In honor of Black History Month, we celebrate African Americans who were trailblazers in the golf industry and contributed to making the game more inclusive. Of the many influential African Americans who have crossed the AJGA's path, here are a few in particular who've made a lasting impact for future generations.
African American juniors that have come through the AJGA:
Mariah Stackhouse
Stackhouse has seen her junior golf successes follow her to college and even her professional career.
As a junior golfer, Stackhouse acted as the voice of the AJGA membership when she was named the 2011 Player Representative to the AJGA Board of Directors. In that role, she spoke on behalf of a membership that included more than 6,300 members from 48 states and more than 50 foreign countries. She rounded out her junior career as a four-time AJGA champion and three-time Rolex Junior All-American, which included First Team honors in 2011.
After the AJGA, Stackhouse went on to play for the Stanford Women’s Golf team from 2012 to 2016 and turned professional in 2017. While at Stanford, she was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team three times and recorded 24 top-10 finishes, including four individual wins. Stackhouse was also a four-time Stanford All-American and capped off her stellar college career with a National Championship in 2015.
In Stackhouse’s four years on the LPGA Tour, she has earned five top-10 finishes. She also came full circle in 2021 when she hosted her first AJGA tournament.
Cheyenne Woods
Woods at 30 years old is only the sixth African American woman to appear on the LPGA Tour. While playing in the AJGA, Woods was a two-time Rolex Junior All-American. She recorded one AJGA win at the 2005 Nike Golf Junior at Jacksonville and also won the 2005 Trusted Choice Big "I" Junior Classic (non-AJGA event).
Woods went on to play at Wake Forest University. Like Stackhouse, she left her mark in the history books at the university. Woods finished her college career with the lowest single-season (73.47) and lowest career scoring averages (74.31) in school history. She finished more tournaments under-par than any other player in school history. Her accolades include being a two-time All-American and three-time All-ACC honoree. Woods won two tournaments, including a dominating seven-shot victory at the 2011 ACC Championship. She had the third-most rounds (36) at par or better in school history and finished with the first, fourth, and sixth best single-season scoring averages in school history. With eight years on the LPGA Tour, Woods has two top-10 finishes.
Kevin Hall
Hall, 38, has a unique and inspiring story. After losing his hearing at 2 years old because of H-flu meningitis, he decided to start playing golf at age 9. Hall has played in five AJGA events and finished top-15 in three of those events.
Hall was the first African American to receive a golf scholarship at Ohio State University and did not disappoint during his time there. He was a four-time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete Award winner. As a senior, Hall was named 2004 First Team All-Big Ten and also was named to the 2004 Big Ten Championships. He had four top-10 finishes in 2004 including two medalist honors. One of those honors came at the Big 10 Championship where he won by 11 strokes. Hall broke the 54-hole scoring record by carding a 14-under-par 199. He now shares the record with Jeff Overton, who tied Hall's record the following season at Indiana. Both Hall and Overton were the only two players to break 200 in a 54-hole Big Ten championship.
Hall currently plays in tours such as the APGA. This non-profit organization has a mission to prepare African Americans and other minority golfers to compete and win at the highest level of professional golf, both on tour and in the golf industry. Hall was the 2021 APGA Player of the Year. The same year, Hall had four top-5 finishes and captured his first APGA victory. Hall has also competed in multiple PGA TOUR events through exemptions and other opportunities.
Tiger Woods
Woods, from 1991 to 1993, played in 13 AJGA tournaments, winning eight, which tied him for second most AJGA career wins. His junior golf success earned him the title of Rolex Junior Player of the Year in both 1991 and 1992. Woods appeared in the Wyndham Cup from 1990 to 1993 as a member of the West Team and posted a record of 11-3-2, the best of any boy in the tournament's history.
After a promising junior career, Woods committed to Stanford University to play on the men's golf team, but ultimately only stayed for two years. During his time in college, he won a Stanford record tying 11 tournaments, including an incredible eight wins in 13 starts in 1996. Woods was named a two time first-team All-American and first-team All-Conference in 1995 & 1996. He was the NCAA individual champion in 1996 and was also named the Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year.
Woods then went on to win three consecutive US Amateur and US Junior Amateur titles, becoming the only player to accomplish the incredible feat. He is also the only player to have ever won four consecutive Major championships in 2000-2001. His triumphant 2000 US Open victory at Pebble Beach was called "the greatest performance in golf history" by Sports Illustrated after winning by 15 strokes.
Since turning professional in 1996, Tiger has built one of the most impressive resumes in golf history. He has 82 PGA TOUR wins, tied with Sam Snead, holding the record for most wins in history. His Major victories include five Masters Tournaments, four PGA Championships, three U.S. Open Championships, and three British Open Championships. With his second Masters victory in 2001, Tiger became the first golfer ever to hold all four professional Major championships at the same time.
Influential leaders in golf involved with the AJGA:
Joe Louis Barrow, Jr.
Barrow served as Chief Executive Officer of the First Tee and provided strategic direction and executive oversight for all activities of The First Tee. He joined The First Tee in 2000 and led the organization to introduce the game of golf and its values to young people across all 50 states and select international locations. Under Barrow’s leadership, the First Tee’s network of chapters grew substantially; the National School Program evolved from a pilot project to having a presence in thousands of elementary schools. Barrow held his role as CEO until January 2018. Barrow currently sits on the AJGA's Board of Directors and has been a member since 1999.
Barbara Douglas
Douglas, a former IBM executive, was a past president of the National Minority Golf Foundation and a member of the National Black Golf Hall of Fame. Douglas joined The Junior Golf Association of Arizona in 2008 and was elected the first minority chairman of the USGA Women's Committee in 2009. During her two-year term as Women’s Committee chairman, Douglas worked at two U.S. Women’s Opens, two U.S. Women’s Amateurs, a Curtis Cup and the World Amateur Team Championship. In 2011, the Golf Writers Association of America honored Douglas with the prestigious Ben Hogan Award, which has been awarded annually since 1954 to an individual who continues to be active in golf despite a physical handicap or serious illness. After a three year battle with cancer, Douglas passed away at the age of 69.
Lewis C. Horne, Jr.
Horne served on the boards of the Georgia State Golf Foundation, Atlanta Junior Golf Association and LPGA Foundation. He served as a charter member on the World Golf Foundation Diversity Task Force, was inducted into the National Black Golf Hall of Fame in 2008, and was an early supporter of The First Tee. From 1997-1999, Horne served as President and CEO of the National Minority Golf Foundation where he laid out the NMGF’s mission for growing the game through giving access, opportunity, and affordability to players because “golf truly is a game for everyone.” He brought this perspective to the American Junior Golf Association’s Board of Directors in 1999 where he served faithfully for nearly 20 years. Horne passed away from cancer in 2017 at the age of 66.
William "Bill" Dickey
Dickey founded The National Minority Junior Golf Scholarship Association in the mid 1970s to provide interested young men and women an opportunity to learn the fundamentals of golf at an early age. Dickey gave more than $3 million in scholarships and has provided support to more than 1,000 minority junior golfers. Dickey passed away in 1984.
Earl Woods
Woods, affiliated with the AJGA in the early 1990s as a parent, witnessed his son, Tiger, garner back-to-back Rolex Junior Player of the Year awards (1991, 1992) and Rolex Junior All-America First-Team honors four times (1990-1993). Woods joined the AJGA Board of Directors in 1992 and 1993. This was a period when the board helped grow the AJGA schedule to more than 30 events a year and, for the first time, tracked the effectiveness of the AJGA helping juniors earn college golf scholarships. He was also known to help guide his granddaughter Cheyenne Woods in ascending through the junior golf ranks.
