Diversity in golf – Syndication Server

How Detroit’s Midnight Golf Program is changing lives through dinners, bowling, family — and golf

Fluker had witnessed up close how golf could enrich a young person’s life, even beyond a golf scholarship.

DETROIT — During recent evenings at an iconic location in northwest Detroit, many of the elements one might associate with a festive Super Bowl party filled the room: lively conversations, discussions of strategies, brief periods of silence during critical moments. And real food, like baked chicken slathered in barbecue sauce, accompanied by hot side dishes like potatoes and string beans — all in heaping helpings.

But this was no Super Bowl party. And the stakes, for many, are much higher and more personal, not dictated by a date on a calendar or a scoreboard clock.

The activities that were taking place inside the Liberal Arts building on the Marygrove Conservancy campus will continue for several more weeks this year. The scene was consistent with the game plan that has been carried out since 2001 when the Midnight Golf Program began providing life-changing programming to metro Detroit youths. And unlike football rosters that change each year, being a member of the Midnight Golf family can be a lifelong bond once the connection is made.

“You stay with us, we stay with you,” explained Detroit native Renee’ Fluker, founder and president of the nonprofit Midnight Golf Program. For starters, each year, the program conducts a 30-week program focused on mentoring and positive personal transformation for 250 high school seniors, who also learn how to golf in the process.

Those taking part in the program have an opportunity to go on the Road Trip for Success College Tour, scheduled for March 26 through April 1 in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, featuring eight college visits, exposure to sites of cultural significance, and more golf. When the six busloads of students roll back into Detroit following the college tour, there will be more after-school programming combining the development of life skills, mentoring and golf at Marygrove.

And on May 10, there will be a Pinning Ceremony at Fellowship Chapel church, where the graduating high school seniors will be presented with scholarships and receive special awards and further encouragement from community members and leaders. The students also will have an opportunity to make a pledge to officially join the Midnight Golf family while being pinned, and those students that make that pledge will give their word that they will give back to the program and their community to the best of their ability, in the same manner Midnight Golf has provided for them.

“I feel that I’m out here doing God’s work,” said Fluker, who reported that the 2022 Midnight Golf graduating senior class received more than $250,000 in scholarships before going off to colleges and universities across the country. “Our young people, they want to do something. They want to be pushed.”

The pride of Wingert Elementary School, Webber Junior High and Cooley High School (Class of 1972), Fluker speaks in dulcet tones. Yet, despite the softness of her voice, Fluker says she has never had a problem being heard by Midnight Golf participants, who, as she explained, even love to hear “Ms. Renee’” fuss because it reflects how much she cares about the program and each student.

There also have been moments during Fluker’s life when her passion and intensity were felt without her having to say a word. Like in 2000 when Fluker accompanied her son, Jason Malone, to Florida for the Bill Dickey Invitational Junior Golf Championship, an annual showcase for young golfers of color. During the two-day tournament, Fluker caught the eye of Earnie Ellison Jr., the former director of business and community relations for the Professional Golfers’ Association of America.

“Earnie Ellison came up to me and said he admired how I walked every hole with my son and supported him. I told him I do that all the time. And then he said I should consider starting a youth program in Detroit because the PGA was coming to Detroit for the Ryder Cup (played in 2004 at Oakland Hills Country Club) and they wanted to support a program that reflected their commitment to making an impact in the communities where their tournaments are played,” Fluker recalled.

At the time of Fluker’s encounter with Ellison, she was nearing the end of her 35-year career with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and as she puts it, starting a youth development program was not exactly on her “short list” of things to do. Plus, at the time Fluker met Ellison, she had not yet learned to play golf herself. However, by connecting with the game through her son, who played on the University of Detroit Jesuit High School golf team before earning a scholarship to Loyola University Chicago, Fluker had witnessed up close how golf could enrich a young person’s life, even beyond a golf scholarship.

Fluker said she soon discovered that golf was also a “good networking tool” that gave kids an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and think about their future in the process. So, later in 2000, with a push from her son and godmother — the late Julia Baldwin, a 2019 inductee into the Michigan Women’s Golf Association Hall of Fame — Fluker, a former social worker, answered Ellison’s call to action and began making plans. She got together with a circle of other committed, community-focused folks to create a nonprofit linked to golf and so much more that would “help the kids in the city of Detroit.”

Midnight Golf Founder and President Renee Fluker, left, talks with Cassidy Dickerson, 17, of Detroit, and Alexa Thomas, 17, of Franklin, during the Midnight Golf Program at Marygrove Conservancy in northwest Detroit, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023. (Photo by Sarahbeth Maney, Detroit Free Press)

The “help” that Fluker hoped to provide through Midnight Golf has now touched more than 4,000 lives, including Dr. Shakyra Rivers, a member of the first Midnight Golf graduating class, who recently made Fluker’s weekend when she reached out from Washington, D.C. and asked if “Ms. Renee,” who attended Rivers’ graduations from Howard University and Wayne State University, in addition to her wedding, could help plan Rivers’ 40th birthday.

Even closer to Fluker, in a geographic sense, is Demetrius Scott, director of corporate citizenship for Detroit-based Ally Financial, where he spearheads Ally’s financial education efforts in the community. On Tuesday evening, Scott and his “Wallet Wise” presentation on budgeting were the only things standing in the way of dinner for the Midnight Golf students that come to Marygrove on Tuesdays and Thursdays (another group of Midnight Golf students comes to Marygrove on Mondays and Wednesdays). Scott said his ever-present smile and his relaxed, confident demeanor while “working the room,” as his father (Derrick Scott) who was present called it, reflects how he feels on the inside about the Midnight Golf Program.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t be where I am today if not for the Midnight Golf Program,” said Scott (Midnight Golf Class of 2007), who graduated from Renaissance High School and later earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in accounting from Michigan State. “Midnight Golf always instilled in me to give back, and now I have turned my passion into a career.”

Early in his presentation on Tuesday, Scott asked the students to raise their hands if they kept a budget. The question immediately brought the chatter-filled room to near silence as hands sheepishly began to rise. Scott estimated that eventually about half the students raised their hands. Scott later revealed that his question wasn’t meant to embarrass or coerce any of the students, simply to plant seeds about creating a smart financial future. Such tactics have proven vital to the participants in Midnight Golf and their collective success.

“A lot of people that have gone through the program, including myself, didn’t understand the importance of all of the concepts and tools we were learning until we were out of the program,” said Scott, who has served as a Midnight Golf mentor and now is co-chair of the Ambassador Board, which focuses on raising awareness of the program. “You don’t know what you don’t know, so as a high school student you’re saying ‘Why am I learning all of this?’ But when you get to college and get into careers and really start putting these life skills to work, it pushes you far, far ahead of your peers.”

The intentionality of each of the program’s components that Scott spoke of even applied to the baked chicken dinner the students were about to eat, explained Winston Coffee, who is critical to the program’s success in helping participants receive college scholarships in his role as the college liaison.

Chelsea Bush, 17, left, and Traniece McWilliams, 17, both of Detroit, take notes during a life skills and financial workshop part of the Midnight Golf Program at Marygrove Conservancy in northwest Detroit, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023.

“We call this the Midnight Golf Program, but really it’s like a family,” said Coffee, who was a volunteer mentor for the program before assuming his staff position. “Ms. Renee’ has been very intentional with her background as a social worker to say that we want this to be like you’re coming home. Every time you come to Midnight Golf you’re going to get certain things: You’re going to get a greeting; you’re going to be welcomed; you might get a hug or a handshake, and people are going to know your name and know who you are.

“And it goes on to dinner because you’re going to get a full-course meal. Ms. Renee’ said programs give you snacks. But with your family, you’re going to sit down and eat with them and you’re going to have a conversation; you’re going to have a full meal and it’s a different kind of experience. And we’re able to have outcomes that we enjoy because of that environment. We become trusted advisers, and the students know that if we’re challenging them, it comes from a good place, and they can receive that.”

Paul Stallings, a senior at Cass Tech, says he has enjoyed everything he has received so far through Midnight Golf. And the experience promises to be even more helpful with the college tour coming up, because it will give him an opportunity to learn more about some of the institutions he has applied to, including North Carolina Agricultural Technical State University, Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University.

“Midnight Golf has actually surpassed my expectations,” said Stallings, who wants to major in marketing in college. “It’s a very serious program. But at the same time, it is a very uplifting program, which is good to see because I have never been in an after-school program. It’s just something different — I actually love the environment.”

Not far from where Stallings spoke during the final hour of Tuesday’s three-hour program (which ended at 8:30 p.m.), in a gymnasium that has been converted into an indoor golf facility for the program, where participants can work on every part of their game under the instruction of PGA professionals, an adult was engaged in a friendly putting contest with one of the students. With each putt, both the adult and student appeared to be tensing up just a bit. But it’s unlikely that the pressure they felt came anywhere close to the pressure Alverto Pizana said he experienced when he was first asked to chair the Midnight Golf Program’s annual Bowl-A-Thon in 2019, which serves as the primary fundraising event for the college tour.

Pizana, who grew up on Detroit’s east side and graduated from Osborn High School in 1978, described literally feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders; not just because of how much the college tour means to the program participants, but also because of how important he believes Midnight Golf is to the entire city.

“Back in 1978, coming out of Detroit Public Schools, for most of us, it was either going into the factory or going into the military,” explained Pizana, who has been with Ford Motor Co. for 28 years, and has had a son, daughter, niece and nephew come through the Midnight Golf Program.

“That’s why I love this program. And I tell the young people in the program that if we had programs like this during the ’70s and the ’80s, it would have been a game changer, for everyone, across the board.”

More about Midnight Golf Program: An afterschool ‘family’ youth development experience

Founder and president: Renee’ Fluker

Founder’s statement: “Playing golf at night is impossible unless someone shines a light. The program uses the game of golf to give young people a brighter vision of their future.”

Upcoming special events: Bowl-A-Thon 2023, Saturday, March 18, Thunderbowl Lanes (4200 Allen Road, Allen Park, 48101), noon, registration (Bowling begins at 1 p.m.). Teams consist of five bowlers, with space limited to 74 teams. Registration can be done as a team or individual bowler. In addition, there are sponsorship opportunities and other ways to support the event. The Bowl-A-Thon is the major fundraiser for Midnight Golf’s 2023 Road Trip for Success College Tour (March 26-April 1).

Learn more: For more information about the Midnight Golf Program, including how to register for the Bowl-A-Thon and how to make a contribution or volunteer time to the nonprofit organization, go to midnightgolf.org

Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and lifelong lover of Detroit culture in all of its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at: stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott’s stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/.

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This NFL running back thought he had to be ‘somebody I wasn’t’ to play golf. He’s hoping to change that for others

The pair have teamed up to launch “Vibez Golf Club.”

Denver Broncos running back Melvin Gordon wants to grow the game — of golf.

Gordon and fellow NFL running back Dare Ogunbowale have teamed up to launch “Vibez Golf Club,” an amateur golf club that wants to “truly expand the game of golf by paving the way for new demographics and individuals,” according to the club’s website.

“We’re trying to make the game more approachable,” Gordon said in a recent interview with the PGA Tour. “You know, more approachable for guys like me, guys like us, dressed like me, look like me.”

Gordon said growing up he thought he had to be “somebody I wasn’t” to go to a golf course. Gordon’s now aiming to make golf more accessible, and he’s hoping more kids will see golf as a way to “put food on your family’s table” in addition to sports like football and basketball.

"Growing up, I didn't think that was a thing. I didn't think I could go to a golf course."@VibezGolfClub founders @DGO23_ and @MelvinGordon25 are dedicated to diversifying the game of golf. pic.twitter.com/U7hl1ucI6g

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 21, 2022

On the club’s website, Gordon is listed as the director of social media. He’s entering his third season with the Broncos this fall.

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The nation’s largest predominantly Black golf club has a new home at this Ohio golf course

This marks a major milestone for the 72-year-old golf club.

AKRON, Ohio — The largest predominantly Black golf club in the United States now has its official home.

Tiretown Golf Club and Tiretown Golf Charities can now call the 180-acre J.E. Good Park Golf Course its home course.

That marks a major milestone for the 72-year-old golf club that draws its 180 or so members from the Akron area and whose history includes playing at city-owned Good Park. It was one of only two golf courses in Northeast Ohio at the time of the club’s founding in 1950 where Black golfers could play. The other course at the time was Ridge Top Golf Course in Medina.

The membership celebrated Saturday morning at the course in beautiful, sunny and cool weather with speeches and the unveiling of a new plaque that will be installed near the No. 3 tee, and with photos and other memorabilia displayed in the clubhouse. Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan, Akron NAACP President Judi Hill and others attended and spoke.

And while it was a time to reflect on the group’s rich history, members also said being able to call Good Park Golf Course their official home bodes well for their future and ongoing missions to develop young golfers and scholars.

Tiretown Golf Club President Ralph Paulk told onlookers he was on a recent trip to California. While there, Paulk said he played golf with a Los Angeles-area club that had a predominantly Black membership of 112, which a newspaper said made it the largest Black golf club in the U.S.

But Paulk noted the Akron club has about 180 members.

“Well, if my numbers are right, 180 is a little higher than 112,” Paulk said. “Therefore, we are the largest predominantly African American club in the country.”

More than just golf

And while the Tiretown members are very competitive when it comes to playing golf, they take pride in being more than that, Paulk said.

“It’s one thing to be the largest or the biggest or whatever, but it’s another thing to do the work,” Paulk said. “I will say one thing about our members, they do the work. They know how important it is for scholarships, they know how important it is for young people. It’s one of the reasons why our youth program is more than 30 strong.”

Tiretown has other partnerships as well, including First Tee, he said. First Tee works to integrate the teaching of golf as well as life skills to children. Tiretown members also raise money for a scholarship program, and the club has extended partnerships with the city, organizations, churches and others.

Tiretown member Tony Bishop noted after the ceremony that one of the important things about First Tee is developing the next generation of golfers and helping youths develop life skills.

“We don’t have kids in First Tee, we don’t have golfers on TV,” he said.

“This is more than the Tiretown club. It’s a family,” said the NAACP’s Hill, who is a Tiretown member. “It’s individuals who support each other.”

Hill estimated that 90% of the people attending Saturday’s event are NAACP members. She reminded onlookers that historically Blacks were not allowed to play golf and that in many cases women were not allowed, either. She called Saturday “an awesome day.”

Hill said the NAACP and Tiretown are two organizations that “have weathered the storms, the political, economic and social storms that this community and the world have provided. We persevered, we continued to grow. … We can and we do make a difference. And we have to hold onto that.”

‘Welcome home’

Horrigan, who plays golf, noted that the city and Tiretown reached an agreement for the golf club to call Good Park its home.

Horrigan called Tiretown and Good Park and the city a relationship. He said he was extremely proud that Tiretown’s home is now Good Park.

“Tiretown is so much more than golf,” Horrigan said. “It’s about the socialization. It’s about what it teaches you. … Welcome home. Welcome.”

Afterward, Paulk said it took 72 years for Tiretown to have a home. It’s important to have a place to show and share the organization’s history at the clubhouse, he said.

“We have 72 years of rich tradition and history,” he said. “This is the home of Tiretown.”

Jim Mackinnon is a reporter for the Akron Beacon-Journal, part of the USA Today Network. He can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him @JimMackinnonABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/JimMackinnonABJ.

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With a solid showing in his Masters debut, Harold Varner III’s continued rise is good for the future of golf

The 31-year-old Varner is quickly becoming one of the more likable players on the PGA Tour.

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We’re a few decades removed from the Foreigner’s heyday, the British-American rock band stringing together its share of hits during the late 1970s and much of the 1980s. Classic tunes such as “Juke Box Hero,” “Cold As Ice” and “I Want to Know What Love Is” remain favorites among tribute bands and revelers at karaoke bars.

One can neither confirm or deny the presence of such song selections on any of Harold Varner III’s music playlists. But I doubt the Gastonia, N.C., native and PGA Tour pro would argue the vintage rock band’s “Feels Like the First Time” fit the occasion last weekend.

An opportunity he’d long pursued, Varner participated in his first Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club from April 7-10. The product of Forestview High, just outside Charlotte, finished 3-over for the tournament, tying for 23rd.

A realist, Varner had few expectations of capturing a hallowed green jacket on his first attempt. But if there’s anything local folks have learned about him through the years, the Gastonia talent has an endless well of confidence.

Despite it being his first walk of the famed golf course at a competitive level, Varner seemed right at home between the junipers, magnolias and pink dogwoods of Augusta National. Particularly in the first two rounds of play, shooting consecutive 71s to place him only a few shots back of eventual champion Scottie Scheffler. It also earned him a seat next to ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt for a brief interview after finishing play on Friday.

2022 Masters — Sergio Garcia watches as Harold Varner III hits his approach shot at no. 7 during the second round of The Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Course. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Davis Tucker-Augusta Chronicle/USA TODAY Sports

A rough Saturday ended those pursuits, the pristine Georgia golf course introducing Varner to its dark side. He finished the day 7-over par, and 6 over for the tournament. A strong showing (3-under 69) during the final 18 holes allowed him to settle at 3-over in his first Masters Tournament.

A brand ambassador for Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan’s line of golf clothing and shoes, Varner has long looked the part. Blessed with a charming smile and quick wit, the 31-year-old Varner is quickly becoming one of the more likable players on the PGA Tour. Some of that may lie in the fact he speaks from the heart, not afraid to let one know exactly where he stands on matters great and small.

However, it’s as refreshing to find an emerging superstar interested in others as much as their own individual pursuits. Long an advocate for the advancement of golf among youths and teens, the work of Varner’s HV3 Foundation is to bring awareness to the rising cost of entry and access to sports.

Two weeks before accomplishing a lifelong dream, the PGA Tour pro welcomed 156 high school golfers from throughout the Carolinas to Gaston County as part of the third annual HV3 Invitational. Originally expected not to be in town due to obligations at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin, Varner flew in for the final round and an opportunity to hand the trophy to the winner of the event bearing his name.

“Growing up I experienced those same challenges first hand,” Varner said in the foundation’s mission statement. “I was incredibly fortunate to be able to join a youth program at my local municipal course that allowed me to play unlimited golf for $100 a summer. That $100 was not easy to come by, but was worth scraping together due to the access it afforded.”

I’ve always believed one only gets from this life what they pour into it. While his God-given ability has taken him around the world and back, Varner doesn’t allow himself to stray too far from that little boy spending countless hours on putting greens at the old Gastonia Municipal Golf Course.

In one weekend, the masses were introduced to Varner not as one in a select few Black golfers on the PGA Tour, but also one with the ability to compete week in and week out. And with it, the opportunity to be a blessing to others as shown throughout his professional career.

It’s been a steady brew for Varner, one full of trial, error and growth. Hopefully, that beautiful concoction eventually results in a Tour win for the Gastonia native.

But in the meantime, a hashtag and two words will have to do — #WeHere.

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Joe Hughes writes for the Gaston Gazette, part of the USA Today Network. You can reach Joe at 704-914-8138, email jhughes@gastongazette.com and follow on Twitter @JoeLHughesII.

Eastside Golf founders challenge golf industry’s lack of diversity, commit to boost Black golfers

Are you sure you want to lead with that? Olajuwon Ajanaku and Earl Cooper heard that comment more than once about the Eastside Golf logo. The former Morehouse golf teammates chose the dynamic depiction of a Black man swinging a golf club while …

Are you sure you want to lead with that?

Olajuwon Ajanaku and Earl Cooper heard that comment more than once about the Eastside Golf logo. The former Morehouse golf teammates chose the dynamic depiction of a Black man swinging a golf club while wearing a gold chain, jeans and gray sweatshirt.

The connection between the logo and their message couldn’t be more clear. That’s what made some critics uneasy.

“I made it so the younger generation has representation of what’s possible,” Ajanaku said. “They’ve never seen a Black man or man of color swing a golf club but have a chain on and it looks fly. That’s something that’s never talked about because in the golf world. It’s either extreme: You’re either Tiger Woods … or you’re The Legend of Bagger Vance.”

Ajanaku, Eastside Golf’s founder, first dreamt up the logo in May 2019 as a personal logo for his golf bag, but Cooper, now co-founder, thought it had more potential. He encouraged Ajanaku to display it on a T-shirt. Ajanaku listened and took the T-shirt on a test run around Detroit where he worked as a sales manager in commercial finance. That afternoon dozens of strangers stopped him on the street and asked where he found the shirt.

Merchandise from Eastside Golf founders Olajuwon Ajanaku and Earl Cooper. (Logger Creative)

In the three years since that one T-shirt debuted in Detroit, Eastside Golf has exploded. It currently has partnerships with the National Basketball Players Association and merchandise is sold internationally. Its collection includes sweatshirts, ball markers, club covers and socks and is available for purchase on its website. Eastside Golf’s immediate success is largely due to how the logo simultaneously challenges and affirms golf — that’s the impact Ajanaku and Cooper wanted in the white, affluent, male-dominated game.

“It’s exactly what we want to lead with because that logo itself is so disruptive,” Cooper said. “It’s disruptive in the golf world because the golf world is so conservative, but is (the logo) really breaking any rules? We’ve been taught that (what’s displayed on the logo) is not okay. But why isn’t that okay? Is it because it’s a Black man? Is it because he has a chain? What rules is he breaking for you to say, ‘That’s not okay?’”

The mission of Eastside Golf is promote Black golfers in an industry that has historically discriminated based on race. For Ajanaku and Cooper to have careers in golf and rise to their current platform, significant forces were at work to invite, include and lead them to pursue paths in the sport often riddled with exclusion.

They plan to use their success to re-create those opportunities on a larger scale.

Eastside Golf co-founders Olajuwon Ajanaku and Earl Cooper in 2010 at Morehouse. (Earl Cooper)

Olajuwon Ajanaku’s journey

Ajanaku, now 31, grew up on the Eastside of Atlanta, Georgia, near East Lake Golf Club and was the first in his family to play golf. He quickly fell in love with the game, but as the only Black kid on public courses across Atlanta, in AJGA events and First Tee programs, he felt a void no amount of success on the course could fill.

His mother worked two or three jobs to help pay for golf and his father wasn’t present in his life around the time Ajanaku started high school. As a result, his parents rarely attended tournaments. He felt a chasm between his experience of the game and that of his white counterparts. The lack of Black friends and stress his involvement in golf put on his mother could have been enough to quit and pursue basketball like his friends, but Ajanaku was inspired by opportunity the game promised.

Golf provided him with mentorship. On courses around Atlanta, he met men from different careers and backgrounds and learned about their lives. They showed Ajanaku the doors golf opened — a benefit Ajanaku said should be available regardless of background, race or economic status.

“The story is golf is for everybody and golf can be used as a tool,” Ajanaku said. “Golf doesn’t have to be seen as one type of way. … It can be played however you see fit with respect to the game, but you can still be yourself and play the game of golf.”

