“The world of golf has lost one of its most inspirational and significant figures. In the very sense of the word, Charlie Sifford was a trailblazer for not only the game of golf, but for mankind. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Sifford family,” said Jack Peter, Chief Operating Officer of the World Golf Hall of Fame. “While our hearts are heavy with sadness as we grieve Charlie’s passing, we also celebrate an incredible life.”
Sifford personified true grit and determination as he rose from the caddie ranks in his native Charlotte, N.C., to the highest level of competitive golf – the PGA TOUR.
Unable to compete in PGA-sanctioned events due to the “Caucasian-only” clause, Sifford played on the United Golf Association circuit, where he won the Negro National Open an astounding six times. In 1960, Sifford was awarded a PGA-approved tournament player card, at the age of 37. It would take another year for the “Caucasian-only’’ clause to be stricken from the PGA’s constitution. Sifford broke golf’s color barrier just as Jackie Robinson famously had in baseball.
The experience Sifford gained on the UGA propelled him to a successful career on the PGA TOUR, including victories in the 1967 Greater Hartford Open Invitational and the 1969 Los Angeles Open. He went on to capture the Senior PGA Championship in 1975, as well as the Suntree Senior Classic during the inaugural season of the Champions Tour in 1980.
Dr. Tony Parker, World Golf Hall of Fame and Museum Historian, said the battles fought by Sifford and others benefited more than just black golfers.
“He opened the door for all ethnicities,” Parker said.
Tiger Woods told The Associated Press in an email that he might never have taken up the game were it not for Sifford and unheralded greats like Ted Rhodes and Bill Spiller. Woods has long called Sifford the grandfather he never had. Sifford and Woods’ father, the late Earl Woods, became fast friends when Tiger was still playing junior golf.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say that without Charlie, and the other pioneers who fought to play, I may not be playing golf,” Woods wrote. “My pop likely wouldn’t have picked up the sport, and maybe I wouldn’t have either.”
This past November, Sifford was among 18 Americans to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, from President Obama at the White House. He joined Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus as the only other golfers to have received the medal.
Sifford is survived by his sons Charles, Jr. and Craig, their wives Julia and Sandra, and his grandchildren, Gregory, Christian and Cameron.
