Great story. Magnificent - and very brave - contribution he made.

Rest in peace Charlie Sifford.

My dad had taken up the game of golf, at the urging of our next door neighbor, "Pat" Patterson. Pat was one of the (quietly acknowledged) best golfers, Black or white, in my home town; but, his being Black meant he never got the chance to play on the pro tour. His wife has pictures of him with some of golf's greats, as some sought him out for a 9 hole money round ... Pat, laughingly, explained (bragged) that these greats would only play him 9 holes, because that way they could never have to cop to losing a round to a negro. (But I digress ...)

Every 4th of July weekend, my family had a "Y'all Come" BBQ, that had us cooking all day.

That morning (about 1968), my dad lit the fires, and he and Pat left for one of the City course (one of the only courses that allowed Black folks to play. Black folks had to tee off just before day-break, or wait until after 2:00 p.m., and they were not allowed in the club house (... I digress, again ...).

They returned a little before noon with another guy. My dad introduced "Charlie" to the family (and I noticed my Mom perk up), and had me lead "Charlie" and Pat to the porch, while dad retrieved one of his "special" bottles of whiskey. (clue #2 that "Charlie" was someone special)

I remember sitting on that porch, listening to them talking, trying to figure out who this guy was; but, the best I could figure was he was some kind of celebrity ... but couldn't figure out any more.

He spent the whole day, and into the night, eating, drinking and laughing, with my family and friends.

Years later, I saw a TV show about "Black Firsts", and realized that "Charlie" was Charlie Sifford. When I made the connection, I called my Dad and confirmed that our guest had, in fact, been Mr. Sifford. He laughed and told me, he shot the round of his life (he broke 110) and lost to Pat and Mr. Sifford by 40 strokes ... and they didn't seem to care. He told me somewhere in the house, was the score card for that round ... I haven't found it, yet.

He was the king of the old "6 City Tour" that served as the Black golf circuit back in the day.

And, btw, your Dad and I lost to those guys by the same number or strokes.

Yes, he was.

I wish I had played more attention those times he tried to teach me the game. it would have saved me a lot of frustration ... 20 years later!

So on a hunch I thought that I'd look for pix of both he and Mr. Sifford together: