Golf’s Toughest Test

BY JOSH KERNS

It’s been nearly 25 years since Tiger Woods debuted on the PGA TOUR, and many expected a huge influx of Black golfers to follow. But, it never happened. With a national conversation on race at the forefront of the country’s consciousness in the wake of the George Floyd murder in Minneapolis, many are again asking why there aren’t more Black golfers playing recreationally or competitively, and what can be done to change that.

In talking with a number of Black golfers around the Puget Sound region, some common themes emerge: cost of equipment and greens fees; a lack of fellow players, coaches and professionals that look like them; a lack of developmental programs and other entryways into the game.

And, outright racism.

Jesse Jones, a prominent investigative journalist at KIRO-7 TV in Seattle and passionate golfer, has experienced far more than his fair share of negative encounters that would chase many others away from the game.

“There were specific incidents where people would refuse to play with me in a foursome when I was a single,” he says. “And, then they’d turn around and let a white person play with them.”

He’s heard plenty of racist comments, too, such as the time a guy in line behind him in the pro shop muttered, “I didn’t know they let monkeys play here.”

Durel Billy has plenty of similar stories. For years, the Clover Park High School graduate and avid golfer has been organizing group golfing events around the region. He says there have been many times when he’s had white golf course staff members who were perfectly friendly over the phone or email completely ignore him when he’s arrived with his group — or worse.

“I’ve brought 25-30 people to a course, only to be told, ‘We don’t want your group back,’ for no reason,” Billy says.

Myles Veal has been more fortunate. The 20-year-old Auburn-Riverside grad hasn’t experienced such overt racism, but he has certainly felt the spotlight of being among the few Black golfers to play competitively in Washington state.

“I definitely noticed from a young age that there weren’t many of us,” he says. “There are people who say, ‘Why are you even playing this game? You should be playing a Black sport, like basketball or football.’

“That’s kind of upsetting to me,” he continues. “But, at the same time, it’s their view. I just move on with my life and try to prove to them that it’s not all about race. It’s about your ability to play the game and, hopefully, your love of the game. That’s why we all play ... because we love it, right?”

That love for the game we all share should be equal among all races, but, much like many other facets of American society, the numbers underscore huge disparities.

A National Golf Foundation report says only three percent of recreational golfers are African American. The PGA Tour — where Tiger’s impact was supposed to have the greatest effect, inspiring a new generation of young Black men who should now be in the peak of their careers — has just three Black players.

The LPGA Tour? One.

The question then becomes — what can we do to change that? Jones, Mills and Veal all agree that exposure to the game at a young age is key. All were introduced to golf by their fathers or friends and encouraged to play.

“I was in a cocoon while I was playing with my father and his buddies,” Jones says. “And, remember, this is the early seventies — things weren’t all that great. But, they had this core group of guys that played all the time. So, I felt protected. Then, I started caddying, and that allowed me really to get into the game.”

But, this is where the systemic problems start to come into play. Many Black kids don’t have friends or family members who golf, and thus never have that crucial moment where someone puts a club in their hand and a ball at their feet. Then, because they don’t play, they don’t pass it down to their friends and family either, and so on, and so on. Golf is a generational game — but, how do you develop that first generation?

The Seattle area has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to creating opportunities and supporting Black golfers, whether juniors or adults. The Fir State Golf Club – the nation’s first black social golf group— was founded at Jefferson Park. According to the club’s official history, “the Fir State Golf Club was founded by a racially diverse group of 15 men and women who, because of their race, were not welcome in the existing golf clubs in Seattle at the time.”

Fir State would go on to create the Fir State Golf Foundation to promote youth participation in golf and the community.

Fir State boasts a rich legacy of accomplished players. Perhaps its bestknown member was Bill Wright, Jr., one of the club’s first junior golfers, who would become the first Black golfer to win a USGA championship when he captured the prestigious U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship in 1959. In 1994, Fir State junior member and high school freshman Tyson Lanore would duplicate Wright’s feat by winning the title and earning a spot in the national Maxfli Junior Championship.

Several other minority golf groups have also been created over the years to expand opportunities for Black golfers, including the Maple Valley-based HyTee Golf Club.

