Lost Black History
He Hit The Green First
By Don Valentine
In 1959, decades before Tiger Woods became the most dominant Black golfer in history, there was Bill Wright. Bill Wright became the first Black golfer to win a United States Golf Association [USGA] event. Tiger faced slurs and racist disgust about his playing on the tour. That harassment pales in comparison to the vile abuse a Black golfer in the late ‘50s had to endure.
Flash back to the racial antics of the 50’s and 60’s. Caution: the preceding facts are being deleted from school curriculums, because of the embarrassment it might cause for White students.
Bill Wright broke onto the golf tour just after Rosa Parks’ arrest in 1955. That was the same year the Supreme Court desegregated schools. 1959 was still five years away from the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He clearly suffered worse bigotry than some vapid comment by golfer Fuzzy Zoeller on serving fried chicken at the Masters tournament. He faced obstacles such as joining a men’s club in Seattle so he could establish a handicap. Another time, he was kicked out of the Seattle Amateur after shooting a 68. Being the only Black player on the course, it was evident to him why he wasn’t welcome. Undeterred, he continued his studies at the predominantly White Western Washington College of Education. After barely qualifying for match play, he had no trouble in the tournament. His skill on the greens led The Spokesman-Review of Spokane to call him a “slender putting wizard.”
He was not allowed to carry a golf handicap card before arriving at WWU. The definition of an HCP according to golfbluesky.com: “a handicap card is your proof that you can play golf to a certain standard.” He was unable to play in men’s club events or even in the Seattle City Amateur because he was a Black man. It was not until 1954 that Bill convinced the Seattle City Amateur tournament administrator to allow him and his father to compete in the tournament. He finished first, his father third and more importantly doors began to open.”
When he won the USGA “He felt so thrilled to be the best golfer that day, not the best Black golfer,” said Wright’s wife Ceta, of his historic victory in Denver in an interview with the Seattle Times. “And, of course, afterward he realized that he was a barrier breaker and that was important to him. It was important to everyone, really, and especially in the Black community.” An argument [albeit shallow] could be made about golf’s diversity progress since 1959. In June 2020 the Richmond Press noted, “There are currently only four Black golfers with PGA Tour status: Woods, Harold Varner III, Cameron Champ, and Joseph Bramlett. That’s four out of around 260 PGA Tour regulars or 0.015 percent.” The “Ebony 4,” owe it all to the pioneer, Bill Wright.