It was difficult and lonely at times, but Ajanaku kept playing. He played at Morehouse where he met Cooper and pursued a professional golf career following graduation in 2012. After two years of sacrifice and playing on small tours like the APGA, he had the “Where is this going?” talk with his mom. He quit pursuing a professional golf career, but using his connections from golf, found a job in finance and moved to Detroit.

Eastside Golf founders Olajuwon Ajanaku and Earl Cooper. (Benni Black)

Earl Cooper’s journey

Cooper, 31, began playing golf at age 6 after being introduced to the game by a family friend in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. His junior golf career was promising. At 13, he won locals and regionals for Drive, Chip, Putt and placed second at nationals. Like Ajanaku, however, he was always the sole Black young man on the course. That changed when he attended Morehouse.

After graduation in 2011, Cooper enrolled in the PGA of America’s Post Graduate Program. The program, no longer active, supported participants from diverse backgrounds who have completed standard requirements on the path to PGA Membership by paying for Level 1 instruction. Cooper completed the seven-week program in 2011 and was certified as a PGA professional in 2014, according to PGA of America records.

“If it wasn’t for this program, I wouldn’t be here today. … I wouldn’t have been able to do any of these things if wasn’t for this on-board process where the PGA gave me a leg up,” Cooper said.

After earning PGA Membership, he broke barriers as the first Black golf pro at Detroit Golf Club in 2012. In 2014, he became the first Black golf pro at Wilmington Country Club where he used to caddie. He once even gave a lesson to then Vice President Joe Biden. As a teaching pro, Cooper created his own teaching academy in Union League, Pennsylvania, Earl Cooper Golf in 2016. In 2021, Cooper returned to Golf Digest’s “Most talented young instructors in golf” list.

Despite his love of golf and success not only as a Black man in the industry, but as a teaching pro in general, Cooper left in the industry in 2016 for the Wilmington mayor’s office for several reasons, but the most glaring was he felt limited in golf because of his skin color.

“I was successful (in the golf industry), but at the same time, I wasn’t myself fully,” Cooper said. “I was able to get into these high end country clubs and meet a lot of great people and experience a lot of cool things but at the same time, I couldn’t be my true authentic self. … I experienced things I enjoyed, but at the same time I could never bring my friends with me.”

In the mayor’s office, he worked as a community referral specialist for four years, focused on public and private partnerships. Cooper was content working a job with impact and using his ties with corporations from his time in golf to facilitate programming.

That changed in 2019 when Ajanaku asked Cooper for advice on his logo.

Earl Cooper, co-founder of Eastside Golf, poses with former Vice President Joe Biden at when Cooper worked as a golf pro at Wilmington Country Club. (Earl Cooper)

The idea takes off

After seeing the impact his T-shirt with Eastside Golf’s logo had in Detroit, Ajanaku started an LLC for Eastside Golf copyrighting the logo and name in June 2019. Five months later, he stocked a few items like sweatshirts, socks, hats and T-shirts for sale online. He sold out. Three times.

Seeing success in small doses, Ajanaku planned to take the collection of Eastside Golf merchandise to the 2020 PGA Show in Orlando, in January. He contacted Cooper for ideas and to come along, but Cooper was hesitant. Like Ajanaku, Cooper loved how Eastside Golf challenged the common conception of a golfer as white and affluent, but because of the lack of acceptance he personally experienced in the industry, he didn’t expect the golf community at the PGA Show to go for it.

Thankfully, Cooper was wrong. Eastside Golf was an instant success at the PGA Show.

“We got approached by older white women to older white men to young Black boys and young Black girls who want to take pictures with us,” Ajanaku said. “You know, everybody has something to say, whether it was something positive or negative, it was mostly positive, but it demands a reaction and that’s what we liked about it.”

Among the business cards Ajanaku and Cooper collected at the show was one from a Japanese boutique which bought 25 sweatshirts. When the boutique sold out in 24 hours, Ajanaku said it came back with a $15,000 purchase order. Not only was Eastside Golf a hit domestically, it was picking up steam internationally.

Then the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Ajanaku was laid off from his job in Detroit as layoffs swept across the country. His layoff served as a sign. Coming off the buzz of the PGA Show, he went all in on Eastside Golf. He dipped into his savings, took out money from his 401K, sold his Bitcoin and received $10,000 from an investor in Detroit.

Since Ajanaku went all in, he and Cooper feel like they’ve been strapped to a rocket. Now both full-time with Eastside Golf, Ajanaku and Cooper said as of April 2021 the company is valued at 800 times the initial investment. The brand is even surfacing in other sports circles through its NBPA partnership. NBA star Chris Paul even wore one of Eastside Golf’s sweatshirts in the recent HBO documentary, “The Day Sports Stood Still.” The co-founders insists they’re not paying Paul or anyone to wear their merchandise. Their goal rather isn’t to build publicity, it’s to inspire change.

“We’re not here to make golf cool,” Ajanaku said. “The thing is, we’re already cool, we’re just bringing it into a space and being ourselves and that’s what you have to do to be authentic. … I’m about bringing who I am outside of the golf course onto the golf course.”

Inspiring change: The next steps

While Eastside Golf hopes to draw Black players to the game through its messages of authenticity and inclusion, its long-term goal is to create a non-profit similar to the now dissolved PGA of America Post Graduate Program. This program, however, will focus on advancing Black individuals into the industry.

While Cooper credits his golf career to the Post Graduate Program, he believes the program was “the pipeline” to bring non-white candidates to membership and its termination was harmful to the diversity the industry pledges to value. He said the program served as an “on-board ramp” to help racially diverse candidates access the industry that can be so exclusive along the lines of race, sex and socioeconomic status. Without the program, he said many non-white candidates are limited because of cost. He said the PGA of America previously paying for Level 1 boosted diverse candidates from lower socioeconomic standings on route to PGA Membership.

