‘It can open doors’: Charlie Sifford Centennial Cup showcases HBCU golf on grand stage

William Watkins stood on a veranda Monday evening at the Quail Hollow Club and swept his left arm across a view that included the picturesque 15th green, the large stadium seating area, and the beautiful clubhouse.

“It will help,” he says, “that parents can see what happened here and say, ‘I want that for my children.’”

What happened was a golf tournament, played on the same course where the world’s top professionals will gather in less than a month to compete in the Presidents Cup.

Monday’s tournament, the Charlie Sifford Centennial Cup, was named for the late Charlotte native who is credited with breaking the color barrier on the PGA tour more than a half-century ago. Sifford, who died in 2015, was born 100 years ago.

But the big thing about Monday’s event, according to those who played and coached, was the opportunity it provided.

The PGA-sponsored event brought together six of the nation’s top golf teams from historically black universities, competing in both four-ball and singles matches. For the record, Team Charlie Sifford — golfers from Livingstone College, Florida A&M and Alabama State — beat Team James Black — Johnson C. Smith, Howard and Texas Southern — by a 12-6 score.

Watkins, in his 13th year as golf coach at Charlotte’s Johnson C. Smith, said Monday’s tournament was a sign of both golf’s progress in racial diversity and a reminder of what needs to be done.

“Playing here was a great opportunity for the six teams,” he says. “They got a chance to play where the world’s best pros will be playing.”

In addition to conducting the one-day event, the PGA donated $25,000 to the golf programs at each of the six competing schools, and another $25,000 to the Dr. Charles Sifford Scholarship, which helps students who attend HBCU’s and participate in golf.

What more can be done?

Watkins says businesses and individuals have donated plenty of equipment for minority youth who might want to take up the game.

But, he adds, “We need help getting those kids to the golf courses. Transportation is often the big issue.”

One of Watkins’ golfers, Cameron Speights, was fortunate in that respect. Growing up in the Los Angeles area, he tried football and soccer as a youth and decided he enjoyed neither. He asked his parents if he could try golf.

“They were in a position to help me get to the course, and I fell in love with the game,” Speights says.

He says Monday’s tournament was a big deal for him and the other participants.

“It can open doors for us,” he says. “This is a sport that typically is not for African-Americans. But events like that can change things.”

Howard golfer Justin Green agrees.

“I often don’t look like the other people who are playing,” he says. “I’ve heard a lot about Mr. Sifford and Mr. Black. They are pioneers who helped make it possible for us to play.”

“Today, it was cool to be out here and see other people who look like me,” Green adds.

Sifford, who caddied as a youth on Charlotte courses, became the first Black player on the PGA Tour and won the Greater Hartford Open in 1967 and the Los Angeles Open two years later.

James Black, also a native Charlottean, is 80 and was on hand Monday. He was another of the Black pioneers on the PGA Tour in the 1960s.

The Charlie Sifford Centennial Cup was the first of two big sports events in Charlotte this week for HBCU’s.

The annual football kickoff game, set for Saturday evening at Bank of America Stadium, this year will match N.C. A&T and N.C. Central. In past years, the participating schools were Power 5 FBS teams.

Florida A&M’s Troy Stribling, a winner in both singles and four-ball Monday, says Monday’s golfers got a special treat.

“Playing a course like this, a few weeks before the Presidents Cup? It was special,” he says.

And Monday’s competitors say the pros will not have an easy time of it when they arrive at Quail Hollow for the Presidents Cup, set for Sept. 22-25.

“The rough was a little juicy,” Stribling says. “The whole course was as tough as they say it is.”

Monday’s winners

Singles matches

Team Charlie Sifford: Miguel Ilas (Alabama State); Gonzalo Moreno (Alabama State); Jacob Uyesato (Florida A&M); Ayush Bodhale (Florida A&M); Troy Stribling (Florida A&M); Patrick Jean-Pierre (Florida A&M); Ronald Otile (Livingstone); Colline Ojidra (Livingstone).

Team James Black: Gregory Odom Jr. (Howard); Devansh Chadha (Texas Southern); Kei Lindskog (Texas Southern); Everett Whiten Jr. (Howard)

Four ball

Team Charlie Sifford: Emmanuel Jakisa and Colline Ajidra (Livingstone); Jacob Uyesato and Ayush Bodhale (Florida A&M); Bishop Stringer and Ty Roberts (Alabama State); Gonzalo Moreno and Miguel Ilas (Alabama State).

Team James Black: Devansh Chadha (Texas Southern) and Joshua Siplin (Howard); Kei Lindskog and Justin Green (Texas Southern).

This story was originally published August 30, 2022 at 6:23 AM.