The stated goals of the Wake Robin were “to perpetuate golf among Negro women, to make potential players into champions, and to make a permanent place for Negro women in the world of golf.” Club members battled the segregationist policies of the 1930’s that prevented Blacks access to public golf courses and were instrumental in the establishment of Langston. In April 1937, a group of 13 women came together in the Washington, DC living room of Helen Webb Harris and founded the oldest African American women’s golf club in the United States, the Wake Robin Golf Club (picture 2). Those men were Ted Rhodes, Bill Spiller and John Shippen. In 2009, the PGA of America acknowledged three African American golf pioneers by granting them posthumous PGA membership. Today, golf historians believe John Shippen was the first American-born golf professional of any race. Shippen also served as professional at several clubs, the last of which was Shady Rest Golf Course in New Jersey where he worked from 1932 until 1964. In the years following the Open, his opportunity to compete against white professionals was non-existent however, he remained a respected player and competed on the new United Golfers Association “chitlin circuit” for many years. Shippen was paired with the “father of American golf” Charles Blair Macdonald and shot 78 – 81, for a fifth-place finish. However, Theodore Havemeyer, president of the USGA, declared there would be no competition without them. Held at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, where the 16-year-old Shippen was assistant professional, he along with Oscar Bunn, a member of the Shinnecock Nation, endured the racist protests of other contestants who didn’t want either man in the field. In July, 1896, John Matthew Shippen, Jr., son of a former slave and Presbyterian minister, became the first Black man to play in the US Open Championship.
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