Robert Lee Elder (July 14, 1934 – November 28, 2021) was an American
professional golfer. In
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
, he became the first
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
to play in the
Masters Tournament, where he missed the cut. Elder was invited to the tournament after he won the 1974
Monsanto Open
The Pensacola Open was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour. The inaugural version of the tournament was played in 1956 and its last edition in 1988.
Tournament highlights
* 1960: Arnold Palmer birdies the 72nd hole to win by one shot over Doug San ...
.
Personal life
One of ten children, Elder was born in
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, Texas, to Charles and Almeta Elder. He was nine years old when his father was killed in Germany during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, and his mother died three months later. At the age of 12, Elder found himself moving from one
ghetto
A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...
to another before being sent to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, California, to live with his aunt. Elder frequently cut classes to work as a
caddie, and after two years at
Manual Arts High School
Manual Arts High School is a secondary public school in Los Angeles, California, United States.
History
Manual Arts High School was founded in 1910 in the middle of bean fields, one-half mile from the nearest bus stop. It was the third high sch ...
he dropped out.
Elder met his first wife, Rose Harper, at a golf tournament in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
The two married in 1966. After getting married, Rose gave up her golfing career to become his manager. They later divorced.
Elder died on November 28, 2021, in
Escondido, California
Escondido is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Located in the North County region, it was incorporated in 1888, and is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. It has a population of 151,038 as of the 2020 census.
Et ...
at the age of 87.
Professional career
Life before the PGA Tour
Elder did not play a full round of 18 holes until he was 16. He took jobs in pro shops and locker rooms, in addition to caddying where he developed his game by watching his clients, and playing when he had the opportunity. Elder's game developed sufficiently for him to start
hustling
Hustling is the deceptive act of disguising one's skill in a sport or game with the intent of luring someone of probably lesser skill into gambling (or gambling for higher than current stakes) with the hustler, as a form of both a confidence tri ...
. His career took a big step after playing a match with heavyweight boxer
Joe Louis, which led to Louis’s golf instructor,
Ted Rhodes, taking Elder under his wing for three years. Under the tutelage of Rhodes, Elder was able to polish his game and he began playing in tournaments.
In 1959, Elder was drafted into the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
, and was sent to
Fort Lewis, Washington
Fort Lewis was a United States Army post from 1917 to 2010 located south-southwest of Tacoma, Washington. Fort Lewis was merged with McChord Air Force Base on 1 February 2010 to form Joint Base Lewis–McChord.
Fort Lewis, named after Meriwet ...
. While at Fort Lewis, Elder had the good fortune to be under the command of Colonel John Gleaster who was an avid golfer. Gleaster put Elder in a
Special Services unit, which allowed him the opportunity to play golf on a steady basis.
Elder was discharged from the army in 1961, and joined the
United Golf Association Tour (UGA) for black players (at the time they were excluded from the
Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA) which was only "for members of the Caucasian race").
He had a dominant stretch in which he won 18 of 22 consecutive tournaments, but this tour did not have large prizes, often in the range of $500.
The PGA Tour
The PGA lifted its
color barrier
Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Internati ...
in 1961, meaning non white players could become members.
In 1967 Elder raised enough money to attend
qualifying school
In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...
for the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
. He finished 9th out of a class of 122 and gained his tour card for 1968. That year, he placed 40th on the money list, bringing in approximately $38,000. The highlight of Elder's rookie season was a memorable playoff loss to
Jack Nicklaus at the
American Golf Classic
The American Golf Classic was a tournament on the PGA Tour from 1961 to 1976 at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. It was the third event at the storied South course, after the Rubber City Open Invitational (1954–1959) and the PGA Championsh ...
. Elder lost to Nicklaus on the fifth hole of sudden death.
In 1971 Elder accepted a personal invitation from
Gary Player
Gary James Player DMS, OIG (born 1 November 1935) is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tou ...
to participate in the
South African PGA Championship
The South African PGA Championship is one of the most prestigious golf tournaments on the Sunshine Tour. It is generally played in February, depending on the Tour Schedule, with a prize fund of 2 million rand, and is currently held at Eye of Afri ...
in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
. The event marked the first integrated tournament in the country’s history. The country had
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
policies in effect at the time, but he agreed to participate after the South African government agreed not to subject him or spectators to the usual segregation requirements. He also played in a number of other tournaments in Southern Africa plus he won the
Nigerian Open in 1971.
