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BULLETIN – JULY 2007 Update

John Linton of Austin, TX, has been appointed head coach of the Huston-Tillotson University women’s golf team. John is currently looking for female golfers to attend and play golf at Huston-Tillotson beginning with the 2007-08 academic year. Applicants should be able to consistently shoot scores in the eighties for 18 holes of golf, although ninety shooters will receive some consideration. The University is returning to competitive golf after a 22 year hiatus and plans to build the program around the women’s golf team. Applicants should have a minimum ACT score of 18 or 860 on the SAT (Reading and Math), an overall GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale, and graduated in the upper half of their graduating class. For contact information and particulars log on to www.htu.edu , then click on Intercollegiate Athletics, then women’s golf. John says these golf scholarships will be open until filled.

We take great pleasure in welcoming to our Advisory Group the Honorable Willie L. Brown, Jr. Willie has offered to help in anyway that he can. Most of you know Willie as a politician extraordinaire; however, he is much more than that. Unless you are a mature golfer who lived in Northern California in the early 1960’s, you probably wouldn’t know that Willie played a key role in the legal fight to strike the “Caucasians Only” clause from the PGA of America’s national constitution. History will show that in 1961, Stanley Mosk, attorney general for California challenged the PGA regarding the rights of Charlie Sifford to earn a living playing golf. It was really Willie L. Brown Jr., who at the time was an aspiring young attorney from San Francisco and later became Assembly Speaker of the State of California, that spearheaded the legal fight with his tenacity, perseverance and hard work. Golfers Lee Trevino, Vijay Singh, Jim Thorpe among others owe a debt of gratitude to Willie for staying the course. Charlie Sifford, who at the time was the primary beneficiary of the court’s decision, speaks with reverence when talking about Willie and Tiger in his own way has acknowledged Willie’s contribution to the game of golf. On behalf of minority golfers everywhere, Thanks WB.

We also welcome Esther Wilson of Orlando, FL, to our Advisory Group. Esther has been a member of the Western States Golf Association for over 25 years. She is the defending and perennial WSGA Ladies Champion. Esther has served in many official capacities in WSGA and the Spears Golf Club (SF Bay Area), probably none more important or meaningful than that of Chairperson for Women’s Golf. In this capacity she has introduced an untold number of ladies to the game of golf. Esther has agreed to assist in coordinating a test golf tournament to be held in the greater Metropolitan Orlando area in early November of this year.

Congratulations to our junior golfers who competed at the Westfield Junior PGA Championships on July 11-July 14 against the best junior golfers in the world and performed admirably. Cheyenne Woods (Phoenix, AZ) who finished in 2nd place at the Bill Dickey Junior Invitational behind 13 year old Mariah Stackhouse (Riverdale, GA) had the highest finish of the four entrants (two boys and two girls) from BDI and WSGA. Cheyenne finished in 13th place in a field of 80. Mariah failed to make the cut (top 30 places), but it was her first national/international tournament and she probably was in awe of the talent and support groups, i.e. golf coaches, psychologists, personal trainers, et al that some of the juniors had in their corner. It was a learning experience for Mariah and we expect that she will be a lot stronger in her next major tournament. In the Boys Division Harold Varner III (Gastonia, NC) winner of the BDI finished in 19th place and Albert Kilgore (Corona, CA) WSGA Junior Champion finished in 24th place in a field of 80. The Westfield Championships is one of the most prestigious junior golf tournaments in the country, drawing some of the best young prospects for the PGA and LPGA tours from all over the world.

In our next news bulletin we will share with you a letter from the father of one of golf’s brightest young stars regarding support. To paraphrase Senator Hillary Clinton “it takes a village” was never truer when it involves helping a young golfer reach his potential. Also we will have the results of the 27th annual WSGA Junior Golf Championships. This tournament is becoming one of the prime breeding grounds for minority golfers aspiring to become future stars. Stay tuned.

