The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews announced that Renee Powell has accepted their invitation to become an honorary member. Powell becomes the first of seven female members, and the first and only African American female member, of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews, known as the home of golf.
Powell played in more than 250 events, having joined the LPGA Tour in 1967. In 1979, she became the first woman to be a head professional at a golf course in the United Kingdom, at Silvermere, near London. After leaving the LPGA Tour in 1980, she developed inner-city youth golf programs in the United States and in 1995 became the first African American female Class A member of The PGA of America and the LPGA. In 2003, Renée Powell received the Professional Golfers’ Association of America’s First Lady of Golf award and four years later the inaugural Rolex For the Love of the Game Award. In 2008 she was made an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) by the University of St Andrews.
Powell, now 69, joins several other notable women who accepted honorary membership in the R&A Golf Club including Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Dame Laura Davies, Belle Robertson MBE, Lally Segard, Annika Sorenstam and Louise Suggs. The surprise announcement came on February 10, 2015.
“This is an historic day for the Club and we could not be more proud also to welcome women who have distinguished themselves in golf over many years and have been great players and champions. They are extremely worthy additions to our roll of honorary members and will become ambassadors for the Club as they have been for the sport of golf throughout their careers,” said George Macgregor OBE, Captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.
Above: Renee Powell overlooking the field while wearing a blue scarf
emblazoned with the Royal and Ancient club logo.
The unexpected letter of invitation, with a Scotland postmark, arrived in Powell’s mailbox last December at the public golf course that “Mr. P” (Powell’s late father William) had created out of an old dairy farm in East Canton, Ohio. The R&A letter was a pleasant surprise– and a long way from the many ‘unkind’ letters and death threats that once filled her mailbox while playing on the LPGA Tour (1967-1980). It was during those days that diversity on the golf course was not eagerly accepted. In fact, her father William, who had worked as a security guard for the bearing manufacturer Timken, was a scratch golfer. But, because of the PGA’s Caucasian Rule, he never had the opportunity to use his skills on the Tour. Those exclusionary rules existed until 1961. Mr. P’s Clearview Golf Course went on to become the first golf course to be designed, built, owned and operated by an African American and, is included on the National Register of Historic Places.
Along with the surprise of honorary membership the R&A letter of invitation also invited Powell to be a lunch guest with the Club Captain, during the prestigious week of the British Open (July 16-20, 2015) at the Old Course. She selected Pro Football Hall of Fame, former Pittsburgh Steelers running back, Franco Harris to join her for the event.
Above (l-r) Dana and Franco Harris, Renee Powell, Rosey and Ray Park, friends of Franco
“I think back to the times that as a young black girl playing golf, there were many places I could not play or unpleasant situations when I was finally allowed to play, and now I belong to the most exclusive private golf club in the world,” Powell said to the New York Times. On the L.P.G.A. Tour her best finish was a tie for fourth at the 1972 Lady Errol Classic. As with many minority players who reach the Tour, Powell thinks back and wonders how much better she might have played if she had not encountered so many hazards off the course.
Above: (l-r) Dr. Louise Richardson, president of the University of St. Andrews with Renee Powell
“To see Renee take her rightful place as a distinguished honorary member of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club has been a long time coming and, I am glad to have witnessed this in my lifetime,” said Debert Cook, publisher of the African American Golfer’s Digest. “Far too often our African American heroes, and sheroes, are laid to rest in their graves before receiving their just rewards from leaders in the golf sector. This honorary membership for Renee showcases the R&A’s commitment to diversity and it hope that it continues to grow and expand.” Powell has dedicated her life to fighting for equality and inclusion, and yet, the day that she sat to take her place at the Royal and Ancient clubhouse trophy room table, she truly felt the weight of the honor, realizing the distinction she now held.
Tiger Woods, who won his first British Open title 15 years ago at St. Andrews, said, “What Renee did in her pioneering efforts, people tend to forget it,” according to the New York Times. He added, “But those of us who are minorities in the game of golf, who grew up not really being able to play in all the places, we understand their sacrifice.” Woods expressed his happiness to see Powell become a part of a select group that includes Nicklaus, former President George H. W. Bush and Peter Alliss, a player turned commentator and architect, as honorary members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club. Woods, who is not a member told the New York Times, “I think she truly does deserve it, and it’s been a long time coming.”
