PGA-sanctioned golf tournaments can give “exemptions” to just about anyone they like. This is how Michelle Wie was participating in men’s tournaments without ever having won a single LPGA tournament.
Finally, there is a worthwhile exemption, and it comes at a time when diversity is being preached from the Oval Office to the 18th hole.
Named in honor of Charlie Sifford, the Jackie Robinson of PGA Golf who helped break its color barrier almost 50 years ago, the Northern Trust Open will offer an annual “Charlie Sifford Exemption.”
Beginning with this year’s tournament Feb. 16-22, the Sifford Exemption will offer a sponsor exemption to a top golfer who represents the advancement of diversity in golf and wouldn’t otherwise be eligible to compete in the event.
“This is a great day,” Sifford said during a press conference this week at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles County.
“I always just wanted to get a chance to play, and with the help of many I was able to pursue my dreams as a professional golfer. I am honored beyond words to see this exemption help the next generation of top golfers.”
Rick Waddell, president and chief executive officer of Northern Trust, called the exemption “a fitting honor for Charlie Sifford, who 40 years ago overcame great obstacles to win what we now call the Northern Trust Open.”
“Our hope is that the Charlie Sifford Exemption will raise awareness of (his) achievements while continuing to broaden the game’s appeal.”
Candidates for the 2009 Charlie Sifford Exemption were identified by a variety of sources, including the PGA TOUR, PGA of America through the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship, Nationwide Tour, The First Tee, World Golf Foundation, United States Golf Association and the Bill Dickey Scholarship Association. The exemption will go to a golfer who advances diversity and demonstrates both high character and ability.
Sifford won the Negro Open five consecutive years before becoming the first black to join the PGA Tour in 1961, winning two tournaments including what is now known as the Northern Trust Open.
His autobiography Just Let Me Play was published in 1992, and he became the first African American inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004.
‘Uneven Fairways’ opens on Feb. 11
What a difference a year – and a boatload of bad publicity – can make.
Last year at about this time, The Golf Channel was under fire for a female show host’s suggestion that other golfers should “lynch Tiger Woods,” to keep him from dominating the 2008 PGA season. She was suspended for a couple of weeks, Woods forgave her and that was that. Well, almost.
Golf magazine’s editors then had the brilliant idea of putting a noose on its cover just as the controversy was dying down. A couple of editors lost their jobs over that ill-advised cover.
So, a year later, The Golf Channel is set to air “Uneven Fairways,” a documentary that examines black professional golfers who fought to play on the segregated PGA tour.
Hosted by actor and avid golfer Samuel L. Jackson, it chronicles “the circumstances that led black men and women to create their own tour in the form of the United Golf Association.”
Woods pays tribute to Sifford during the documentary, saying that the groundbreaking golfer “has told me some wild stories of things he had to endure.”
“He is the Jackie Robinson of our sport,” Woods said.
The stories of several other landmark black golfers are also part of “Uneven Fairways,” including:
John Shippen – Recognized as the first African-American professional golfer, Shippen competed in five U.S. Open Championships, the first in 1896.
Bill Spiller – One of the top African-American golfers in the 1940s and ’50s, Spiller was instrumental in the PGA overturning the “Caucasian Only” clause in 1961.
Ted Rhodes – Initiated litigation alongside Spiller against the PGA’s “Caucasian Only” clause. One of the top golfers in his era, sources estimate Rhodes won nearly 150 tournaments on the UGA Tour in the 1940s – 1960.
Joe Louis – Recognized as one of the top-heavyweight boxers of all time, Louis was the first African-American to compete in a PGA sanctioned event at the 1952 San Diego Open.
Also interviewed were PGA Tour winners Calvin Peete and Jim Thorpe; The First Tee Executive Director Joe Louis Barrow (son of Joe Louis); Peggy White (daughter of Ted Rhodes); Bill Spiller Jr., and several UGA Tour members including Bill Bishop and Pete Brown. More than 50 personalities were interviewed for the documentary.
“Uneven Fairways” will air at 8 p.m. Wednesday Feb. 11 on The Golf Channel, which is available on DirecTV, Charter Cable and The Dish Network.