BULLETIN – JULY 2007

Two weeks ago, the Bill Dickey Invitational (BDI) hosted 44 of the top minority junior golfers in the country at its 8th annual golf tournament held at Orlando’s Disneyworld’s Osprey Ridge GC. Twenty-six boys and eighteen girls were invited to play golf, participate in leadership workshops and network and engage with other Bill Dickey Scholarship Association (BDSA) scholars and alumni and to interact with corporate executives and golf industry professionals. It was a 3-day competition with a Junior-Am (adult and junior paired) on Wednesday, June 27th and the 2-day junior individual competition on Thursday and Friday, June 28th and 29th.

The competition this year was the most spirited of any of the previous years, especially in the junior girls’ division. Two girls, Mariah Stackhouse of Riverdale, GA and Cheyenne Woods of Phoenix, AZ played 18 holes of exciting, nail biting golf with Mariah prevailing 74-71 (145). Cheyenne was second with rounds of 73-69 (142) and she was ten shots ahead of the third place finisher, Christina Hirano, an 18 year old from Pinole, CA, who finished with 77-75 (152). Cheyenne, who is 16 years old, was heavily favored having finished 1st and 2nd in the 2005 and 2006 BDI. However, Mariah, a home schooled 13 year old 7th grader and the youngest ever to win a BDI event, withstood the charge and played exceptionally well under pressure. This could be the makings of a long, long rivalry as both golfers have aspirations for the Ladies Professional Tour. Competition in the boys division was exciting but not quite as eventful or fierce. There Harold Varner III, 16 years old of Gastonia, NC, shot rounds of 69-70 (139) beating Benford Hunter, age 15 of Suffolk, VA, 71-71 (142), Albert Kilgore III, age 17 of Corona, CA, 75-71 (146) and Sean Lucas, age 17 of Los Angeles, 73-73 (146).

Joseph Bramlett, who won the 2006 BDI shooting a tournament record final round of 65, is having a stellar summer this year. Joseph, an 18 year old freshman on Stanford University’s golf team, began the summer by shooting a round of 66 at Half Moon Bay GC (CA) in local qualifying for the US Open. While the round of 66 is special, it is how he won that is extraordinary. He beat all local qualifiers, including the professionals by a whopping 4 shots. Coincidentally, on the same day at a different venue, Andy Walker, a former BDSA recipient, shot 69 to lead all qualifiers at Genoa Lakes GC (NV). Both, however, were eliminated at the regionals, with Joseph losing the last spot in a playoff at Bear Creek GC (Murrietta, CA) competing against three seasoned professionals. Andy opted for Hawks Ridge GC (Ballground, GA) where he shot 71-71 (145) in a field of 36 playing for 3 spots. The following week Joseph played a major role when Stanford University won the Division 1 NCAA title by 12 shots. Also in that NCAA tournament were Joshua Wooding (Moreno Valley, CA) a graduating senior from Southern California University who was the 2003 BDI champion, and Vincent Johnson (Portland, OR) a junior from Oregon State University who three weeks earlier had won the PGA Minority Collegiate Championships held in Port St Lucie, FLA by 12 strokes. Vincent, another BDSA recipient is recovering from Graves disease which was diagnosed last summer.

As an added note to the Joseph Bramlett story which you will probably be hearing for years to come, the assistant golf coach at Stanford is Sam Puryear, a 1980’s BDSA recipient. Joseph is also an honorary member of San Francisco’s Olympic Club where the assistant PGA professional there is Willie Toney, Jr., one of the first BDSA recipients who received a 4-year golf scholarship to Prairie View University in 1981. And yet another BDSA recipient, Brandi Seymour, ESPN reporter, was the keynote speaker at the BDI in 2006. Future plans include profiling some of these former recipients and many others who have benefited from the organization’s support over the years.

The BDI is funded through the financial support of many, including major sponsors, Walt Disney World Resort, Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Commission, New Faze Development (Allen Warren), American Airlines, William Dolan, Thomas J. Elzey, Drexel University, PGA of America, Robert Piper, Jr. & Associates, Wendell Piper, William Stancil, and many, many others too numerous for inclusion here. For additional information please go to www.billdickeyscholarship.org.

In addition to the Junior-AM, BDI held another tournament - the Corporate Challenge, an event where the sponsors, their guests and other paying participants competed over 2 days. The winners of the corporate challenge were 1st Don Hill, 2nd Michael Edmonson and 3rd Horace Stevenson in the Men’s Flight and in the Women’s Flight 1st Karen Parks and 2nd Briana Elzey. There was also a tournament within a tournament as we offered an optional skins game with best-ball 2-man team and birdie pool. Please go to TOURNAMENT RESULTS.

