November 15, 2021
“In an industry overly focused on what’s wrong with the game, the inaugural African American Golf Expo & Forum was a powerful reminder of why a game that began small on the craggy coast of the North Sea 500 years ago is today an international game played by millions — a reminder made particularly poignant by the fact that it comes from a golf community that for the most of that history was not welcomed. A flawed history often overseen by flawed leaders perhaps, but a game sufficiently great to overcome all of that if it will just embrace all who love and want to be a part of it.”
This quote from my friend Craig Kessler, Director of Government Affairs for the Southern California Gol Association, portrays the essence of why he and I traveled across the country to Atlanta to observe and participate in this event. We gain nothing by letting events like this stay hidden from view, so allow me a few words to describe the scene and its importance to golf’s growth and increased commitment to diversity and inclusion.
The most basic truth is that Black folk’s love of the game is no different from any other race or ethnicity that chases little white balls on a green landscape. Their rich history in the game was on full display. The opening conveyed spirituality with a prayer, while speakers and attendees conveyed an unmistakable passion for golf. Spirituality and passion, miseducating with some Black culture, made for an exciting vibe I’ve not experienced at the many golf events I’ve attended over 25 years.
My one complaint was the inability to attend sessions run concurrently. So I had to pick and choose and likely missed some interesting and relevant points of view. Here’s a synopsis of what I saw and heard.
Dave Pillsbury, CEO of ClubCorp, made my day announcing that ClubCorp had changed the names of two clubs formerly with “Plantation” in their names. So we’re slowly whittling down the legacy to a repressive period in U.S. history. Pillsbury described his company’s new initiatives, resulting from Pillsbury’s and his leadership team’s “awakening” spawned by the George Floyd video.
ClubCorp’s D&I initiative has four plants: D&I educational training every year for every employee; recruiting from a broader spectrum of the local populations; identify minority workers who are stuck in their jobs and develop them on new career tracks; incorporate diversity and inclusion education modules from the University of Las Vegas.
The title of one seminar fooled me: “Black Women Mean Business.” I thought I’d hear about Black women starting and owning golf-related businesses. But instead, it was
Read the entire article by Harvey Silverman in the November/December issue of GolfBusiness
