to fulfill the dreams of students and parents resulting in the most successful years of the Roaring Lamb program. Success measured by high school, college and military graduates with honors and now today we celebrate many professional careers on and off the golf course.

We are proud that many of the students are still achieving and accomplishing great things while making their marks in society and the world.

Recognition for our accomplishments as one of the most outstanding organizations in the world: featured on NBC Tonight with Tom Brokaw; Proclamation from the City of Ft. Worth Mayor’s office and signed by Mayor Kenneth Barr (2002); Resolution from the Honorable Alisha Bell, Commissioner of Wayne County District 8th, Detroit Mich.; Six USGA grants; 20 years of friendship and financial support from Marty Leonard and her foundation; Three Tiger Woods grants along with numerous other awards and accolades.

Support from many family and friends brought much progress and success and opportunities for children and their families who participated, and currently participate, in the Roaring Lambs International Junior Golf Academy.

To continue with all that we have accomplished, we sincerely hope that you will join us in Texas, June 15 and 16, 2012 to celebrate 25 years and shake hands and listen to success stories from well-known celebrities, VIP guests and “Once a Roaring Lamb, Always a Roaring Lamb” members.

More Information on the event will be available after Dec.26,2011. Meanwhile, save the date: June 15 and 16, 2012 to join us at Twin Wells Golf Course in Irving Texas.

Many blessings and please share your thoughts on this with me. Sene me a message.

Until next time,

Coach Gladys M. Lee
LPGA Professional Teacher & Coach
Founder / Executive Director
Roaring Lambs International Junior Golf Academy
www.roaringlambsjrgolf.com
[email protected]
214-212-9475

Send Gladys A Comment!

GLADYS M. LEE
Blog: February-April 2012

Arizona Pro/Amateur Women-Golf (APAW)

Hello Confidants, Constituents and Comrades,

Thanks to all of you for your never-ending support at the PGA Tour Superstore for the past two years.

On January 31 the end came for one the most successful women’s clinic I have conducted, and been a part of, in many years.

I was touched to see all the women (at least 30, past and present, come into the store for the final lessons that I gave. Some of our regulars were out of town or, at the Phoenix Open, but sent their expressions of love and support…. Thanks ladies and gents!

As I can say to all of you, let us continue to go forward and grow. Just because someone did not see the good in what we were doing, does not mean we must put our clubs in storage and quit. No! No! No! “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” ladies. Winners never quit and quitters never win.

Thanks for all the wonderful prayers and letters that went out on my behalf, because they were answered, and, we were blessed with two Angel Heroes: Mark Rose, General Manager, and Jason Brill, Director of Golf at Starfire Golf Course in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The ladies had a wonderful fun day of golf on the beautiful Squire/King course with 5 winners for the day: Wanda Herndon, Deb Allbritton, Kay Taylor, Kim Woolridge and Carolyn Cheesteen.

Mark had lunch with the ladies and welcomed us all with an invitation to come to Starfire on a regular basis. And Jason is giving us another play-day on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 9:00 a.m., for the same price we paid for the past outing played on Wednesday, Feb.1( $45.00).

Ladies these men at a time like this are our champions and real heros. We are forever grateful for men with this type of vision, non-bias (gender or race) and willing to think outside the box. They know that golf prices during this season can triple, but they also know how important it is business-wise; when the season is over women will still be there to support them, and that’s a proven fact!

Starfire Golf Course is now our home and as of Feb.1st we no longer will be recognized or call ourselves The PGA Tour Superstore Ladies. We Are now Arizona Pro/Amateur Women-Golf (APAW).

For those of you who do not know what APAW means, it stands for River……… Now, how profound and deep is that? We will be known around the nation as the most beautiful flowers in the valley. We are the most diverse i.e. (race, creed, color, religion, economic and social status). We, as my friend Judy Bell the past and only women president of the USGA would say, we are “BREAKING THE MOLD.”

Attn: All Ladies, if you are in the Arizona area, contact me to sign up and get involved!!!

P.S. I would like to leave you with this thought in mind. One of my favorite coaches is John Wooden and he made this statement back in 1997,
“There is a wonderful almost mystical law of nature that says three of the things we want most is happiness, freedom, and peace of mind. These things are always attained when we give them to others”.

The PGA Tour Superstore Clinics were the happiest times for me in the store and I gave them all my effort with honesty, passion and freely. My W2 form for the year of 2011 shows my salary as a Certified LPGA Professional for the entire years gross was $5,943.18….You do the math.

Many blessings and please to all who read my blog. Please share your thoughts on this with me. Send me a message.

Until next time,

Coach Gladys M. Lee
LPGA Professional Teacher & Coach
Founder / Executive Director
Roaring Lambs International Junior Golf Academy
www.roaringlambsjrgolf.com
[email protected]
214-212-9475

Send Gladys A Comment!

