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Richard Badger, director of We Black We Golf in Milwaukee, said the story of the group’s origin is as old as time. About six years ago, the group’s founder, Marshall Martin, was out playing golf at the Silver Spring Golf Course in Menomonee Falls when he noticed a group of white men glaring at him, Badger said.
Martin didn’t let the moment pass before exclaiming: “Yeah, we black people play golf.”
On July 30, 2018, he came up with the idea to create a Facebook group that now has over 7,500 followers worldwide and led to the creation of the nonprofit We Black We Golf. Since then, the group has worked to improve participation in the sport by using the game to develop networking and philanthropy skills and by offering lessons.
We Black We Golf is hosting its 4th annual Midwest Golf Open through Sunday. In addition to golf, other offerings will include food, games, a DJ, a comedian and live bands. Badger stressed that people from all walks of life are welcome and anyone can participate in the Open Saturday at Brown Deer Golf Course, even newcomers.
Badger, who was the head coach of the Alverno College women’s team in recent years, decided in an act of “rebellion” toward his wife more than 20 years ago to buy a set of golf clubs when she dragged him on a trip to the old Kmart near Highway 100 and Burleigh Street.
“I didn’t want to be in the store, so I went straight to the sports section,” he said.
“And there was a box of clubs on sale for about $40, so I bought them.”
Badger said about a year later his uncle invited him to play golf and he’s been hooked ever since.
As a beginner, he did not understand the sport and attributes his development to the Golf Channel television channel.
“I watched golf shows very diligently,” he said. “With a pen and paper, I would take notes on the different golf instruction shows. … Since then, I’ve been studying the game, taking lessons and working on my game. I’ve lost over 100 pounds just to improve my golf game.”
Badger said it’s not just about being the best at golf, but about the skills you develop while playing the game.
“Golf teaches you a lot about patience,” he said. “It teaches you a lot about negotiation, about dealing with obstacles. It can be very similar to how you make decisions in life. There’s really no other sport than golf. Golf has no boundaries, it has no dimensions.”
Badger hopes to be part of a growing movement that sees black Americans, especially young people, trying out the centuries-old sport.
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Although many areas of the United States have public golf courses near large population areas, golf is often seen as a sport reserved for the wealthy and privileged, with the best courses, amenities, and exclusive memberships reserved for those willing to pay a premium price and those with connections.
The sport is still largely played by whites and has few black participants, although one group says black participation is increasing.
According to the National Golf Foundation, the number of black people playing golf in the United States has increased over a 10-year period, but they still represent about 10% of the sport. In 2021, 4.1 million black people played golf, up from 2.6 million in 2011. The foundation’s latest report says that about 41 million people play golf in the United States.
“You’ll find that golf is starting to make more and more strides in culture,” Badger said.
“People want something comfortable. When you go to a golf course outside of Milwaukee, you’re probably the only black person on the golf course. So We Black We Golf was created for a state of comfort.
“How do you get black people to play golf when they don’t want to go on the course? Well, we bring golf to the community.”
We Black We Golf travels the state to community events, like Juneteenth, with a mobile driving range. “We bring golf to your door, we put it in front of your eyes, we put a club in your hand, and people get this virus because now they’ve swung a club, they’ve hit a ball,” Badger said.
Representation at the professional level has declined
Besides availability and cost, many black people are not drawn to the sport for a number of reasons, including cultural popularity and lack of representation.
Although Tiger Woods, arguably the greatest and probably most famous golfer of all time, is black and Asian, less than 1% of the Professional Golfers’ Association members are black.
“There were more black people playing the PGA in the ’70s and ’80s than there are today, even though there are more black people playing golf today,” Badger said. “You have to recognize that the PGA is trying to make amends for the past.”
Golf has been around longer than the United States and has grown in size, power and influence across the country. Like many institutions, it has denied opportunities to people of color. Woods discussed the racism he faced as a young boy at country clubs in a 1990 interview.
“I still feel it, you still feel it,” said Woods, then 14. “People are always looking at you. ‘What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here.’”
Asked if he could help change perceptions in the United States through golf by achieving the same success as Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson, Woods replied: “Being black, I could be even bigger than (Nicklaus). I could be like Michael Jordan in basketball.”
Woods said he was obsessed with winning the Masters because of “the way black people have been treated there. … If I win that tournament, it’s going to be really important to us.” Augusta National Golf Club didn’t allow a black member until 1990 and no female member until 2012.
Woods achieved his goal in 1997, becoming the first black man to win the tournament. He would wear the green jacket four more times (2001, 2002, 2005, 2019) as part of his 15 major tournament victories.
Tiger Woods at the 1997 Masters (Stephen Munday/Allsport/Getty Images)
“Nike did a great job of making Tiger look cool,” Badger said. “For black people, especially younger people, he made it look easy. He also changed the game from a game that was always seen as a game for old, fat, rich, non-athletic white guys who just drink scotch and smoke cigars.”
“Gary Player was like that, he was European, but Tiger Woods, on the capitalist side of the American market, was able to really change the game. Before Tiger, multi-million dollar purses were unheard of.”
Missed Opportunities by Not Playing Golf
Woods and the black men on the PGA Tour who came before him are an important piece of the puzzle, Badger said, but it’s also about showing black people the opportunities that playing golf can provide.
“Deals are always made on the golf course,” Badger said. “If you want to be an entrepreneur or a business owner, you risk losing potential business because you’re not prepared to put yourself in that environment.”
“You’ve been trying to get into someone’s schedule for months, just for 15 to 20 minutes. But then you call and propose a time to leave and they agree. Now you have five hours with this person.
“Golf is a game of integrity. You make mistakes yourself. There can be money involved. So you learn a lot about people by playing golf.
“And then there’s what we call the 19th hole. It’s just to celebrate the closing of the deal.”
This article was originally published on Golfweek: ‘We Black, We Golf’ Founder Started Grassroots Group After Being ‘Looked At’ by White Golfers
