(February 18, 2019)
ST. PETERSBURG — Clemmie Perry has never been a golf pro.
In fact, just five years ago, she had never picked up a golf club.
“I was a corporate executive at Lockheed Martin in Aerospace and Defense and I ended up getting laid off from my job,” Perry said.
With some extra time on her hands, she started taking golf lessons – that’s when she realized something.
“24 million people play golf and only four million African Americans or minorities play and only one percent of females played,” she said.
When Perry first heard that statistic, she started digging deeper.
“Ninety percent of CEO’s play golf and if you play golf, you’ll typically earn 17 percent more than your counterparts,” Perry explained. “As we looked at all of the benefits of why you needed to play, we realized that minorities were missing out on that opportunity.”
Perry wanted to change that. So she used her severance pay to create a five-week golf course for minority women.
“Providing the education and the exposure, and really providing the reason why you should play golf and all of the benefits around it,” Perry said.
The course she created grew into a full-fledged non-profit organization.
“Our mission at Women of Color Golf is to primarily promote the inclusion and diversity of golf through mentoring, networking, career opportunities and health-related issues,” Perry said. “I think what a lot of people miss is the fun part of golf — it’s really a lot of fun.”
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