GLADYS M. LEE
Blog: May-July 2012

DICK CLARK AND
MY GOLF GAME

Hello Confidants, Constituents and Comrades,

My heart was saddened as I returned home yesterday from golf practice with my Estrella Mountain Women’s golf team and heard the news that my former boss had passed away. I gasped as though someone had punched me in the stomach….

I sat in front of the TV with tears in my eyes as I listened to different people tell what they remembered about Dick Clark.

It was not until the mid night hour when there was no TV or no day time sounds and noises that the images of people, memories and stories started to play as reels of tapes in my mind.

I remember the glitz and glamor of Hollywood and how the appreciation of the game of golf was introduced to me by Dick and Carrie Clark ( Dick’s wife).

I remember they were members at Lakeside Country Club along with Bob Hope and several other celebrities. During off day’s from production in the studio’s, Carrie would spend time relaxing by playing a round of golf. It was listening to Carrie talk about the game when I started to realize and see a side of golf that would forever change my life to this very day– Even though I putted around with the game a couple of years before taking a course in continuing education at Tarrant County College in Ft. Worth.

I was home on a leave of absence for a few months, it was Carrie Clark that really got me to think seriously about ” The Wonderful World of Golf.” I remember her saying to me, ” Gladys golf will open door’s for you that you can not imagine….You will meet people that you would never dream of meeting!” Carrie spoke those words in May of 1986 and, as I look back, she was so right.

There are so many memories I have of Dick Clark but the one I cherish most is the day we had a bar-b-que at his Malibu home. Mr Clark along with Jeff Morgolis was producing “The Miss Hollywood Pageant” and I was working as a Production Coordinator. Dick decided we had worked very hard so we had a day of fun and relaxation at his beautiful beach home. As I was sitting on the deck looking out over the Pacific Ocean, Dick sat down next to me and he said, “Gladys you are special. You don’t get bothered or excited by things.” I remember saying to him, “Mr Clark I’ve never been a Star Gazer, there are no Big i’s or little u’s and vice versus in my life. I serve a mighty God that’s bigger than us all and even though you have asset’s as much as 250 million dollars you are poor if you don’t have God.” He had a gleam in his eye, a smile on his face, and a warm embrace for me.

As I said previously, I have lots of stories and many fond memories, but that particular memory was so special for the both of us.

Dick Clark will forever live in my heart as a very good and kind man. I thank God for him and his wife Carrie, they were gifts to me. They brought Golf to Go along with American Bandstand and the decades of music in my life.

Rest in Peace Mr. Clark,
Gladys

P.S. I made it to the professional ranks of golf……….. Thank You !

Many blessings and please to all who read my blog. Please share your thoughts on this with me. Send me a message.

Until next time,

Coach Gladys M. Lee
LPGA Professional Teacher & Coach
Founder / Executive Director
Roaring Lambs International Junior Golf Academy
www.roaringlambsjrgolf.com
[email protected]
214-212-9475

Send Gladys A Comment!

GLADYS M. LEE
Blog: August 2013

I love you dearly and it would be very nice to get an award…

Hello Confidants, Constituents and Comrades,

Yes, I love you dearly and it would be very nice to get an award, but my goal and main objective is not to continue collecting awards, but to bring awareness to the many years of work we have put into the industry and to get answer’s to the questions of when is bias, unfair, unethical procedures going to continue to be allowed and practiced at many of the golf courses, and when will these practices cease to be called normal?

In addition to some of the things that continue to concern and puzzle me. I am really interested in seeing how the PGA is going to handle this situation with the PGA Jr. Golf League All Stars. And, if the PGA is going to stand behind the pro’s associated with the league, here in the Dallas Ft. Worth area, who have not done their job and put together an All Star Jr. League Team worthy to represent Texas in the National Championships in Atlanta. And, again I reiterate, when is enough going to be enough with the unfair practices?

I was asked, and after researching what it was all about , I agreed to put together a PGA Jr. Golf League team. I followed the rules, I collected the money to be sent to the Jr. League Headquarters, I put together a real live All Star Team.

Above, L-R: A few of the PGA Jr. League members prepare for their upcoming matches with instruction and strategy from Coach Gladys Lee and Coach Wes Francis. The team warms up with stretching exercises, chipping and putting in Ft. Worth, TX. (Photo Andrea Smith)

I met the timelines and now some of the pro’s are not willing to play our team because we are, and I quote from an e-mail sent to me”… that they were not going forward with the matches because we were … “too strong and too good???”… the majority of our team is made up of LPGA-USGA Girls, some beginner players to more advanced 8 to 13 year olds. I’ve heard some dumb excuses before, but this one is unacceptable and I’m not buying it !

