Organization of Paper

In my paper I am first going to describe why and how golf became a white mans game for so long. I will then tell how the African Americans began to make desegregation movements to become a part of country clubs and to golf on public course. I will give specific examples of how this was put to work at different clubs and public venues. I will describe what is being done today to help make sure the movements are being put in affect. I will then explain how Tiger Woods has been such a major factor in desegregation process and what all he has done for the game of golf. I will also explain how Woods has influenced so many African Americans to pick up the game of golf. I will conclude with what the game needs to do in order to permanently change and not just little changes.

Sample Intro

Ever since the creation of golf, the game had been fathered into being a white mans sport. African Americans have been fighting the segregation rules associated with golf and trying to break the barrier that has been formed. Many country clubs and even public courses have been denying African Americans to join their clubs or play on their courses. African Americans golf fanatics have been teaming up with equal rights movement organizations since the beginning to make sure that the racial barriers could be broken and no more segregation would occur within the game. A gold mine was struck when Tiger Woods came onto the PGA tour. The fact Tiger Woods will go down in history as the number one golfer of all time is a huge success for bringing African American to the professional level and to the game of golf.

Making Moves

During the 1920s was a popular time for the African American golfer. African Americans began to become more and more interesting in the great game during these years and slowly began to form their own country clubs. The purpose of these clubs was for African Americans to play the game for recreation or to become a professional golfer. However, the professional level for the African Americans during this time meant only at tournaments put on by the black country clubs around the country. These types of tournaments went on throughout the 1950s in which the African Americans began to work with the NAACP to help them with the desegregation process. To rival with the PGA the UGA was created to allow African Americans to tour professional.

Segregation and Golf

Sports in America have gone through desegregation periods of racial issues except for the sport of golf. Golf is a sport that has seen the most resistance by whites to keep blacks out of their sport. On a professional level golf was the last sport in American to allow African Americans to compete in tournaments. This has resulted in the slow movement of African Americans to gain interest in the sport. The racial barrier movements have recently been stimulated by the success of the only black golfer on the PGA Tour, Tiger Woods, who is the number one ranked golfer in the world. The recent success of Tiger Woods has only barley stimulated the movement of racial barriers in golf.

Firestone

When driving up to Akron, Ohio, I was in for a treat as I was going to get to see the world's greatest golfer and my favorite athlete, Tiger Woods. Upon arriving to the course we were searched as we boarded the shuttle bus for safety and security issues. I immediately noticed the security guards were taking their jobs very seriously as they denied people to enter until they emptied out food, cellular devices, and various other non permitted items. On the shuttle ride to the course my friends and I seen banners of the previous years winners and we immediately noticed Tiger Woods had won six of the past seven years he had played in this particular tournament. Walking into the grounds we were free to do whatever we pleased as far as spectating goes. Noticing the galleries that were out following the many different players, I noticed that there was a mix of all cultures watching the tournament. Anywhere from people wearing sweatpants to people wearing suites. My friends and I were with the majority of the gallery wearing plaid shorts and a golf polo. Being more specific, the ethnic backgrounds were dependent on the particular player they were following. People of the Asian culture were mainly following the Asian golfers. There was British press t.v. crew there that was following Ian Poulter who was a British golfer. Everyone however, was following Tiger Woods. It didn't matter where you were from, color of your skin, or how you dressed, Tiger Woods had 85% of the gallery following him around the course. My friends and I contributed to that 85% until Woods finished his 18 holes of golf then we were off to watch the efforts of the other golfers in the field. People were buying the overly priced concession food and drinks like the world was going to end. It did not matter to them though as they were enjoying the wonderful game of golf with thousands of people of different backgrounds.

A Brief History

Golf seems to be one of the sports lacking in desegregation although the success of Tiger Woods tends to blanket this belief. Ever since the beginning of golf, crusaders for the game have been trying to convince officials that golf was not just for the rich and that cities and towns should provide courses for the "masses" to play. The first public golf courses were flooded with people, both rich and poor, who were trying to prove that golf was not a current fad that would pass by eventually. The African Americans who were trying to enjoy this great game, were often disclosed from private white country clubs and kept out of public and municipal courses. The only action the African Americans were getting on the golf course was to serve as caddies for the white members. For the most part, African Americans as young as eight years old would haul around two bags at a time for a full day. Mostly in the north, the African American caddies were occasionally aloud to play a round of golf on Monday's when the course is closed to the members. However in the south, this was not seen as much because the country clubs and courses would often deny the African Americans the right to play.