Do you know that the Color Barrier in Golf was broken at Wellshire Golf Course in 1959? Bill Wright, a 23-year-old college student, was the first Black golfer to win a USGA event, the Amateur Public Links Championship, held at Denver’s Wellshire Golf Course. According to Wright’s NY Times obituary, “Wright’s victory was a singular moment for Black golfers at a time when the P.G.A. of America’s bylaws still had a “Caucasians-only” clause (which would be abolished in 1961). A Black man did not win a PGA Tour event until 1964, when Pete Brown finished first at the Waco Turner Open in Texas. The next two African-American winners of U.S.G.A. tournaments were Alton Duhon (the 1982 U.S. Senior Amateur) and Tiger Woods (the 1991 to 1993 U.S. Junior Amateurs).”
Throughout Wellshire’s history as a public course, Black golfers played the course and hosted tournaments and events at the clubhouse.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/25/sports/golf/bill-wright-dead.html