But, the largest and most prominent organization working to expand minori- ty access is First Tee, which operates a variety of programs at courses, schools and community centers across the country.

First Tee of Greater Seattle operates out of Jefferson Golf Course in Seattle and serves thousands of golfers each year, many of them minorities.

“First and foremost, it’s just getting a club in their hand at all,” says Evan Johnsen, Director of Programs & Development for First Tee of Greater Seattle, of potential young Black golfers. “For the most part, their family’s not going to be the one to introduce them. It’s just not a part of their life.”

According to Johnsen, First Tee of Greater Seattle membership comprises over seven percent Black youth – double the national average, and a little higher than the 6.8 percent of Seattle residents who self-identified as Black in 2018 (the most recent data available). Johnsen says the organization is doubling down on its efforts to recruit and support Black golfers to continue growing that number, not only to expose them to the game, but to keep them playing.

Veal could be the model for First Tee’s goals to expand Black participation in golf. While his father, Howard – a long time member of Fir State and HyTee – in- troduced him to the game (with some help from PGA TOUR video games), it was First Tee that propelled his passion. Veal joined a First Tee program in Colorado be- fore a job brought the family to Washington, where he joined the Jefferson-based program and progressed rapidly through the various levels to reach the pinnacle and become an accomplished player and youth coach. He says the game needs more Black mentors to encourage others to give it a shot.

“I really want to be a trendsetter and inspire others,” Veal says. “The game needs more diversity and is something that really has the potential to bring the Black community together for the greater good.”

Johnsen agrees. One of the big efforts going forward to is recruit more Black mentors.

“If we’re fortunate enough to have a Black coach ... man, that makes a huge difference for that one Black kid. And then, maybe that one Black kid sticks with it and recruits a friend, and then you’ve got two; then maybe you get to three, and so on,” he says. “When Black adults get involved as coaches and volunteers, kids have somebody to look up to who looks like them.”

A number of prominent Black men are answering the call. NBA great and golf fanatic Steph Curry has been at the forefront of fundraising efforts, tournaments and other activities to increase opportunities for Black golfers. He’s even funded the golf team at prestigious Howard University in Washington, D.C.

KIRO 7’s Jones recently signed on to volunteer with First Tee of Greater Seattle.

“I love this game,” he says. “And, I love to go out with Black kids and show them that golf is about so much more than just hitting a ball. A lot of these kids are really smart, but, they don’t have the opportunity to see it. You don’t even need to know how to play, man. I tell them all the time that they don’t have to be great at golf to have a good time playing golf.”

Billy has long advocated for more formal curricula in schools, and after-school programs far beyond First Tee and others.

“We had to take a swimming class to graduate,” Billy says. “But, golf should be right there, in my opinion. Not only for just the social aspect of it — it’s a game you can play for life — but the economic aspect of jobs, all the stuff that comes with it. There’s so much opportunity in this damn game.”

Jones agrees. He points to the lack of Black faces around the golf industry, from the pro shop to the cart barn to the superintendent’s shop. He’s among many who’ve called on various facets of golf to create internships, apprenticeships and other training programs and opportunities, and actively recruit more Blacks into the business side of the game.

“This is going to sound controversial, and I’m just putting it out there — but, you know, I see a lot of retirees working golf courses on weekends,” Jones says. “God bless them, but Black folks would love to go out and work cutting grass, being a starter or working the cart shack. I think it’s imperative that we grow the game. If there’s an opportunity, there’s a place for people to learn.”

Veal agrees. And, he hopes to be among a new wave of golf professionals paving the way for more African Americans to pursue a career in golf. He’s about to start his junior year in the Professional Golf Management Program at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

“My mom has raised me to be very respectful of everybody and try and be inspiring to other kids, — especially in this time,” he says. “I just hope that I can use my platform and, even though it’s small, to be an inspiration for other kids. The way I’ve always looked at it is that if I can help one person, I’ve made a difference.”

But, it’s going to take more than individual effort.

