African American Golfers During the Jim Crow Era

African American professional golfers began to appear by the turn of the century, having learned the game as caddies in the early 1890s. However, despite early successes, in the era of Jim Crow legally supported segregation, African Americans were soon seen as suited only to a caddie role in support of white professional players. The Professional Golfers Association, unaffected by the 1954 Brown decision since it was a private organization, maintained a "Caucasian only" membership clause until 1961. All-white private clubs maintained racial exclusion until the PGA Championship Shoal Creek Country Club Affair in 1990.