“I think that the PGA of America has to accept the fact that they need to help out African Americans because white folks were given a 50-year head start (in the sport.) We do need a leg up,” Cooper said. “We do need an on-board ramp. We do need an opportunity that’s not necessarily given to our counterparts because my grandfather didn’t have the opportunity to teach me to be a PGA professional and lead me to the opportunity. Your grandfather did.”

Sandy Cross, Chief People Officer for the PGA of America, told Golfweek the PGA of America had two programs focused on assistance with PGA Membership: the PGA Professional Golf Management Accelerated Program, which began in 2008 and was open for all but designed for non-white golfers, and PGA of America Post Graduate Program, which began in 2005 and was open to all demographics. Both were discontinued.

Cross, who oversees Human Resources and Diversity & Inclusion, said neither of the programs were specifically geared toward non-white golfers pursuing PGA of America membership, but rather open to all demographics due to the Internal Revenue Service’s private inurement laws the PGA of America must follow due to its tax exempt status. Cross said private inurement laws prohibit financially benefiting one sub-group of PGA Membership over another. She said the same concept is seen in the requirement to offer their retirement program for PGA Members, Golf Retirement Plus, to all industry professionals.

“At the time of these programs, we were … providing some level of housing, we were providing jobs at our own PGA golf club, there were some things we were doing,” Cross said. “We were paying for some things out of our HR budget. … A lot of that was not kosher from an inurement perspective so that’s one of the reasons the (Post Graduate) program got shelved.”

Cross said many of the candidates left the now dissolved programs after Level 1 “due to lack of financial support.”

The Eastside Golf logo from founders Olajuwon Ajanaku and Earl Cooper. (Logger Creative)

According to figures provided to Golfweek by the PGA of America, 16 Black individuals participated in the PGM Accelerated Program. Five are currently Class A Members. Four of the PGA of America’s current Black Class A Members were products of the Post Graduate Program. Across both programs, 24 of 156 participants were not white.

PGA of America’s stats as of April 1, 2021 also showed out of 28,042 current PGA professionals, 1,344 are women and 26,698 are men. Out of the women, 85.57 percent are white and out of the men, 90.31 percent are white. Among Black PGA pros specifically, nine of the current PGA pros are Black women (0.78 percent of women and 0.036 percent of total) and 167 are Black men (0.69 percent of men and .66 percent of total).

“I’ve always believed that it’s incredibly important for us to be transparent when it comes to diversity and inclusion. … You know, our numbers aren’t strong and they can be shocking to some but oftentimes it’s that shock and awe that move people to action,” Cross said. “Seeing those numbers in black and white, seeing that information gets people to say, ‘You know what, I need to get people to engage here.’”

Cross, who’s been with the PGA of America for 25 years, said the PGA of America has worked to make the price of becoming a PGA Member as reasonable as possible, but she admitted it is still not affordable for some. Cross said some individuals seeing PGA membership still need to take out loans or have financial assistance. Financials provided to Golfweek stated the cost for an individual to become a PGA Member through the non-university track is $3,810 not including travel, housing and basic living expenses which are not provided by the PGA of America.

According to Census.gov, the medium income of white Americans in 2017 was $68,145. The median income of Hispanic Americans was $50,486 while that of Black Americans was $40,258. With Black Americans averaging significantly lower incomes than the average white American, Cross was asked if the PGA of America has a plan to make the cost of becoming a PGA of America member more affordable to lower income individuals from non-white backgrounds. Cross said Chief Innovation Officer Arjun Chowdri is currently looking at options to assist lower income individuals, but for now, there is no timeline on a plan or program.

For the time being, Cross said the PGA of America does not see a need for a separate program to facilitate more direct access for racially diverse and lower income candidates because they’ve made the PGA Membership process as accessible as possible. She did stress the need for the PGA of America to provide more mentorship, specifically non-white candidates pursuing membership.

“Based on how today’s professional golf management is structured, we don’t believe there’s a need for this separate accelerated (program) or separate post-graduate program because the attributes of today’s program have what the other two programs had,” Cross said. “With one potential exception and it goes back to that mentoring piece. When individuals from diverse backgrounds, individuals of color come into our (Membership) program as it exists today … they still need that high-level, high-touch experience. They still need someone leading them … through the process. … Keeping them motivated. Keeping them inspired.”

In 2018, the PGA Works program was established. Cooper is member of the PGA Works National Committee. The non-profit creates fellowships, scholarships and career exploration events to lead individuals “from diverse backgrounds” to pursue careers in the industry. Cross said this program is not a replacement for the two diversity programs because PGA Works introduces potential members to options rather than engage them through the process and therefore, does not provide the mentorship of the previous two programs. It also does not pay for any level of training.

Seeing the void left in the golf industry after the programs were shelved, Eastside Golf and its founders want to use their success to inspire and invest in the game. If the PGA of America and other governing bodies do not create racial diversity specific programs, the duo plans to do it themselves.

Cooper — with his experience inside the PGA of America and a PGA Member — and Ajanaku — with his untainted passion for golf — decided their long term goal is to build their own golf academy. While they still need time to build capital and establish a location, they plan to spark change by training and certifying Black golf pros.

“Black men and women lack the point of reference of the opportunities in the PGA of America because the numbers (of Black professionals) are so low,” Cooper said. “I didn’t have Black PGA professionals to look up to to even be a Black PGA professional. … There’s no middle of the road, everyday, average guy that just loved the game of golf and decided to have a successful career. Those stories aren’t being told.”

Ajanaku and Cooper stressed they’re not angry about the lack of racially specific diversity programs in golf. Rather, they’re disheartened. Even when they’ve filled every requirement and sacrificed comfort and time, they felt the isolation and discrimination felt by many golfers because of skin color or socioeconomic status.

