Charlie Sifford receiving Doctor of Laws from St. Andrews University

a priceless gem

You called it right. Thanks for posting it.

you are welcome pez

in this historic day of the inauguration of barack obama when so many are remembering where we came from and where we are going and as this is a golf forum, its poignant to remember charlie sifford, calvin peete, lee elder and many other black golfers who played on through bigotry while on the golf course.

http://www.wgv.com/hof/member.php?member=1105

World Golf Hall of Fame Profile: Charlie Sifford

Charlie Sifford broke barriers all his life. He was the first African-American to play the PGA and the first to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

There was a time when none of this seemed possible. Jackie Robinson's courageous integration of Major League Baseball in 1946 is widely and appropriately credited for changing the American sports landscape forever. One year later, toughened by a tour of duty in the Army's 24th Infantry, another young black man named Charlie Sifford told Robinson he planned to follow in his footsteps and compete in golf, a sport where the ball and the participants were equally as white.

"He asked me if I was a quitter," Sifford recalled. "He said, 'OK, if you're not a quitter, go ahead and take the challenge. If you're a quitter, there's going to be a lot of obstacles you're going to have to go through to be successful in what you're trying to do.'

"I made up my mind I was going to do it. I just did it. Everything worked out perfect, I think."

It was Sifford who opened professional golf, a game with a "Caucasian only" rule, to blacks more than four decades ago. Without him, Tiger Woods would probably not have been able to make his own impact on the sports world. "He has my respect and my gratitude for the sacrifices he made to open the doors to this great game to people of color," Woods said.

Born June 2, 1922, Sifford started in golf the only way a black kid growing up in North Carolina could in the 1930s - as a caddie. He earned 60 cents a day and gave his mom 50 cents and kept 10 cents to buy stogies, which became his trademark on the course. By 13, he could shoot par golf.

Sifford's skin was tough enough to endure racial injustice and epithets. At the 1952 Phoenix Open, Sifford and his all-black foursome, which included the boxer Joe Louis, found excrement in the cup on the first hole, and waited nearly an hour for the cup to be replaced.

Despite all the insults, Sifford lived up to the standard set by Robinson. Sifford fought his battle essentially alone; he didn't have teammates. He broke barriers by breaking par. He won the National Negro Open five straight times from 1952-1956, all the while pushing golf's color boundaries. Not until 1960, when he was 39, did he earn a PGA player card. A year later, under pressure from the California attorney general, the PGA of America, which then ran the Tour, dropped its "Caucasian only" membership clause.

Sifford's best years already had passed, but he still won twice on the PGA Tour, at the 1967 Greater Hartford Open and the 1969 Los Angeles Open. "If you try hard enough," Sifford said, "anything can happen." Sifford, who won the 1975 PGA Seniors' Championship, went on to become an original member of the Champions Tour, where he won the Suntree Classic.

In 2004, Sifford became the first black golfer to break into another exclusive club. Of the 100 previously enshrined at the World Golf Hall of Fame, none was black. He was selected via the Lifetime Achievement category for his contributions to the game. "Tonight we honor a man not just for what he accomplished on the course, but for the course he chose in life," South African Gary Player said as he introduced his long-time friend at the induction ceremony in St. Augustine, Fla.

Better late, than never. That's been the story of Charlie Sifford's life. "Man, I'm in the Hall of Fame, the World Hall of Fame," he said in his induction ceremony speech. "Don't forget that now! I'm in the World Hall of Fame with all the players. That little old golf I played was all right, wasn't it?"

Tiger acknowledged that Charlie Sifford, Pete Brown, and Lee Elder broke down the barriers that made it possible for him to play on the PGA Tour. Charlie Sifford is a true "trail blazer"!

Thanks for posting. It is fitting that the Scots awarded him the honour. The Scottish were oppressed by English rule for years. I am not equivocating slavery or racism to lack of freedom.

Least we not forget, that many of our ancestors left their native lands, facing possible death on the Atlantic or Pacific to find freedom in the US. Then many left the comfort of the Eastern shores to cross mountains and desert to find opportunity. We are not a country of quitters. We would rather face death than lose our freedom. Just let us play.

Thank you Charlie Sifford.

This is a week for honors for Charlie Sifford! Here is what "USA Today" reported yesterday:

"Nearly 50 years after Charlie Sifford became the first balck to join the PGA Tour, the Northern Trust Open announced Monday that an exemption in his name for a player who represents the advancement of diversity in golf. The annual Charllie Sifford Exemption will be recognized Feb. 18, the day before the tournament begins at Riviera. "It's something that should have been done a long time ago," Sifford said in a telephone interview. "This is a wonderful thing. It will give someone a chance."

Great find...thanks for posting that!!!

I had the pleasure meeting Charlie along with Roberto DeVincenzo when I was around 12 years old. My dad took to me to watch them at the old Senior Gold Rush in Rancho Murietta, CA.

Roberto and he were battling it out for the Super Senior division, which Roberto ultimately ended up winning. After the round, Roberto took me on the green of the 18th for the trophy presentation and had me hold the trophy while they gave him one of those huge checks.

I got to speak to them both and get their autographs. Charlie was truly a class act and I'll always remember him and that cigar. It's great to see him getting recognized for the trailblazer he was.

Thanks for the post. Roberto DeVicenzo has always been one of my favorites, because of his smooth swing, excellent record (won the Open Championship in 1967 during the Nicklaus-Palmer-Player era and should have won the Masters in 1968), and personality. I have a tape of Shell's Wonderful World of Golf where he played with and against "Champagne" Tony Lema. It is a great one, and took place at the Glyfada Golf Club in Athens, Greece in 1964 just before Tony won his Open Championship. Roberto always appeared to be a gracious, friendly chap. You have to give him credit. When a mistake by his playing partner cost him a tie with Bob Goalby in the 1968 Masters, he took the blame on himself. Even Goalby felt sorry for him. He had made a birdie on a hole, and a par was recorded on his card, which he signed. The higher score, of course, had to stand, and he finished second, due to that mistake.

According to the World Golf Hall of Fame, Roberto won over 230 professional golf tournaments, world-wide!! No one will ever approach that record!