Langston Golf Course Hole Name Project
Credit: Good Boy Originals
National Links Trust’s rehabilitation of Langston Golf Course will celebrate this historic golf course’s role in desegregating golf, promoting African American participation in the game and the greater struggle for Black civil rights in the US. As part of this, we have named each hole at Langston after a pioneer of African American Golf.
Hole 1: John Shippen
In July, 1896, John Matthew Shippen, Jr., son of a former slave and Presbyterian minister, became the first Black man to play in the US Open Championship. Held at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, where the 16-year-old Shippen was assistant professional, he along with Oscar Bunn, a member of the Shinnecock Nation, endured the racist protests of other contestants who didn’t want either man in the field. However, Theodore Havemeyer, president of the USGA, declared there would be no competition without them. Shippen was paired with the “father of American golf” Charles Blair Macdonald and shot 78 – 81, for a fifth-place finish. In the years following the Open, his opportunity to compete against white professionals was non-existent; however, he remained a respected player and competed on the new United Golfers Association “chitlin circuit” for many years. Shippen also served as professional at several clubs, the last of which was Shady Rest Golf Course in New Jersey where he worked from 1932 until 1964. He died in 1968. Today, golf historians believe John Shippen was the first American-born golf professional of any race. In 2009, the PGA of America acknowledged three African American golf pioneers by granting them posthumous PGA membership. Those men were Ted Rhodes, Bill Spiller and John Shippen.
Hole 2: Helen Webb Harris
In April 1937, a group of 13 women came together in the Washington, DC living room of Helen Webb Harris and founded the oldest African American women’s golf club in the United States, the Wake Robin Golf Club (picture 2). The stated goals of the Wake Robin were “to perpetuate golf among Negro women, to make potential players into champions, and to make a permanent place for Negro women in the world of golf.” Club members battled the segregationist policies of the 1930’s that prevented Blacks access to public golf courses and were instrumental in the establishment of Langston. The club’s activities also stimulated regional interest in the game among African American women and led to the establishment of Black women’s golf clubs in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Atlantic City and New York. Harris, who earned a BA from Howard and Masters from Catholic, taught in the DC public schools for 40 years. She was also an accomplished golfer. In the mid-1930s, she won the Evening Star Newspaper Trophy for senior women and was runner-up in a Maryland Women's championship competition. She is a member of the United Golfers Association Hall of Fame.
Hole 3: Joseph Bartholomew
Joseph Bartholomew (1888-1971) discovered his love of golf as a young caddie in racially segregated Louisiana and became such a good player that club members arranged matches for him against some era’s best players, including Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen and Audubon head pro Fred McLeod, winner of the 1908 US Open. But it was only after he took up greenkeeping at Metaire Golf Club that his talent for golf course architecture blossomed. A wealthy member arranged for him to go to New York to be tutored by the brilliant golf designer/engineer Seth Raynor, and in early 1922 Bartholomew returned to New Orleans to design and build Metaire’s new course. Although his journey from caddie to club repair to course designer was all about hard work and rare talent, Bartholomew, a black man in the Jim Crow South, was barred from playing at segregated private clubs, even at the courses he designed.
Bartholomew went on to design celebrated golf courses around Louisiana and Mississippi. He built Pontchartrain Park in New Orleans, the State’s first municipal golf course for African Americans in 1956. He also started successful landscape and real estate businesses and was recognized for his philanthropy. Upon his death in 1971, Bartholomew became the first Black man to be inducted into the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame. In 1979, the Pontchartrain Park golf course he shaped was renamed the Joseph M. Bartholomew, Sr. Municipal Golf Course.
Hole 4: Marie Thompson
During the long, painful era of racial segregation in the United States, the United Golfers Association (UGA), founded in 1925, operated a tournament schedule for Black players. Beginning in 1930, thanks to activism from Marie Thompson and a small group of her fellow female golfers, the UGA debuted a National Open Women’s’ Championship, attracting 16 female golfers. Thompson, of the Pioneer Golf Club in Chicago, won the inaugural UGA title and went on to successfully defend in 1931. As the women’s field grew, she recorded top 10 finishes From 1933 until 1941. According to M. Mikell Johnson, author of The African American Woman Golfer: Her Legacy, four women transformed the world of black golf: Lucy William (Mitchell) of the Douglas Park Course in Indianapolis, Ella C. Abel of the Douglas Park Course, Geneva Wilson playing out of Chicago and Marie Thompson (Jones) of the Pioneer Club in Chicago.
