PGA Hall of Famer Renee Powell of East Canton, Ohio, has written another historic chapter in a remarkable career.
Powell, 75, who became the first Black woman PGA Member in 1996, was named Monday the 2021 Northern Ohio PGA Golf Professional of the Year. She is the first woman recipient of the Section award, which was first presented in 1974.
The PGA Golf Professional of the Year Award is one of the highest honors the Association can bestow on a working club professional whose total contributions to the game best exemplify the complete PGA Professional. The award embraces a wide range of services executed by the club professional such as outstanding leadership abilities, strong moral character, and outstanding service to the Association and the game of golf.
The PGA Head Professional at Clearview Golf Club in East Canton, Powell was honored at the Section Annual Meeting at Westfield Inn in Westfield Center, Ohio.
“I am deeply honored by the Northern Ohio PGA for this recognition, and share this with those who have supported Clearview Golf Club and its legacy,” said Powell. “I am all about growing the game as are my peers, and at the same time I have devoted myself to following my father’s example by growing diversity in the game of golf.”
Powell and her late father, William, who built Clearview Golf Club in 1946, are both members of the PGA of America Hall of Fame.
Clearview Golf Club is the Northern Ohio PGA hub of PGA HOPE (Helping Our Patriots Everywhere), a golf rehabilitative program for veterans.
In 2011, Powell launched Clearview HOPE, which remains the country’s sole year-round cost-free all-women’s veterans golf program. In 2018, she began hosting the Section’s men’s PGA HOPE program.
This golf season, as Clearview Golf Club ran nonstop programs and events, Powell also served as the U.S. Captain for the PING Junior Solheim Cup Team.
“One of our highlights was hosting CBS’ Jim Nantz here in August,” said Powell. “This was on his bucket list. Jim came because he wanted to help raise funds for the Clearview Legacy Foundation. It was amazing to have him, that with the busy schedule he has, he was able to fit it in. It has been an incredible year for Clearview.”
