Because Of Her: Althea Gibson
Posted by Golf4Her on Jan 31st 2021
Perhaps better known for breaking barriers in tennis, Althea Gibson broke barriers on the course as well. A celebrated tennis player who won several majors, Gibson’s accomplishments as a golfer are just as important.
In 1963, Gibson became the first African-American woman to play on the LPGA Tour, the same year that Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Her love for golf started long before her tennis career, back at Florida A&M University, where she took a golf class.
“The siren song of golf was barely audible to me when I retired from amateur tennis,” Gibson wrote in “So Much to Live For,” her 1968 autobiography. “But it was never completely out of hearing, and soon it was to grow so loud that I would not be able to resist its seductiveness.”
Playing tennis, a sport predominantly for the white and wealthy, prepared her for many of the struggles that she would face as an African-American golfer. Some clubs, such as Beaumont CC in Texas, would allow her to play the course, but wouldn’t allow her into the clubhouse, forcing her to change in her car and find other bathrooms. After retiring from tennis, she said the decision to transition to golf was an easy one for her.
“She was hardened to things,” said Renee Powell, a close friend of Gibson’s and who became the second African-American to play on the LPGA in 1967. “Because of the fact that she was in tennis and broke color barriers in tennis, when she went to golf, things didn’t bother her. She was focused on playing the game. She wasn’t trying to open doors, she was just trying to play [the] game and make a living.”Both women received death threats and heard racial slurs, but always had the support of the LGPA.
Though she landed in the top-50 money earners for five years, golf did not support her the way tennis had. She relied on sponsorship deals and her husband for a bulk of her career on the course.She eventual gave up the game to become a tennis pro, again opening doors for others to enjoy the sports that she loved.
Gibson didn’t find long-lasting financial success through golf, but the impact she made on the game and future generations is invaluable. A the professional level, we have players like Shasta Averyhardt, Sadena Parks, Mariah Stackhouse, Cheyenne Woods and Ginger Howard following in her footsteps. At the amateur level there are so many more, and that number continues to grow.
~Golf4Her