Because of their love for the sport, they’re willing to use their frustrations and hurts along with their successes to make a change — one sweatshirt at a time.

“People just look at me or (Ajanaku) in the moment and it’s like, ‘No, these guys are embodying a lot of pain and passion and are trying to speak for a whole group of folks,’” Cooper said. “That’s our their level of intensity comes from. … We’re going to make some noise and bring forth real change. Whether we do it or someone else does it, it’s going to happen.”

Ohio’s Tiana Jones (one of 8 Black female PGA Professionals) on diversity in golf: ‘That’s what drives me’

While Tiana Jones was attending Alliance High School near Canton, Ohio, she was drawn to the idea of solving mysteries through science. She majored in criminal justice at South Carolina State, intent on becoming a forensic toxicologist. But as she …

While Tiana Jones was attending Alliance High School near Canton, Ohio, she was drawn to the idea of solving mysteries through science.

She majored in criminal justice at South Carolina State, intent on becoming a forensic toxicologist.

But as she got closer to graduation, some of the grisly scenes and appalling crimes she encountered made her question her path. It wasn’t that she couldn’t handle what she saw, it was more about feeling helpless to serve the victims.

“I’m more on the optimistic side, the bring joy, bring a sense of creativity and fun to people more so than constantly dealing with a lot of sadness and just disgusting, gruesome acts that some people are capable of,” Jones said.

“These people’s lives have been impacted in such a negative way that I didn’t feel there was anything I could say or do, nor could I really empathize because I’ve never had to experience anything of that sort. My last internship was really what put that into perspective for me.”

So instead, Jones chose joy.

Now 29 and a year into her position as director of instruction at Topgolf Cleveland, Jones has become a trailblazer in her favorite sport.

Jones is among eight African American female PGA Professionals in the country, joining Renee Powell of Clearview Golf Club in East Canton. According to the PGA of America, there are 173 Black PGA Professionals among nearly 28,000 members currently active.

Tiana Jones, left, PGA pro and director of instruction at Topgolf in Independence, works with Kevin Briola during a lesson last week.

Diversity in golf: Gen Z sees changes ahead for the future of golf

The next generation of golfers and golf leaders are comfortable addressing the status quo in golf, and 2020 brought unique conversations.

Golf is a game built on tradition. It is a sport defined by respect and rules of etiquette that span attire, behavior and care for the course. During a culture-shifting year like 2020, these norms were challenged with the goal of bringing change to golf.

Clubs like Augusta National and professional golfers like Cameron Champ promoted diversity and initiated conversations about making the sport visually represent the United States, but these actions only mark the beginning of a cultural and demographic shift that is overdue.

That’s where the next generation steps in.

This next generation of golfers and golf leaders is already comfortable addressing the status quo in golf. Members of Generation Z, born from the late 1990s through the mid-2010s, are already thinking about how the sport is changing and how they want the game they love to be perceived by future generations.

While all under the age of 30, their insights and experiences speak of where the sport is headed in the areas of distance, traditional fashion and most importantly, diversity.

This is part one of a three-part series analyzing Gen Z’s perception of the changing landscape of golf.

Diversity, or lack thereof

Maya Torpey can’t remember the last time she saw someone her age who looks like her on the golf course.

Torpey, who has a white father and Black mother, has had plenty of opportunity to interact with golfers her age since being introduced to the sport at age 6, but over the past 13 years, the sophomore at Hofstra said she has consistently been alone.

“Growing up, all my friends who played golf were all white and even at my course, there wasn’t anybody who was African American or Black at my course,” Torpey said. “Now I think we might have three or four older gentlemen now but growing up, there were none. And every time I went to tournaments, I can’t even remember seeing any Black girls my age that I was playing against or playing with.”

Torpey, from Malvern, Pennsylvania, has grown so accustomed to being the only young, Black woman on the course that in October, she and her mother froze when they saw Mariah Stackhouse at Aronimink Golf Club. Torpey was following the leaders during the final round of the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship when she spotted Stackhouse. The only full-time Black woman on the LPGA, Stackhouse, 26, wasn’t playing her best game that Sunday — she finished the day 4-over 74 for a T-65 finish — but her placement didn’t matter to Torpey. The 19-year-old saw herself out on the course in Stackhouse and it left a mark.

“We were like, ‘Oh my God,’” Torpey said. “We were so surprised because we’re just not used to seeing Black people on tour like that.”

Stackhouse’s presence alone has led her to become a role model for players like Torpey. In September, Stackhouse starred in the LPGA’s Drive On campaign, which promotes stories of perseverance among LPGA players.

“Golf has been an integral part of my life story and a gateway of opportunity,” Stackhouse told the LPGA. “Part of my mission is to reach more people who may not have thought of golf as their sport too.

“The popular saying, ‘You cannot be what you do not see,’ really resonates with me, but I also think ‘you cannot be what you do not believe.’”

White women far outnumber Black women and other minorities in golf. Out of the 582 members of the LPGA and Symetra Tours, 183 are Asian (31 percent), 10 are Black or African American (2 percent), 51 are Latina or Hispanic (9 percent), eight are Native American or other Pacific Islander, six identify as multiracial and 323 are white (55 percent), according to statistics provided by the LPGA.

When speaking with the LPGA regarding these numbers, the tour boasted the diversity of girls entering the game is headed in a more diverse, “optimistic” direction. The tour’s goal is to keep these players involved in the game as they mature.

LPGA demographics — LPGA and Symetra Tour combined ethnicity and race breakdown provided by the LPGA. Data collected in August 2020.

On the men’s side, the PGA Tour said out of its approximately 400 card-carrying members, there were 94 international players from 29 countries and territories outside the United States, but did not have a numerical breakdown of players by ethnicity. The Tour did confirm there were four players currently on Tour with Black heritage: Joseph Bramlett, Cameron Champ, Harold Varner III and Tiger Woods.

