Race in Golf - The Final Frontier?
Hello. Great article in ScoreGolf about race and its impacts on golf. The article contends that race has not changed in golf in spite of Tiger Woods' rise to power. His impact is looked upon as a "one of" instead of a trend. The article concludes by asking if there will be any men of colour on the PGA Tour once Tiger and Vijay Singh leave. The article's answer, sadly, is there probably won't be.
The magazine also had a sad quote from Charlie Sifford when asked how he would compare himself to Jackie Robinson. Sifford says all they had in common was being pioneers in their respective sports. According to Sifford, Robinson was successful, whereas his efforts were a waste of time.
I cannot begin to comprehend what Mr. Sifford went through in his career. However, I would not call it a waste of time. Someone had to be first so a Tiger Woods could become what he became.
Also, as someone who played a relatively high level of golf, I can say the amount of time, money and confidence it takes to make it to the top of golf is much higher than baseball. There are only 125 regulars on the PGA Tour, as opposed to thousands of Major League Baseball players. The fact team sport athletes can sign guaranteed contracts, and pro golfers can't, takes a huge weight off a ballplayer's mind.
Where we should be looking to see how inclusive golf is is where team sports should be looking as well - employment. More on that Monday.
Regards,
Steve
The magazine also had a sad quote from Charlie Sifford when asked how he would compare himself to Jackie Robinson. Sifford says all they had in common was being pioneers in their respective sports. According to Sifford, Robinson was successful, whereas his efforts were a waste of time.
I cannot begin to comprehend what Mr. Sifford went through in his career. However, I would not call it a waste of time. Someone had to be first so a Tiger Woods could become what he became.
Also, as someone who played a relatively high level of golf, I can say the amount of time, money and confidence it takes to make it to the top of golf is much higher than baseball. There are only 125 regulars on the PGA Tour, as opposed to thousands of Major League Baseball players. The fact team sport athletes can sign guaranteed contracts, and pro golfers can't, takes a huge weight off a ballplayer's mind.
Where we should be looking to see how inclusive golf is is where team sports should be looking as well - employment. More on that Monday.
Regards,
Steve
posted by Irrelevant at 7:52 AM
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