In 1974, Elder earned his first win on the PGA Tour at the
Monsanto Open
The Pensacola Open was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour. The inaugural version of the tournament was played in 1956 and its last edition in 1988.
Tournament highlights
* 1960: Arnold Palmer birdies the 72nd hole to win by one shot over Doug San ...
, which gained him entry to the Masters Tournament in
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georgi ...
the following April. This marked the first time Augusta National invited a specifically-black golfer to compete in the Masters Tournament since it began in 1934, which coincidentally was Elder's year of birth. The Masters was, in the 1960s and 1970s, frequently 'tweaking' its qualifications for entry. Winners of PGA Tour events were not automatically invited to play at Augusta when Pete Brown and Charlie Sifford won on tour. Brown won twice: once in 1964 and again in 1970. Sifford won in 1967 and again in 1969, but it was not until the early 1970s when Augusta revised its qualifications policy and Elder won Monsanto that a Black golfer was finally invited to play in the Masters.
Elder shot a 74 on day one and a 78 on day two of the 1975 Masters, missing the cut, but the impact of his presence in the field was clear. Elder went on to play in the Masters five more times from 1977 to 1981.
In 1979, he became the first African American to qualify for play in the
Ryder Cup.
In 1984, at the age of 50, Elder joined the
Senior PGA Tour. He won a total of eight tournaments on the senior tour between 1984 and 1988.
The fight against racism
Life on tour
In 1975, Elder became the first African American to play in the Masters.
Leading up to the tournament, he received substantial amounts of hate mail. Fearing for his safety, during the week of the tournament he rented two houses in town and kept moving between them, and always had people around him when he went to eat.
At the Monsanto Open in 1968 in
Pensacola, Florida, the same tournament at which he claimed his first PGA Tour victory six years later to qualify for the Masters, Elder and other black players on tour were forced to change their clothes in the parking lot because members of the club would not allow African Americans in their clubhouse. While playing in a tournament in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, a spectator picked up Elder's ball on a hole and threw it in a hedge. The incident was witnessed by another pro golfer, and Elder was given a free drop.
Elder tried to stay focused on the game, but unlike the majority of players on tour he was constantly bothered by unruly fans, frequently receiving hate mail and threatening phone calls.
Giving back and speaking out
Elder and his then wife, Harper, set up the Lee Elder Scholarship Fund in 1974. This fund was developed to offer monetary aid to low-income young men and women seeking money for college.
In 1986 he protested to the PGA governors for allowing four American golfers to play in a tournament in
Sun City, Bophuthatswana, a small area set up by the apartheid regime of South Africa that surrounds it.
In 1990, Elder spoke out against country clubs that still excluded Black golfers from membership. Elder actively promoted Summer Youth Golf Development Programs, raised money for the
United Negro College Fund
UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities ...
, and served on the advisory boards of
Goodwill Industries
Goodwill Industries International Inc., often shortened in speech and writing to Goodwill (stylized as goodwill), is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides job training, employment placement services, and other community-bas ...
.
In April 2021, Elder took part in the traditional ceremonial start to the
Masters.
Professional wins (16)
PGA Tour wins (4)
PGA Tour playoff record (2–2)
Other wins (2)
*1971
Nigerian Open
*1984
Jamaica Open
The Jamaica Open is a golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardize ...
Senior PGA Tour wins (8)
''*Note: Tournament shortened to 36 holes due to rain.''
Senior PGA Tour playoff record (3–0)
Japan Senior wins (2)
*1984 Coca-Cola Grandslam Championship
*1986 Coca-Cola Grandslam Championship
Results in major championships
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Summary
*Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (1978 Masters – 1979 PGA)
*Longest streak of top-10s – 0
U.S. national team appearances
Professional
*
Ryder Cup:
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
(winners)
See also
*
1967 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
References
External links
*
Profile at afrogolf.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elder, Lee
American male golfers
African-American golfers
PGA Tour golfers
PGA Tour Champions golfers
Ryder Cup competitors for the United States
Golfers from Dallas
Golfers from Los Angeles
People from Pompano Beach, Florida
20th-century African-American sportspeople
1934 births
2021 deaths