2019 is proving to be one of the most exciting years for golf in recent history, and it’s only going to get better.
By Herschel Caldwell
The professional tours around the world are featuring first-time winners making statements of arriving on the big stage, veterans proving their history and golfers of color taking their rightful place among the elite players of our time.
The editors will take a look at the women and men of color on the various tours around the world. We will have a full menu of coverage and news from golf tours all over the globe. Feast your golf pallet and read about your favorite player and news from your favorite golf tour by simply clicking on the tour icon.
This year’s Masters hosted more of persons of color than at anytime its storied history. All of whom fared well on the challenging and hallowed fairways of Augusta with skill and performance that said I belong with the greatest players today on arguably the most challenging major course of all time. This Master’s appearance was not Tony Finau’s first rodeo, but it was his first at the top of the leader board on Sunday, and playing in the final group. No doubt, if it were not for his errant short iron shot on the par three 12th, his story would be different.
Alvaro Ortiz is the first Mexican to play the Masters in 40 years, and he had to endure a series of near-misses to secure it. After twice finishing second in the Latin American Amateur, he finally won it earlier this year after posting a 66 in the finale. Ortiz was a good SEC player but not as good as Rebula and certainly not in the class of Hovland at Oklahoma State. However, Ortiz does represent the depth of emerging Latin American talent on the PGA Tour.
This young man displayed his prowess on the links by winning the Latin America amateur after posting a 66 in the final round against a very competitive international field and qualifying him for this years’ Masters where his high finish as an amateur served as a springboard to turning professional. His future is, and he is a talent to watch in the coming years.
The story of the year apart from the historic achievement of Tiger Wood’s major wins number 15 is the excellent play of Harold Varner III. This young man has arrived on the big stage and is making his way….in the shadow, perhaps, of his childhood idol.
Harold Varner, III was the first to post a five-under-par total in this years’ PGA Championship at the famed Bethpage Black in New York. Varner was paired in the last group on Sunday with golf’s new Mike Tison, Mike Kupka. Kupka who is making the 2019 PGA Championship look like a walk in the park with his buddies. Varner’s final round 81 is in no way an indication of this young man’s ability and future success on the PGA Tour.
The African Tour features new talent and elite players capable of competing on the world golf stage. Minority Golf Magazine will be there to cover the Southeast Shootout at the Arsenal Golf Course Obinze Owerri Imo State Nigeria.
The long list of Asian women professionals is continuing their dominance of the LPGA. Minority Golf Magazine will have a full recap of this years’ most significant LPGA events including the first major, the ANA, won by Jin Young Ko with second place going to Mi Hyang Lee, both of South Korea…
Lee Trevino once said, “There is no such thing as a natural touch. Touch is something you create by hitting millions of golf balls.” Asians are known for having intense work ethics, and because golf may require a phenomenal amount of practice to achieve relative perfection (nobody is perfect in golf), their culture promotes a certain level of excellence within women’s golf. Furthermore, many Asian families make significant monetary investments in their daughters with a specific ROI in mind. This type of investment may be the case for some American girl golfers, but by and large, golf is far more of a luxury sport than a means to a livelihood. (second caveat–Title 9 has increased the amount of women’s golf teams relative to men’ s–so significant opportunities currently exist for girls to earn a collegiate scholarship, an excellent opportunity that more girls should seek out).
For more on the Asian tour, click on the Asian Tour icon in the coming weeks.
There are hardly enough sports pages in the world to contain all the words written about this years’ masters performance and win by Tiger Woods. Number 15 and 81 respectively are unique on so many levels, and it eludes the modern understanding of the accomplishment.
An interesting fact about this year’s Masters leaderboard is that all of the contenders were young men who were either teens or toddlers when Tiger Woods turned pro in 1996. All of them have, at one time or another, dreamed of the opportunity presented them on Sunday at the Masters; to be in contention against arguably the greatest golfer of all time, Tiger Woods. The atmosphere was awe, admiration, and resignation, all together and at the same time.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Keep up your support and coverage of golf. Especially your coversge of those who have historically been left out of golf’s midstream. Thanks for all you do.
Er…golf’s mainstream