By Bill Vilona
One important element of local golf history began in such a serendipitous way.
Raymond Griff was in his car one day in 1968, just thinking about golf when an idea entered his mind.
Hey, why not form our own club, he thought? One where black golfers, the guys he played with back then at the old par-3 course at Saufley Field, could get together and bring some unity and fellowship.
“Some of the guys were already playing when I came out of the (U.S. military) service,” said Giff, 70, who founded the club. “So I just decided to send out letters and arrange a meeting.”
And just like that, after a meeting of nine men at a friend’s home, The Par Four Golf Club was formed.
“Everybody just started throwing out names and Par Four stuck,” Griff said.
And also?
“Well, because we couldn’t make many birdies so we couldn’t call in the Under-Par Club,” said Charlton Charles, 70, laughing, who is another one of the original members.
From the first Par Four Club tournament in 1975 at Perdido Bay Golf Club, all these years later, a celebration awaits.
This week, the 40th anniversary Par Four Charities Tournament will be at Osceola Municipal Golf Course with a field that includes Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward. The tournament is now one of the few amateur, open-to-public, two-day stroke play golf tournaments remaining in the entire region.
“It’s special, because I have seen the good things we have done in this community,” said Walter Wallace, 68, president of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of Escambia and Santa Rosa County, located on North Devillers Street, who has been involved in the tournament since its inception.
“I have seen the kids we have affected,” Wallace said. “I have seen the growth in us. And the main thing is being a good example to other folks. To know that you can thrive and you can survive. You can move things forward and be here for 40 years.”
To think how it all began. At a time when black golfers had few options to play tournament golf. Not just in Pensacola, but many places throughout the country.
Now, the Par Four Tournament is one of the few options for weekend, amateur golfers seeking fun competition.
“That is what is so awesome about it,” said Debert Coletta Cook, publisher of the African American Golfer’s Digest, located in New York City. She is also coming to Pensacola to play in next weekend’s Par Four Charities Tournament.
“All these men have been through generations of change and changes in golf throughout the country. They’ve gone through times when there were two (separate) clubhouses and no place to play, and now to see Augusta National (Golf Club) has African American members. It is very special.”
Among those who can relate is Adrian Stills, general manager of Osceola Golf Course and former professional tour player. He won the second Par Four Tournament in 1976 at Perdido. After winning his second one in 1979 he turned pro the next week.
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