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.C., called the United States Colored Golf-ers Association.B.C.Gordon, president of Shady Rest, was elected thepresident of the association.Two years later the group was renamed theUnited Golfers Association, an organization that served as the gov-erning body of black golf until desegregation opened up many publiccourses to blacks in the mid 1960s.The United Golfers AssociationBy 1926 there were enough black clubs across the country that Rob-ert Hawkins, a resident of Stow, was able to invite the known blackclubs throughout the United States to a tournament at his Mapledalecourse.On Labor Day weekend of 1926, 35 black golfers came to playthe 72-hole medal (stroke) tournament.The winner of the professionaldivision was paid $100; the amateurs received medals.The men s andwomen s winners of that inaugural event were Harry Jackson of Wash-ington, D.C., and Marie Thompson of Chicago.John Shippen finishedfourth and won $25.24The United Golfers Association consisted of regional organizationsof black golfers, such as the Eastern Golfers Association, which wouldperiodically stage competitions for individual members and interclubmatches.The UGA coordinated the scheduling of these events andsponsored an annual national championship held at various black clubsthroughout the country.These events usually consisted of an amateurcompetition and an open competition.As the number of tournamentsincreased, the prize money available also increased, thus luring moreand more black golfers to play golf professionally.The first president ofthe UGA was Dr.George W.Adams Jr., who was also founding mem-ber of the Royal Golf Club of Washington, D.C., which led to a pro-liferation of local clubs organized into regions across the country.Hewas reelected in 1929.25 Two important women in the history of theUGA were Ms.Paris Brown and Ms.Anna M.Robinson, who servedas historian and tour director.There is ample evidence that African American women took amore active role in establishing opportunities to play golf than their 60 TIGER WOODSCaucasian counterparts.The fi rst formally organized women s golfclub, the Wake-Robin Golf Club, was started in Washington, D.C.,in 1937.It should be noted that this club was not an auxiliary of amen s club.Several months later, the Chicago Women s Golf Club wasestablished.It is important to explain that these clubs did not own golfcourses.They usually had access to a public course on certain days andtimes when they were permitted to play their tournaments.26Black women faced all the same obstacles presented to the men, yetthe UGA was able to nurture several outstanding women golfers, someof whom went on to compete in the Ladies Professional Golf Associa-tion and distinguish themselves.Ann Gregory of Gary, Indiana becamethe first black woman to compete in a USGA Amateur Championshipin 1957 at Meridian Hills Country Club in Indianapolis, followed byEoline Thornton of Long Beach, California in 1958.Althea Gibson,who played golf at Shady Rest, took up golf after her highly visiblechampionship tennis career and became the first black woman to com-pete on the LPGA circuit in 1967.Renee Powell, whose father Williambuilt and operated the Clearview Country Club in Canton, Ohio, hada successful college career at both Ohio State and Ohio Universities.She played for several years in the late 1960s on the women s tour.Throughout the years when black professional golfers were unableto compete on the PGA Tour, the UGA served as the only opportunityfor these golfers to showcase their abilities and, for some, to earn atleast a modest living playing golf.It also represented a social networkfor middle-class blacks who were otherwise excluded from the socialinstitutions associated with the game.While the UGA provided an opportunity for black club pros andamateurs to test their skills against other club players, it had little suc-cess in promoting black golfers into the major white golf establishment.The United States Golf Association did not reserve any places in its an-nual championship for members of the UGA as the U.S.Lawn Ten-nis Association did for the American Tennis Association (the UGA stennis counterpart).There was very little interaction between theUSGA and the UGA.It wasn t until 1959 that any USGA champion-ship was won by a black person, when Bill Wright won the Public LinksChampionship.Subsequently, Charles Duhon won the 1982 USGASenior Amateur Championship in 1982.After winning consecutive PIONEERS 61USGA Junior Championships, Tiger Woods became the fi rst amateurgolfer ever to win three consecutive USGA Amateur Championshipsin 1994, 1995, and 1996.While many accomplished black golfers were spawned by the ac-tivities of the UGA, because of the limited national media coverageof their tournaments, many went unheralded.Robert Pat Ball fromChicago won UGA professional titles in 1927, 1929, 1934, and 1941.Howard Butch Wheeler, who was Bobby Jones s favorite caddie at theBrookhaven Country Club, was known for his long drives
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