A Course of Their Own: A History of African American Golfers

by John H. Kennedy and Kennedy

Book Overview

Bill Spiller was forty-seven when he was forced by desperate finances to caddie at the Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles. One day Spiller was caddying for a member who became outraged by Spiller's stories of inequities and suffering during his golfing career. The golfer urged Spiller to write California's attorney general, who later ordered the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) to cease its discrimination. In 1961 the "Caucasian race" clause...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803278195
• ISBN13: 9780803278196
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: Bison Books
• Length: 282 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

African American Stuggles in golf

Great account of the stuggles of the African Americans who just wanted to play the game and compete with the best golfers on the PGA tour.

A Good Read

This is a good introduction to the history of African Americans and their quest to enter the professional ranks / PGA. It needs to be read with Charlie Sifford's book which tells you the real deal. Kennedy really can't express the pain of black golfers, he gets close but the book is more of an overview. Key and critical details are left out of the book. I can't over emphasize how important it is for you to read Charlie Sifford's, Just Let Me Play as well as Calvin Sinnette's, Forbidden Fairways.

Dear author, thank you . . .

This is truly a long-overdue book. This was received as a birthday gift to my husband and I could not resist. Very well written and is a wonderful and tragic chronicle of America's history in human relations. Yes, we are better today. We are reminded of the wonders of all people and how much we have to learn from eachother. When will we have the ability to evaluate skill and talent beyond skin color or accent? This book reminds us to appreciate eachother. This should be required reading in our junior high schools as part of American history/social studies.

An inspiring story

After you read this book you may be angry or you may be happy, but you will definitely be inspired. The author has written a long overdue book about the lives and struggles of the many African American professional golfers who toiled and struggled--largely in obscurity--under the thumb of racism before cracking golf's color barrier. Just about every sports fan in America knows about Jackie Robinson and his heroic deeds, but few know names such as Bill Spiller and Teddy Rhodes. Pity. This book may finally engender the respect and compassion long denied the black golfers who paved the way for Tiger Woods, who today is the world's most popular athlete. A hearty thumbs up for this one!