One team totally dropped out of the league a few day’s prior to when it was our time to play them… A parent watched as we were warming up on the driving range and quit… the man actually took his kid out of the tournament and left the course; he
said our kid’s were too big (or was he was thinking we were too dark):( … a couple of the teams in order to acquire points are playing their own teams against each other, how incestious is that ? 🙁

If our team does not play (Thursday July 18), some of my main players will not have the required number of matches set by the league and will not be eligible for the All Star’s, I have never heard of such fool crockery in all my life.This act is as unjust and unfair to these kid’s as denying them food, water and sleep because they were too strong and too good 🙁

“Life can make you bitter or it can make you better, but this crap has made me MAD…

I won’t stay mad too long it’s not in my DNA, but while I am mad for now, I am going to fight for what is right for these children and their parent’s who have sacrificed and worked very hard striving everyday to reach their goals. They paid their money to play in this league environment, and they have a right to join this team which has been a lot of fun learning and being together as a team …we have become family:)… However it is not fair, and it does not meet the standards of what golf represents by changing the rules to fit or benefit another team or player.

Even the sacred rules set by The Royal and Ancient St. Andrews and the USGA are altered to benefit other teams when we play them, but keep in mind the rules are adamant and strictly enforced if we just think about not following them.

I refuse to continue sticking my head in the sand, pretending I don’t see what is happening, or becoming so complacent until I don’t care. I refuse to abandon my dreams or the dreams expressed by the children. I want to be an example for the children and their parent’s and I will continue to inspire and encourage and motivate them to NEVER GIVE UP!

I sincerely wish LPGA member Wendy Boyd had stayed the course. Life became too bitter for her and she paid the ultimate price for what she thought was peace….she took her life, leaving this earth believing that there was no solution to better the situations, and the circumstances we as African American female folf professionals face everyday somewhere in the ” Wonderful World of Golf .”

Wendy Boyd’s last message, before she took her life was a note written to the African American Golfer’s Digest editor, and I quote one sentence of her letter that included: “…Unfair practices of
W*&%^$ PGA Pros.”

read the complete letter HERE.

….Well the Devil is a lie and Wendy SHOULD NOT have checked out like that….Even though we get so tired and weary, the solution is NEVER to give up. (Above: Cover, Summer 2006)

Keep a passionate fire in your belly for what you believe if it’s honest, morally and spiritually right, for whatever your religious beliefs are, and if it’s within the law–whether it’s playing golf, flying a plane, reading a book, jumping hopscotch or pitching pennies–always trust the truth; and if a crock of crap is thrown your way, dig a very deep hole to bury that mess, wash your hands, shake the dust from your feet, step off and keep on keeping on.

The last thing is snatch the cover’s off of those that hide while doing wrong so that their deeds are exposed for the world to see.

In the words of my dear friend Colonel Richard “Dick” Toliver, 2nd Generation Tuskegee Airmen Fighter Pilot, United States Air Force. These young Players represent true freedom and are worthy to be called “Uncaged Eagles.”

Marilynn Smith, my dearest friend and co-founder of the LPGA, is so proud of these young players and, says: “Have Clubs will Travel,” just stay the course!

Many blessings and please to all who read my blogs. Please share your thoughts on this with me. Send me a message.

Until next time,

Coach Gladys M. Lee
LPGA Professional Teacher & Coach
Founder / Executive Director
Roaring Lambs International Junior Golf Academy
www.roaringlambsjrgolf.com
[email protected]
214-212-9475

Send Gladys A Comment!

GINGER HOWARD

Blog: December 2011

Hey Everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and is getting ready for Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah or whatever holiday you celebrate! This is such an exciting time of the year. I love the mystery, the magic and the miracle of the season. I always feel like a little kid this time of year. It’s a fun time for me.

Just a short sum of things that took place for me during November: I played two SunCoast Series events in Daytona Beach, FL at LPGA International. At the first one, I shot 75-80-72… Not a good showing but brought some momentum back the last day for the next event the following week, where I shot 71-72-70 and felt more comfortable on the course.

It really is all about patience when it comes to golf… and just wanting to succeed in anything. I’m sure all will go well this following week of last stage, if I just let go and let Him (Christ) pave the way! 🙂

The last stage of Q-School starts November 30th-December 4th. Not sure what tournaments I’ll have afterwards, but I’ll let you know next month. For updates on daily scoring, go to lpga.com.

Wish me luck!

Happy Holidays and may God Bless.

Also remember, I have more exciting news! I just created my very own account on Twitter! Follow me on Twitter @GingerTHoward for the latest personal updates about my golf and such. And on Facebook at the link below!

Thank you all for the support!

Ginger Howard
Professional Golfer

Send Ginger A Comment!