Many agree that everyone — from the PGA TOUR and other national associations, to courses and manufacturers — are going to have to come together to tackle a primary barrier to entry for many Black Americans: cost. Due largely to the systemic racism that has historically limited their access to the higher incomes that come with higher education, administrative positions and generational wealth — not to mention a criminal justice system that incarcerates black men at a rate six times higher than their representation in the population, breaking up Black families and exacerbating economic pressures — many Black Americans simply can’t afford to play golf.

Many of the state’s courses are working together to try and change at least the cost of greens fees. Over 55 courses in Washington and Northern Idaho have partnered with WA Golf – the state golf association – to offer $5 green fees to juniors through the Youth on Course program (see page 15 for more information), an effort that supports all young golfers, but especially those with greater economic needs.

But, acclaimed golf journalist Michael Williams says that programs like Youth on Course just scratch the surface, while others have suggested that they do little to attract new golfers, and instead only help those who are already playing. In a blistering editorial in the African American Golfer’s Digest published not long after the murder of George Floyd, Williams took the industry to task for not doing more, and accused it of merely paying lip service to equity in the past.

“An organization should be fostered to ... introduce the game to underserved communities and to make the continued pursuit of the game more affordable and accessible for those that wish to participate,” he wrote. “Providing funding for the cost of equipment, apparel, instruction and course access will allow the game to be enjoyed by those not necessarily of the affluent.”

Billy agrees.

“It’s great that they have a First Tee chapter at Chambers Bay,” he says. “But, kids from the Hilltop area (Tacoma) in their Air Jordans aren’t going to be comfortable having their parents drop them off at the front door at Chambers Bay. They’re not going to see enough kids that look like them, to even want to walk in there and do that. It’s very intimidating.”

While First Tee boasts several South Puget Sound locations in addition to Chambers Bay — including Allenmore, North Shore and others — several local groups are aiming to increase junior golf opportunities for minority golfers even more. One such group is the Hi-Tee Little League Golf Program, a junior golf program founded last year by several members of HyTee Golf Club, a golf and social club for Black golfers throughout the Puget Sound region. (And, yes, the founding group is “HyTee” and youth program “Hi-Tee.”) HyTee founder and CEO Lenard (Bo) Reeves says that he felt that most local junior golf programs were dominated by white kids of means, mirroring the ever-changing economic gap in Seattle overall.

“The rapid gentrification of Seattle and, particularly, the historically and culturally people-of-colored neighborhoods, were being most affected,” he says. “The Hi-Tee Little League Golf Program is our attempt to reintroduce this sport to our young African American youth.

“We aspire to expose the youth to all aspects of golf, from learning how to play, to learning how to caddy,” he continues, “and we want to expose them to the business of golf, from learning how golf courses are designed, to learning how to produce and fit clubs, to learning how to maintain the grounds.”

First Tee’s Johnsen says increased efforts are already yielding results. While COVID-19 safety restrictions have limited the program’s offerings, he says recruiting and outreach efforts to families who were unaware that the program had resumed operations this summer have helped bring in a number of young Black golfers who would not have otherwise taken part. And, he says, it’s just the beginning.

“It is incumbent upon us, and it takes extra work, just like all the other aspects of their lives and ours. And, we don’t have to be bashful about that,” Johnsen says. “It’s something that needs to happen. It’s the right thing to do.”

While change isn’t easy, Billy, Jones and Veal all hope that the many off-course benefits of golf — patience, honesty, respect, communication and problem-solving skills, among others — will ultimately lead to a more inclusive future for the game, and society as a whole.

“I love the game. I just love what it teaches. And, I’m hopeful we can apply those lessons to life,” Jones says. “I wish I could find more 21-year-old Black kids who wanted to play, because they can bridge the gap between [my generation] and kids who are younger and playing with their parents.

“I’m not even going to challenge anyone’s earnestness in trying to get this done,” he continues. “People made some wrong moves, but I also believe that people’s hearts were in the right place.

“But, we have to figure out how to grow this game.”

Josh Kerns is an Edward R. Murrow and Emmy award-winning journalist, and a longtime fixture in the Seattle-area golf scene. He is the host of Golf Talk Washington on KJR 950 and Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts. He last wrote about COVID-19 in the July issue of Cascade Golfer.