Hole 5: Maggie Hathaway (middle)
Hathaway’s legacy is one of showbusiness, civil rights, and golf. She moved to Los Angeles in 1931 with dreams of becoming a pianist at a nightclub and experienced some success as a blues singer and actress. While there, she also become a prominent civil rights activist. After falling in love with golf, Hathaway brought her activism to her newfound pastime, advocating for better access to golf courses for black patrons. She went on to form the Minority Association for Golfers in 1960, picketed for more golf jobs for black professionals in 1963, and petitioned for Lee Elder to receive a Masters Tournament invite in 1975. Outside of golf, Hathaway led a life of civil rights leadership, chartering the Beverly Hills-Hollywood branch of the NAACP in 1962 and holding the first NAACP Image Awards in 1967.
In honor of her legacy in civil right activism and golf, the County of Los Angeles named a municipally-owned par 3 course after her in 1997 (pictured in second slide). NLT is proud to carry on Maggie Hathaway’s legacy and honor her contributions to diversity and equity in golf.
Hole 6: Clyde Martin
At 2:00 PM on June 11, 1939, Frank T. Bartside, Acting Superintendent of the National Capital Parks, opened the new Langston Golf Course. A young local golfer named Clyde Martin stepped on the first tee and hit the first drive on what is today America’s most historic golf course built for the African American community. NLT has honored this moment, and Martin’s legacy as Langston’s first head professional, by naming the Par-4 Hole 6 “Clyde Martin”.
Martin is remembered as another of the talented Black players who came out of the caddie yard and into the world of segregated professional golf. He was a caddie at Congressional Country Club in the late 1920’s when the great Tommy Armour (winner of the 1927 US Open) was head professional. Armour recognized Martin’s golf prowess and arranged for the young caddie to play occasional money matches with club golfers and visitors looking for some action. In the era of segregated sports, however, Martin never found a national stage. But by the late 1930’s, his golf game was well-known around Washington, and he was named head professional at Langston. The great heavyweight professional champion boxer and golf ambassador, Joe Louis, hired Clyde Martin as his golf coach until 1942 when Louis enlisted in the Army. Martin played on the United Golfers Association (UGA) circuit, a series of professional golf tournaments for Blacks during the era of racial segregation in the United States, until his death in the early 1950’s.
Hole 7: Ann Gregory
Ann Gregory was one of the best African American female golfers of the 20th century. National Links Trust has honored her legacy by naming the 7th hole at Langston Golf Course after her.
Born in 1912, Gregory did not take up golf until 1943 while her husband was serving in the Navy in World War II. Over the next several years, she would ascend to being the best African American female golfer in the country, winning the United Golf Association Championship and numerous other tournaments along the way. In 1956, she became the first African American to compete in the US Women’s Amateur Championship. By the end of her lengthy career, she would win nearly 300 tournaments.
For her accomplishments on the golf course, and role as a pioneer of African American golf, Gregory was inducted into the United Golfers Association Hall of Fame in 1966, African American Golfers Hall of Fame in 2006, the National African American Golfers Hall of Fame in 2011, and the National Black Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.
Hole 8: Teddy Rhodes
For his on-course accomplishments and legacy as an inspiration to generations of African American golfers, National Links Trust has named the 8th hole at Langston Golf Course after the legendary, Ted “Teddy” Rhodes.
Rhodes’ first exposure to golf came as a teenager, spending time caddying at country clubs in his hometown of Nashville, TN. Later, after serving in the Navy during World War II, he was introduced to boxing great, Joe Louis. In exchange for Louis’ sponsorship in tournaments, Rhodes served as his instructor and valet. Rhodes would go on to become a force in United Golfers’ Association tournaments, winning 150 in his career. In 1948, he competed in the US Open at the Riviera Country Club, in the process being declared the first African American professional golfer. While he was unable to compete in PGA-sanctioned tournaments due to their “Caucasians only clause,” Rhodes was widely hailed as one of the great professionals of his era.
After his death in 1969, he was named to the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame in 1998 and granted posthumous membership to the PGA of America in 2009, alongside fellow pioneers, Bill Spiller and John Shippen. Today, Ted Rhodes Golf Course, a municipal facility in Nashville, provides golfers with an affordable, accessible 18-hole layout on the banks of the Cumberland River.
