Golf's Racial History

Caddying

Most black Americans that took up golf in the 19th and 20th centuries were first introduced to the game through caddying, carrying golf bags, cleaning clubs, and spotting balls for white players. White golfers and golf clubs found caddying a "suitable endeavor" for young black boys, reflecting traditional racial and class roles dominant in society and popularizing the trope of the black caddy boy in American popular culture. Soon, courses began to desire black caddies to hire.

While caddying was a niche industry that allowed black men to have a specialized stream of income, black men were able to use their caddying positions to practice at courses (usually to the blind eye of the white players and staff) to learn and play the game. Caddying "complicated racial dynamics" between white players and black caddies, with relationships ranging from "demeaning abuse", "racist patronizing", or "genuine friendship."⁵ Whatever the relationship may be, the racialized role of caddies solidifed the elitist image of golf, both dissuading and encouraging black men to learn the game.

Black Labor at Golf Clubs

There was a reliance on black labor to build and maintain golf facilities, especially in the South. In the clubhouse, subservient roles for black people were common, assuming jobs such as attendants, stewards, and chefs. Because the segregation in the white-dominated sphere of golf drew a line between the privileges of the white club-goers who enjoyed the facilities and the limitations of African-Americans who had to maintain this space, black golfers sought to establish their own golfing spaces.

The image above is shows members of America's first African-American golf club, Shady Rest Country Club, in Westfield, New Jersey in 1925. Black-owned and operated golf clubs began to appear across the country, mostly in the Northeast and Midwest regions. Those critical of golf's elitist origins argued that with the creation of black-owned golf courses has led to these clubs to reflecting the classist attitudes within the black community. Educator Elise McDougald notes how "golf and clubs like Shady Rest offered Harlem's elite women social standing with whites while isolating them from the city's other black women."⁵ This gives way to formation of golf's respectability aspect, where elitist attitudes are utilized to reconcile with the permittance of black people into golf.

Black Erasure: The First Golf Tee

The erasure of African-American stories, achievements, and presence within golf is prominent, due to the upkeep of golf's white elitist image by historians or the media. One such case is the invention of the modern golf tee, created by a black dentist named George Franklin Grant from New Jersey in 1899. Grant's 1899 patent was the first one for the golf tee, which resembles the wooden tee used by golfers since the 1940's.

Yet, organizations and publications such as the United States Golf Association (USGA) and Golf Digest credit William Lowell, a white dentist, with inventing the wooden tee in 1924. Crediting Grant would not fit the traditional narrative of golf's exclusively white origins, highlighting the importance of the game's racial exclusion over classist views, given that Grant and Lowell were both affluent, Northeastern dentists.⁵ Much of golf's lore rests on its ability to perpetuate its preceived exclusive status, but it only extends to the white experience.

Origins of Bermuda Grass

Pictured above is the Pinehurst No. 2 course in North Carolina, which is considered one of the most historic courses in America. It's one of the first courses to feature Bermuda grass, which itself as a racialized history. Bermuda grass does not originate from Bermuda but rather in Africa, where it is cultivated as pasture grass.

Demas points out:

"There is even evidence that slave owners identified Africans as more experienced in tending African-derived flora and fauna, including Bermuda grass. It became the most popular turf in the South and was used at Augusta National." ⁵

Today, 40% of all courses in America feature Bermuda grass. The origins of the term 'Bermuda' grass point to how deep America's racism is entrenched in golf and also emphasizes how white prestige and traditionalism can mask its racist beginnings and narratives.