Representation in golf matters, notes Sandy Cross, the Chief People Officer for the PGA of America who oversees diversity, equity and inclusion. A lack of Black golfers can, in part, be traced to a Caucasian-only clause that existed on the PGA Tour from 1934-1961.

“Because we had this Caucasian-only clause, we have lost a generation – or generations, plural – of Black Americans electing the PGA member career path,” Cross said. “Because there wasn’t someone in their family lineage who was already on that path.”

Every time a Black PGA professional matriculates into the industry, it inspires others. Numbers grow. But diversity is about more than numbers. Cross notes that golf must be authentically inclusive at the point of play – whether that’s a public, private or resort course. The PGA of America is developing inclusion and engagement guidelines to help in that effort, and also runs PGA WORKS, an initiative to diversity the golf industry workforce.

“We want to have a game that mirrors America, we want to have a workforce that mirrors America,” Cross said. “The third part that we want to have mirror America is the golf industry supply chain.”

Cross said the PGA of America is working to that diverse-owned businesses are included in the procurement of goods and services within an $84 billion dollar a year industry.

A spark to fuel the fire for change

The Nike golf shoes worn by Cameron Champ with messages written in support of Black Lives Matter at the 2020 BMW Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club. (Photo: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports)

George Floyd’s tragic death on May 25 in Minneapolis while in police custody sparked worldwide outrage and protests. Cries of “Black Lives Matter” and “Say His Name” rang through the streets of the nation’s biggest cities and small towns as Americans of all races, genders, religions, sexual orientations and socioeconomic statuses called for justice.

Across the landscape of sports, athletes, teams and nearly all other sports leagues — college and professional — released statements addressing Floyd’s death and affirming Black lives do matter, participated in protests and supported Black athletes as protests began. The U.S. Golf Association issued a statement about racial and social injustice 10 days after Floyd’s death pledging to “use our voice, our position and our actions to inspire change within our society.”

On June 2, the USGA, LPGA and Symetra Tour participated in Blackout Tuesday, a trend designed to amplify Black voices on social media platforms as an act of solidarity with those protesting injustice. Eleven days after Floyd’s death, on June 5, the Tour released a recorded interview with Varner and commissioner Jay Mohanan discussing Floyd’s death, the lack of diversity on Tour and how the Tour planned to correct it.

The same day, Monahan sent a letter to Tour personnel writing that in the days after Floyd’s death, he spent time reflecting on the national protests stemming from “hardships and injustices that have and continue to impact the African-American community.” He also said while he was “struggling with what my role should be” in rectifying racial inequality and disparity in America, he was determined to find a way to make an impact.

“We might not know exactly what to do right now, but we shouldn’t be deterred,” Monahan wrote in the letter. “We should communicate and learn. We should talk to our family, friends and colleagues in an open and compassionate way. We should grow as individuals and as an organization. And, most importantly, we should demand better.”

Players with Black heritage on professional tours are few, but after Floyd’s death they began speaking and haven’t stopped. Champ, Stackhouse and Cheyenne Woods were the Black golf stars most vocal in publicly addressing cries for justice and equality.

In what will be remembered as one of the most impactful weeks of sports in 2020, and perhaps in history, the Milwaukee Bucks stood against police brutality and social injustice the week of Aug. 24 after the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, by not participating in their playoff game inside the NBA Bubble in Orlando, Florida. When athletes from across the sports world stood in solidarity, Champ was among them. During the BMW Championship, the 25-year-old wrote “BLM,” “Jacob Blake” and “Breonna Taylor” on his shoes and spoke about racial disparity.

“People ignore it for so long. And then it gets to a point where it just blows up,” Champ told media. “This is just the tipping of the iceberg. Change needs to happen. I feel like it’s going in the right direction, but again, with all the stuff that’s going on, it has to end.”

Champ’s choice to participate in the history-making moment is notable, but he took his dedication to promote racial equality in his sport beyond the summer protests. His foundation donated $40,000 to create two scholarship funds for student-athletes on its men’s and women’s golf teams at Prairie View A&M University, an HBCU in Prairie View, Texas.

Champ said he was inspired by Augusta National’s announcement ahead of the November Masters to establish the Lee Elder scholarship at Paine College in Augusta, Georgia, and to fund the creation of a women’s golf team. It’s a step toward rectifying the club’s exclusionary past both racially and based on gender, but there’s still much work to do.

Michigan golfer Hailey Borja at the Glass City Invitational on Sept. 17, 2019. (Michigan Photography

Hailey Borja, 19 and of Mexican heritage, has felt the pressure of being one of the only minorities in tournaments and golf tours when she started playing junior golf.

“I had two friends that were from Hispanic backgrounds and that was kind of like our only little clique,” the Michigan sophomore said. “Basically I’ve grown up with these girls and I’m still friends with them now but that’s why we’ve always stuck together was because we’re the only Hispanics on the tour. I’m sure there’s some more now. … As I got older I was able to meet more and now I’m more at ease but also I don’t look Mexican either so it’s kind of like not many people know that. I think it was almost like I felt the same as them because I look white.”

While thoughtful and creative on how to approach equality in golf, both on race and gender, these young golfers are the first to admit they don’t have definitive answers. But they do know optics matter.

Torpey applauded recent moves from Augusta National and Champ, but said more needs to be done for a sport that she feels has been exclusionary for most of its existence. And that will take time. But to get there, people of color and women need to be visible on the highest levels and be given the same treatment. The purpose is not only to inspire more women and minorities to see themselves in the sport, just like Stackhouse did for Torpey at Aronimink, but to prove that golf truly values players from all walks of life.

“I definitely felt like an outsider for a while and I still do but I just wish more people (of color) were able to get into the sport. … I wish I could be playing and see a lot more African American people out there with me,” Torpey said.

Julie Williams contributed reporting.

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Tag: Diversity in golf