Hole 9: Anna Mae Robinson
Anna Mae Robinson founded and was the first President of the Chicago Women’s Golf Club. She also served as Vice-President, Assistant Tournament Director, and Historian of the United Golfers’ Association (UGA). In her time, she pushed for records and archives to be kept to document the UGA’s history. In recognition of her contributions, she was elected to the National Afro-American Golfers Hall of Fame in 1962. NLT is proud to honor Ms. Robinson, and the rest of the pioneers of African American golf, through the Langston Golf Course hole name project.
Hole 10: Ethel Funches (middle)
Born on August 29, 1913, in Owens, South Carolina, Ethel Funches moved to our nation’s capital during the Great Depression in 1932, and it was there her husband, Eugene Funches, taught her the game. She quickly fell in love with golf and dedicated herself to honing her skills. Eleven years later, in 1943, she joined the Wake-Robin Golf Club, the oldest Black women’s golf club in the country, in Washington, DC. Her home course was Langston Golf Course.
A cafeteria manager at Dunbar High School in Northwest Washington by day, Funches was known for her long drives, elegant chip shots, and a fierce distaste for losing. "My name is Ethel P. Funches," she was fond of saying. "The 'P' is for powerful."
Funches’ competitive career was prolific. Throughout her career, Funches would win more than 100 local, regional, and national championships including seven United Golf Association Championships between 1959 and 1973 and fourteen Wake Robin Golf Club Championships between 1952 and 1978. Funches’ legacy as a legendary competitor and pioneer of Black golf both around the country and in Washington, DC was cemented as she was elected to the National Afro-American Golfers Hall of Fame in 1969.
Hole 11: Charlie Sifford
Born on June 2, 1922 in North Carolina, Charlie Sifford’s life was a story of overcoming adversity in the age of segregation. Sifford began playing golf at an early age, and worked as a caddy beginning at age thirteen, before moving to Philadelphia where he competed against local Black golfers. In 1948, he began his professional career; however, because of the PGA of America’s “Caucasian’s only” clause (not repealed until 1961), he played predominantly in tournaments organized by and for Black golfers early in his career.
One of these events was the United Golf Association’s National Negro Open, which he would win six times, including consecutive victories from 1952-56. Eventually, Sifford gained entry into PGA tournaments and became the first Black member of the PGA Tour in 1961. Sifford’s career continued to flourish. He won the 1967 Greater Hartford Open and the 1969 Los Angeles Open. After a successful PGA Tour career, he would go on to win the 1975 PGA Seniors’ Championship. In total, Sifford’s career comprised 22 professional wins (two on the PGA Tour) and 16 US Open and Open Championship starts with five top-40 finishes.
Further evidence of Sifford’s lasting impact came about in 2009 when the Los Angeles Open (now Genesis Invitational) created a player exemption in his honor. This year, Marcus Byrd, a competitor on the APGA Tour who grew up playing at the historic Langston Golf Course in Washington, DC, was awarded the exemption.
Sifford’s legacy goes far beyond his on-course accomplishments. He is one of the pioneers credited with paving the way for later Black professionals including Lee Elder, and Tiger Woods. Recognized for his immense impact on the game, he was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004, awarded an honorary degree from the University of St. Andrews in 2006, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014 by Barack Obama. Throughout his life, Sifford was a regular visitor at the historic Langston Golf Course.
Hole 12: Althea Gibson
Althea Gibson was a professional golfer and tennis player who made history as the first Black woman to win a Grand Slam tennis championship and to compete on the LPGA Tour. Born in South Carolina and raised in New Jersey, Gibson began playing tennis as a child and rose to prominence in the 1950s, winning the French Championships in 1956 and the Wimbledon Championships in 1957. In total, she won 11 Grand Slam championships before retiring in 1958. She then turned, at age 37, to the game of golf, and, in 1963, became the first Black woman to play on the LPGA Tour.
Over the next fourteen years, Gibson would play in over 170 LPGA events. Often faced with discrimination and prejudice, especially in tournaments held in the Deep South, Gibson persevered throughout her career.
"She was hardened to things," said Renee Powell, a close friend of Gibson's and the second Black woman to qualify for the LPGA in 1967. "Because of the fact that she was in tennis and broke color barriers in tennis, when she went to golf, things didn't bother her. She was focused on playing the game. She wasn't trying to open doors, she was just trying to play [the] game and make a living."
For her accomplishments in her tennis career, Althea Gibson was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1971. She is also a member of the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame for her tennis and golf accomplishments.
In a 1977 article about women in American sports, The New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden wrote, “Althea Gibson and Wilma Rudolph are, without question, the most significant athletic forces among Black women in sports history.”
