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Added: February 22, 2006, 12:05 pm	Share    Print    Email

I'm glad to have the opportunity before the end of Black History Month to recognize two trailblazers in golf. One is no longer with us, but the other is very much alive and involved.

It is an unfortunate oversight that when great female players are cited, it is rare for Ann Gregory to be mentioned. She literally changed the complexion of golf.

Ann Gregory with boxing legend Joe Louis prior to playing in a tournament. Photo courtesy of USGA Photo Archives.

She was born Ann Moore in Aberdeen, Mississippi in July 1912. Given that time and place, being a pioneering golfer had to be one of the farthest things from the girl's mind. But she was athletic, and when the Moore family moved to Gary, Indiana in the early 1930s, Ann took up tennis. At the age of 25, she won the Gary City Championship.

In 1939, she married Leroy "Percy" Gregory. Three years later their only child, JoAnn, was born. Percy enjoyed playing golf and he taught his wife how to play. After he was drafted into the Navy, Ann continued to play. By the time her husband returned from the war in 1945, she had improved significantly as a player.

Though she was a relatively aged 38, 1950 was the breakthrough year for Ann Gregory. She had become an excellent player and, as an amateur, decided to enter competitive tournaments. She almost ran the table, winning six of seven tourneys, including the National UGA Tournament in Washington D.C.

She continued to compete against the top female amateurs in the country - all of whom were white - and traveled to participate in events overseas, where a black female championship player was viewed as quite unique. Ann made headlines in 1956 when she became the first African American to enter the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship, held in Indianapolis. She didn't win, but the door had been opened.

Ann and Percy were married for 50 years. In 1989, only months after his death, and at age 76, she beat all the players over 50 to win the gold medal at the U.S. Senior Olympics. A few months after that, having over 300 victories worldwide, Ann Gregory died. Her life and accomplishments would make for a good movie, if anyone out there is interested. Paging Halle Berry or Angela Bassett!

The other person to recognize is John David, who golf really needs right now. What has been rather odd is that it has been 10 years since Tiger Woods made his debut on the PGA Tour. Look around - how many other black players do you see on the tour? That's right, zippo.

The Senior PGA/Champions Tour has Jim Thorpe . . . and that's about it too. Guys like Lee Elder and Charlie Sifford and other African-American players from the 1950s on are no longer active or have died. When the 20th century ended and Tiger was tops, and with the introduction of the First Tee program to teach golf to African American and Hispanic children, it was believed that there would be several more black players tangling with Tiger in high-profile events.

John David ever the teacher. Photo courtesy of the Multicultural Golf Association of America.

That hasn't happened. One theory is golf just doesn't interest the minority population as much as other sports do. Another theory is that the mostly all-white private country club system is still where the best players are produced. There are more theories. The fact remains that African-American golfers have not made it onto the PGA Tour, and that is a glaring absence in American sports.

This is where John David, an African American, is trying to make a difference, and has been for quite some time. Fifty years ago he was a 13-year-old painting tennis lines at the Westhampton Beach (N.Y.) Country Club. He spotted a few older teenagers carrying golf bags, and wondered if he could make more money as a caddie.

He could, and did. He went from caddie to caddie master to the assistant head professional at the club. As the latter, the Professional Golfers Association did not officially list him because at the time the PGA recognized white pros only. Still, there he was, a black man with an all-white list of teaching clients.

Fifteen years ago John and his brother, Paul, founded a non-profit organization in Paul's basement: Multicultural Golf Association of America. For the MGAA, John has traveled to 42 states to teach golf to about 175,000 minority children. Perhaps at least one of them will make it to the PGA Tour.

Plans are underway to create the Multicultural Golf Hall of Fame to educate children, and the MGAA wants to move its headquarters from Westhampton Beach to Florida, where a new center would be built that includes an 18-hole championship course and plenty of training facilities for children.

There has been a bit of a snag, however. Over the years the MGAA has received support from major corporations, including airlines, Pepsi, and NBC. Because of corporate restructuring following NBC's purchase of the USA Network, the broadcasting entity has cut back on some of its corporate giving. The MGAA is one of the victims.

The organization could use some help. If you want to do so or at least want to find out more information, go to its web site at www.mgaa.com or drop a note to John David at P.O. Box 1081, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978.

Comments, questions, and a box of the fine cigars that Jim Thorpe smokes can be sent to "Links Life" at Hondo7@optonline.net.

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Tom Clavin, who lives in Sag Harbor, writes about golf for The New York Times, The Met Golfer, Golf Magazine, and other publications. His new book is "Sir Walter: Walter Hagen and the Invention of Professional Golf." This column about everything in and around golf, especially with “links” to local courses, will appear every two weeks on Hamptonsview.com. Comments, questions, information about East End players and competitions, free golf apparel, and memberships hondo7@optonline.net.