×

Shoal Creek becomes ‘inviting’ to those who attend

This is a big week for women’s golf as Shoal Creek Country Club hosts the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open in Birmingham, Alabama.

It’s an important week for the Shoal Creek club too — a redemption story, of sorts, for a club that burst into the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons nearly three decades ago.

The 1990 PGA Championship was supposed to be Shoal Creek’s coming-out party, showcasing the club as one of the finest, newly-designed courses in the country. Instead, Shoal Creek received national headlines when club founder Hall Thompson declared that his club would not be pressured into accepting African-American members.

The understandably predictable firestorm of negative media coverage that ensued threatened to cancel the championship itself.

However, club officials eventually saved the tournament after inviting insurance executive Louis J. Willie to become Shoal Creek’s first African-American member.

It may have seemed like a token gesture at the time, but the entire event forced the PGA Tour to reflect on its own, checkered history of non-inclusion over the years. Shortly after the Shoal Creek incident, the tour enacted policies to formally exclude any club that discriminated against minorities or women.

Though Shoal Creek itself made only baby steps toward inclusion early on, the club today enjoys a membership that is not limited by either race or gender. Through the years, the club has been mindful to not host another national event until it had its own affairs in order.

In 2008, Shoal Creek hosted the U.S. Junior Amateur, but this year’s U.S. Women’s Open will actually be Shoal Creek’s formal re-entry into the national spotlight, and Birmingham’s John Huston III is happy to see it.

“All I know is that it’s a wonderful club,” Huston, a Shoal Creek member who works as a senior vice president for Alabama Power, said.

He’s also African-American.

“It’s a very inviting place. That’s my experience,” he added.

For Shoal Creek, it was long overdue.

Bedford Country Cup

Plans were made early this year for a new, county wide tournament to be held involving the three Bedford Country golf clubs — Down River, Bedford Elks and the Bedford Springs.

Dubbed the Bedford County Cup, the tournament was scheduled for three rounds of stroke play in mid-July that would be open to all Bedford county residents.

It seemed like a great idea and a natural addition to other area championships like the Greater Altoona, Greater Johnstown and Huntingdon Open tournaments which also look to crown area-wide champions while featuring various local courses.

Within the past week, however, plans fell through and the tournament was canceled before it ever got off the ground.

Here’s hoping the Bedford County clubs can reconnect and set definitive plans to make the “Bedford County Cup” happen in 2019.

Best-ball season

Beginning in mid-June, our local summer-series of best-ball tournaments kicks off with Down River’s two-man invitational scheduled for June 16-17.

The Everett-area tournament was won last year by the team of Dan Brown and Calvin Mentzer, and while the event typically draws one of the best fields of the season, there are still few openings available this year.

Interested golfers can contact club manager Josh Deputy at Down River’s pro shop, 652-5193.

Ken Love covers local golf for the Mirror. He can be reached at gltr777@atlanticbb.net.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.39/week.

Subscribe Today