Hole 13: Lee Elder
Elder was born in Dallas, Texas in 1934. While still a teenager, Elder worked as a caddie and around golf courses, quickly developing a passion for the game. After playing a match with Joe Louis and Ted Rhodes, Rhodes took Elder under his wing and helped improve his game. Following a stint in the US Army from 1959-1961, Elder joined the United Golf Association Tour and was dominant. At one point, he won 18 of 22 tournaments he entered. In 1966, he played in his first major championship, finishing in a tie for 57th at the US Open.
By 1967, having raised enough money to attend the PGA Tour’s qualifying school (and also six years after the tour lifted its color barrier), Elder successfully earned his PGA Tour card for the 1968 season.
In 1974, Elder won his first PGA Tour event, the Monsanto Open, which eventually earned him an invitation to the Masters Tournament. On April 10, 1975, Elder became the first Black golfer to play in the Masters Tournament. Though he missed the cut that year, he would go on to log a top 20 finish in the tournament in 1977 and would appear in the tournament six times in total. In 1979, Elder became the first Black golfer to qualify for the Ryder Cup.
In addition to his tremendous professional success, ending his career with four PGA Tour wins, eight Senior PGA Tour wins, and seven top-25 finishes in major championship, Elder managed the historic Langston Golf Course in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Many of the old-timers at Langston still recount Elder’s days at the course and pass stories of his golfing prowess down to the younger generations.
In 2021, Elder took place in the traditional opening tee shot ceremony at the Masters Tournament and the city Washington, DC declared April 10, 2021 as ‘Lee Elder Day’ in recognition of his immense impact on golf, sports, and society. While he would pass later that year, his legacy lives on. National Links Trust will continue to honor and celebrate that legacy at Langston Golf Course.
Hole 14: Pete Brown
Born in Port Gibson, Mississippi in 1935, Brown grew up caddying at a municipal course in Jackson, Mississippi. Jim Crow laws kept Brown from playing there, but he would sneak onto the course during off-hours and learn the game. Over time as he honed his skills, he decided to pursue professional golf.
In his first tournament on the United Golf Association (UGA) circuit, Brown played with borrowed clubs, donned golf shoes and a glove for the first time, and finished ninth. The prejudice and discrimination that Black golfers faced was not the only adversity Brown overcame in his early career. In 1956, he contracted polio and spent a year in the hospital. Eventually, he regained the ability to speak and walk and, against all odds, returned to professional golf.
Upon his return, Brown’s career began to flourish. In 1961 and 1962, he won the UGA’s National Negro Open. In 1962, he also won his first integrated tournament, the Michigan Open. The following year, after the PGA had lifted its “Caucasians only clause” and Charlie Sifford had become the first Black golfer on the tour, Brown earned his PGA tour card. In his second season, he became the first Black golfer to win on tour with a victory at the 1964 Waco Turner Open. That year, he also became the first Black golfer to play in the PGA Championship, finishing in a tie for 33rd. Brown would end up competing on tour for 17 years, winning two times (his second win came at the 1970 Andy Williams San Diego Open, pictured here), amassing 22 top-10 finishes, and making eight major championship appearances.
Injuries and health issues hindered Brown’s later career, but he did manage to compete on the Senior PGA Tour from 1985-1998. During this period, Brown also served as the head pro at Madden Golf Course in Dayton, Ohio before retiring in 2004.
Though he passed away in 2015, Brown was elected to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2020. He is also a member of the National Black Golf Hall of Fame and Mississippi Golf Hall of Fame. In 2019, the Jackson, Mississippi municipal course where he grew up playing was renamed in his honor.
Hole 15: Calvin Peete
Peete was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1943. Growing up, his family moved to Missouri and later to a farm in Pahokee, Florida. At the age of 12, Peete fell from a cherry tree and broke his left elbow in three places. Although surgeons repaired the fractures, the elbow joint remained permanently fused, which some believe contributed to his prodigious driving accuracy during his professional career.
Peete dropped out of school at the age of 15 and supported himself for several years by selling clothes, watches, jewelry, stereos, and other wares up and down the east coast. He first picked up a golf club in Rochester, New York in 1966 at the age of 23. After moving back to Florida, golf became Peete's obsession, and over the next several years, he rapidly improved.
