July 30, 2021 | BY AAGD STAFF
A little 9-hole golf course located at Shady Rest Golf & Country Club sits thirty miles west of New York City and is where the first African American Country Club in the United States was located. This course was also the home of John Shippen, Jr., the first American-born golf professional. A Black Man. Built in the course regularly held golf tournaments and was host for the first National Colored Golf Championship in 1925.
The golf course is now owned by the town and known simply as Scotch Hills Golf Course, but it was once a thriving Black-owned country club and focal point of African American middle-class society in the early 20th Century. Many African Americans considered Shady Rest G&CC as the Mecca of Black golf in the 1900s, with a history as rich as any other.
Sylvia Hicks, chair of The Preserve Shady Rest Committee, said in a previous interview with this publication that Shady Rest “created a way out of no way for a lot of Black people that wanted to play golf and tennis to live that life that they see that the white people were living.”
As recent announcement sent by Hicks stated, “The Preserve Shady Rest Committee is supporting the efforts of a newly formed club golf, founded by one of its committee members. This group of young people have done amazing work in a short span of time to honor the Shady Rest Golf and Country Club.”
“We are beginning our celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Shady Rest Golf and Country Club, founded in 1921. The golf club will be beginning with a golf tournament on August 25, 2021 at the Galloping Hill Course in Kenilworth.”
A series of exciting events, from September through February, will continue the celebration of the 100th Anniversary and will be hosted by The Preserve Shady Rest Committee.
The 100 Anniversary golf tournament is seeking event sponsors and golf foursomes for a fun day of 18 holes. R.S.V.P. is required by August 17, 2021.
For more information on events for the 100th Anniversary celebration contact Sylvia R. Hicks, Preserve Shady Rest Committee at preserveshadyrest@gmail.com or call 908-322-9328.