BULLETIN – AUGUST 2007 Update

History was made at the recent US Junior Amateur Girls tournament held at Tacoma CC in Washington when five Afro-Americans were in the field. Two of them, Cheyenne Woods and Sadena Parks, finished 2nd and 4th respectively in the 8th annual BDI held in June at Orlando’s Disneyworld.  Sadena also earned an invitation to the prestigious PGA Westfield Juniors by shooting scores of 75-69 (144) at the 27th Annual WSGA Junior Championships held in Phoenix, AZ early in August.  Seventeen year old Sadena is a gifted athlete from the Tacoma area who plays on the high school varsity basketball team and once held the 100 yard dash record in the State of Washington.   She is now focusing on golf, having received a golf scholarship from the University of Washington, and, wants to play on the LPGA Tour.
 

History was also made at the WSGA Juniors when 13 year old Carlos Briones from the San Francisco area went head to head with two 17 year olds.  Carlos shot scores of 73-69 (142) and won by 5 shots.  Carlos, who eats and sleeps golf, also earned a trip to the Westfield Juniors.  He plans to attend Stanford University or USC and has his sights set on the PGA Tour.

We recently received a letter from a young participant of the BDI held in June and we thought it special enough to share with you.  The young man is an Honors Graduate of Hamilton High School, Memphis, TN and will be attending Southern University (Baton Rouge) on a full athletic golf scholarship.  He wrote “I have participated in the BDI for the past two years and it is hard to put into words how much the opportunity to do so has meant to me: but I will try.  I’ve got nothing but love for Mr. Dickey, his staffers and people like you who donate the financial and in-kind resources it takes to put on a first-class event like the BDI. For the past two years I have had an absolute blast and consider myself to be truly blessed to have met, competed with; and made friends with some of the best African American and minority junior golfers from all over the United States; who like me, love the game of golf, and who are dedicated in achieving academic excellence in their chosen disciplines.  My discipline and desire to do well in the classroom carries over to my golf game, and I am looking forward to the challenge of playing collegiate golf by planning to work extremely hard on all facets of my golf game that will allow me to compete successfully on the collegiate level.  Thanks again, Mr. Presley, for all that you do; all that you have done, and all that you will continue to do for us through your continued support of the BDI.  Please keep me in your prayers as I will keep you in mine.”

On a final note, we have completed our search for extraordinary individuals to serve on our Advisory Board.  We would like to welcome the following exceptional people to our group:

  • Marcus Polk, M.D., Jackson, MS.  Marcus is one of the earliest recipients of the BDSA and is now spearheading the BDSA Alumni, a group organized to help perpetuate the organization.   Marcus is an entrepreneur, owning several Subway franchises in his area.  He is an 8 handicap golfer who loves to compete, and he is also the youngest member on the BDSA Board of Directors and the most pro-active.
  • Gus Robinson, Los Angeles, CA.  Gus, who served as President of WSGA for four terms, now manages the First Tee Program in Los Angeles and is still very active with the WSGA Juniors and the Women in Golf arms of WSGA.
  • Andy Walker, Phoenix, AZ.  Andy is the only golf professional in the Presley Tour family and may be the most valuable addition.  As keynote speaker at the recent WSGA Junior Championship dinner, he had the kid’s undivided attention after they had been listening to more than an hour of adult ramblings.  He was able to relate to them and vice-versa as he already had been down that road as a WSGA junior, a BDSA recipient, and a collegiate golfer (#2 behind Jason Gore on Pepperdine University’s NCAA Championship team).  Andy has played on the Gateway Tour, www.gatewaytour.com. since 1999, and with the numbers he’s shooting lately, may soon be on the PGA tour.  We are especially grateful to Andy for accepting our offer to join the group of Advisors as Andy has a “full” plate.  In addition to playing on the tour, he and wife, Kelly, recently became the proud parents of a beautiful baby boy. He is also the Executive Director of the Par & Poker Celebrity Challenge for Charity, an event to be held in conjunction with the 2008 Super Bowl, www.parandpoker.com