After turning pro in 1971, Peete earned his PGA Tour card through Qualifying school in 1975. Four years later, he won his first PGA Tour win at the Greater Milwaukee Open. In 1982, Peete had four PGA Tour wins and also logged a t-10 finish at the US Open and a t-3 finish at the PGA Championship. The following year, he played on the US Ryder Cup team, earning 2.5 points in a victory at PGA National Golf Club.In 1984, Peete recorded one victory and finished the season with the lowest scoring average on Tour, earning the Byron Nelson Award and Vardon Trophy. From 1985-1986, Peete earned four more PGA Tour victories, including a 3 shot win at the 1985 Players Championship, the biggest victory of his career. Throughout this time, Peete excelled in hitting fairways, leading the Tour in driving accuracy from 1981-1990.
Injuries hampered Peete’s later PGA Tour years and foray onto the Senior PGA Tour, but he still finished his career with twelve PGA Tour wins, four top-10 finishes in majors, two Ryder Cup appearances, and more than $3.2 million in earnings between the PGA Tour and Senior PGA Tour. He passed away in 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Hole 16: Laree Sugg
Sugg was born in Petersburg, Virginia and began golfing at six years old. A decorated junior and amateur golfer, Sugg played on the women’s golf team at UCLA starting in 1987. In 1991, she became the first Black golfer who was part of a NCAA women’s golf national championship team. This national title, though, nearly didn’t happen.
On the 13th hole of the final round of the national championship tournament, Sugg accidentally teed her ball up in front of the tee markers resulting in a two-stroke penalty. Sugg fought back making birdies at the next two holes, but it still took a late rally against San Jose State for UCLA to force a sudden death playoff for the title. Sugg, a leader on the team, was tasked to represent UCLA and came up clutch, birdieing the first hole to take home the national title.
After she graduated from UCLA, Sugg embarked on a professional career. In 1995, after playing on the LPGA Futures Tour, Ladies European Tour, and Ladies Asian Golf Tour, Sugg became the third Black golfer to earn her LPGA Tour card. She would go on to play in ten women’s major championships throughout her career.
After moving on from professional golf, Sugg began a successful career in college athletics at the University of Richmond. In 2001, she became the school’s first head women’s golf coach, and won the Colonial Athletic Association’s coach of the year award in 2002. After her coaching career, Sugg pivoted to administrative work within the department in 2005. Today, after stints as Assistant Athletic Director and Associate Athletic Director, she serves as Deputy Director of Athletics for Policy and Sport Programs at the university. She is also the Senior Woman Administrator and is the Chief of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Hole 17: Renee Powell
Born in East Canton, Ohio in 1946, Renee Powell was raised in a family of golfers. Her father, William (Bill) Powell, was the first African American to design, own, build, and operate a golf course. The course, Clearview Golf Club, was where Renee grew up, learning the game from Bill and working on the maintenance crew.
She had an extremely successful junior golf career winning more than 50 tournament and making history as the first Black golfer to participate in the US Girls Junior Amateur championship in 1962. After graduating from high school in 1964, Powell enrolled at Ohio University and played on the golf team. She would eventually transfer to Ohio State University, playing on and captaining the women’s golf team there as well.
In 1967, Powell became the second Black member of the LPGA Tour, and in 1973, won the Kelly Springfield Open in Brisbane, Australia. She would go on to play in more than 250 professional tournaments. Throughout her professional career, Powell traveled around the world teaching golf clinics including multiple visits to Africa and a USO Tour to Vietnam. She also spent part of her professional career in the UK, joining the British PGA and becoming the first woman to compete in a British men’s tournament at the 1977 Surrey PGA Championship.
After retiring from the LPGA in 1980, she was a commentator for ABC and CBS before becoming the head professional at her original home course, Clearview Golf Club, where she has continued the course’s legacy of inclusion and diversity in the game.
For her many contributions to golf, Powell has received countless awards from the PGA of America, LPGA, USGA, and LPGA. She is the first Black woman to earn a Class-A PGA of America membership. In 2008, she became the third American, and only woman golfer, to receive an honorary doctorate from The University of St. Andrews, and seven years later was given honorary membership into the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.
Hole 18: Tiger Woods
A 15-time major champion with 110 professional wins (82 on the PGA Tour) and three US Amateur titles, Tiger Woods’ legacy transcends golf. His arrival on the global stage in 1996, followed by his historic 12 shot victory at the 1997 Masters Tournament, propelled him to superstardom and has helped bring golf to a new generation and new audiences.
Woods grew up on publicly-accessible courses, and because of this, we felt there was no better way to honor his legacy than by naming the home hole at the historic Langston Golf Course after him.