“The Road to Inclusion”
The Urban League of Central Carolinas honored the late Dr. Charles L. Sifford by renaming the 23rd Annual ULCC Guild golf tournament after the legendary hall of Fame golfer. The tournament was held on September 21, 2015 at Piper Glen Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.
America is a different America today than Dr. Charles Sifford experienced 60 years ago. It’s an America of growing diversity still struggling with inclusion. Sifford was a visionary who understood this is the dawning days of the modern era.
He was a trail blazer who paved the way for golf pioneers Lee Elder, Calvin Pete, Jim Thorpe, Jim Dent and Tiger Woods. Sifford’s focused determination to hone his craft to compete with the best smashed open the doors to a racially segregated. He fought to abolish the PGA’s “Caucasian Only Clause” and forced the game to open the door to African Americans and others and ethnic and racial minorities. He was the first African American to receive a PGA card and play in an official PGA tour event.
Sifford was a self-taught golfer who, like many African American golfers of his day, began his life on the links as a caddy. The son of a factory worker, he caddied as a youngster at segregated country clubs in Charlotte, NC earning 60 cents per day. He fell in love with the game and became a prodigy, who by the age of 13, frequently broke par when caddies were allowed to play on Mondays at some clubs. By his mid-20s he was a well-known top flight player. Excluded from the prestige of PGA competition the vast majority of his career, his professional golf career developed on the Negro golf circuit, The United Golf Association (UGA), in the 1940s and 50s. He dominated the National Negro Open from 1952 to 1960, winning the event 6 times and winning 11 other UGA events as well.
Sifford met Jackie Robinson, baseball great and racial champion, shortly after breaking the color barrier in baseballwho encouraged Sifford with cautionary advice and insights about achieving his dreams against all odds. Never giving up and maintaining strong mental composure at all times in the face of physical and mental abuse was sage advice Sifford never forgot.
After more than a decade in 1960 at age 38, Sifford challenged and won his fight against the PGA’s Caucasian Only membership policy in the State of California. He joined the PGA Tour quickly becoming a standout among the biggest names ingolf including Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Sam Snead and even a young rising star named Jack Nicklaus. Despite incredible hostility, constant heckling on the course and death threats, he came in second in his first PGA tournament, the 1960 Orange County Open and went on to win 2 more PGA events and also won the PGA Seniors Championship. Sifford was an exceptional player and top 60 money winner throughout his entire time on the PGA tour. He was the first African American inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2014 and he received an honorary Doctorate of Law degree from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland in 2006. He was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.
Charlie Sifford overcame a lifetime of struggle to excel at the game that he loved to blaze a trail for other African Americans to follow. He faced harsh treatment and unspeakable indignities including the ultimate insult of never being invited to the Masters even though he was more than qualified to compete. Through it all he endured with character, dignity, and cool. He relentlessly pursued his dream and provided a door of inclusion through which professional golfers today can walk proudly standing on his shoulders.
“During a time when Charlotte struggles with economic mobility for impoverished people, the historical significance of the 2015 Dr. Charles L. Sifford Golf Tournament is a huge step for the Urban League and the Charlotte community,” said Dr. Patrick Graham, ULCC President and CEO. “Sifford’s legacy of breaking barriers in sports fits well with ULCC legacy of economic and social inclusion for all.”
Proceeds from the Dr. Charles L. Sifford Tournament will go directly to the Urban League of Central Carolina’s Youth and Adult Workforce Readiness Programs. Last year, ULCC provided more than 600 students in grades 3 – 12 with technology and workforce skills training. The adult workforce and Entrepreneurial programs served over 2600 Charlotte area residents by providing free national certification courses in HVAC, Fiber Optics/ Broadband, Premise Cabling, Customer Service, Microsoft and Entrepreneurship. ULCC program graduates earned over $12.1 million in salary income.
