Charlie Sifford shown here in a work-in-progress painting of minority golf legends by Herschel Caldwell.
At the time I was growing up in the early 60’s in Cincinnati, Ohio, Black golfers were relegated to playing at the few public courses available to them: Sharon Woods, the Lunken Airport driving range, Winton Woods–and the regional “hub” of Black golf, Avon Field. While Avon was not very long or challenging (compared to many of the newer public courses), it served as a magnet for some of the best Black players in the country, including Jim and Chuck Thorpe, Curtis Sifford, Ted Rhodes, James Black and Pete Brown. Many other great Black professionals, like Jimmy Woods, were well-qualified but never had a chance to play on the PGA tour. Those of us minority players who were in our early 20s at the time, could only marvel at the wealth of golf talent that graced the fairways of Avon Field and other local and regional courses like Coffin in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Madden in Dayton, Ohio–as well as others–by virtue of the “money” games.
Blacks also had their own professional golf organization, known as the United Golfers Association (UGA), whose origin dated back to 1938. The UGA sponsored and held golf tournaments on what was affectionately called the “Chit’lin’ Circuit” where minority golfers like Rhodes, Brown, young Sifford, the Thorpes, Lee Trevino, ChiChi Rodriquez, Calvin Peete, Lee Elder (the first Black golfer invited to play in the Masters) and countless others honed their skills. Right about this time the faces and talent of Blacks and other minorities began to surface in other realms of golf, to include the prestigious PGA Tour. At the head of that class was Charles “Charlie” Sifford.
Although he was approaching the “senior” time in his life, Charlie Sifford’s supreme level of play endured him to be a regular on the PGA Tour. It was also at this time (24 years ago) that I declared my professional senior status and had a chance to play practice rounds and even compete with and against the legendary Charlie Sifford. I thought I had a pretty good game, having played with some the better “money” players of the day like “Dead Straight,” “Tater Pie,” Hank Moore and Willie “Dancing Man” Kellum.” I was wrong, as Charlie was never impressed with my feeble game. That said, Charlie was hardly impressed with anyone–to include Jack, Arnie, Sam and Ben. They had country club credentials. He had hard knocks.
When not playing a PGA Senior event, Charlie could be seen teeing it up at the local Black tournament events on the ‘Circuit. He was never out of touch with the common man, and he was always ready to spend time with the young minority professionals who sought his mentorship and down-to-earth advice. “Nobody gon’ give you a ‘G-damn’ thing,” quipped Charlie. “If they let you play, you gotta prove you can.” I also remember him saying, “If you can’t get the ball in the hole in less strokes than the next guy, you better find something else to do.”
Despite the institutional and personal hurdles of racism on the tour, Charlie–like Jackie Robinson, Joe Louis, Jack Johnson, Jesse Owens, Arthur Ashe, Althea Gibson and other Black sports legends–never wavered in his quest for superb play, leadership and devotion to the game of golf. It is on his broad shoulders that many after him stand and will continue in the shadow of his legacy. Golf was his life and America was his home–both of which are are better because of him.
Hit ’em Charlie, you are now in a place where the fairways are even and the greens are always true. Moreover, they will let you play!
