Changing the Course
How Charlie Sifford and Stanley Mosk Integrated the PGA
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $28.99
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- $28.99
Publisher Description
The compelling, little-known story of golfer Charlie Sifford and attorney Stanley Mosk who together made history by taking on the PGA and their Caucasians Only by-law.
It began with a chance meeting at a Los Angeles country club in 1959. That was the day Charlie Sifford, the first Black golfer to get his PGA card, and Stanley Mosk, a crusading attorney general of California and future state Supreme Court justice, met for the first time. Little did either of them know that it would grow into a history-making alliance that would end segregation in professional golf.
In Changing the Course: How Charlie Sifford and Stanley Mosk Integrated the PGA, Peter May tells the captivating story of Sifford and Mosk’s battle to end the rank racial discrimination that had been codified in the constitution of the PGA. Black golfers who preceded Sifford, such as Bill Spiller and Ted Rhodes, had unsuccessfully challenged the PGA’s discriminatory policy. Sifford had been fighting the PGA for years just to be able to compete with the white players. Mosk had little knowledge of the PGA or the fact that Blacks were being discriminated against by the organization’s by-laws. But the golfer had a cause that the attorney general was only too eager to champion. The two made for a powerful pair.
Changing the Course focuses on the individual journeys of Sifford and Mosk before delving into the crucial intersection of their lives that changed the professional golf world forever. Their stories provide a window into the changing landscape of mid-20th century America when the nation was forced to confront its history of racial injustice in professional sports and beyond.
Customer Reviews
Changing the Course
This is arguably the most important book on American golf history since The Greatest Game Ever Played was published in 2002. The two books have somewhat similar themes: Francis Ouimet was a young man of very modest background whose exploits transformed what up to that time had largely been the exclusive leisure activity of WASP elites into a sport that could be played by people of any social class: May’s book deals with the elimination of an even more oppressive form of discrimination - the Caucasian only requirement to PGA membership. Without membership in the PGA of America professional golfers could not play in most of the tournaments that comprised the PGA tour at that time.
The protagonists of Changing the Course, Charlie Sifford, and then California Attorney General Stanley Mosk are fascinating characters from disparate backgrounds who succeeded in fully integrating professional golf years after other major sports had done so. In addition to describing the lives of Sifford and Mosk in wonderful detail, the book explores the history of the United Golf Association - founded by black golf enthusiasts - which sponsored a tournament tour open to golfers of all colors. May also describes the colorful characters that competed on that hard scramble tour and the African-American celebrities who sponsored many of the tournaments. Ultimately this book is about the grit, patience and tenacity of Charlie Sifford in breaking the last color barrier in a major American sport. A terrific book - if you liked The Greatest Game you’re sure to like this one as well.