Protests on Racism Stir PGA

Reacting to criticism that its 1990 championship is at a club that excludes blacks, the Professional Golfers’ Assn. said Saturday it will consider membership policies in selecting future title sites.

The United States Golf Assn., which runs both the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens, said it also would re-examine its policies.

“Exclusionary membership factors of a host site are a factor which must be considered,” Patrick J. Rielly, president of PGA of America, said in a statement released by the organization. “We are now determining the specific policy in this area, which will be applied to future site selections.”

Previously, the PGA considered only the quality of the golf course and the ability of the community to stage an event. The new guidelines must be approved by the PGA’s board of directors at its next meeting in August.

The 1990 PGA, considered one of the world’s four major championships, will be held Aug. 9-12 at the all-white Shoal Creek Country Club in Birmingham, Ala.

Hall Thompson, president of Shoal Creek, said that the club “would not be pressured” into accepting black members and added: “That’s just not done in Birmingham, Ala.

“The country club is our home and we can pick and choose who we want.”

After those remarks, Rielly said that the PGA had found nothing written into Shoal Creek’s by-laws specifically excluding blacks. And Thompson apologized “to those who took offense at those comments.”

But protests continued, including one from the NAACP that asked the PGA to consider withdrawing the championship from Shoal Creek and another from the Associated Press Sports Editors group.

“We hope you will take a leadership role in eliminating discriminatory membership policies throughout the country by making open membership a prerequisite for hosting a championship,” the APSE said in a letter to all of professional golf’s major organizations.

“Membership policies should carry the same weight in the selection process as quality of the course, ability to handle spectators and ability of the community to stage the event,” the APSE said.

In a statement issued Saturday by the PGA office, Rielly was quoted as saying:

“The PGA recognizes that private clubs have a right to determine their own membership policies. But as a leader in golf, the PGA also recognizes its obligations to foster and promote equal opportunity in the game.”

Rielly was in Ireland and not available for further comment.

USGA spokesman Mark Carlson was in Duluth, Ga., for the women’s U.S. Open and said his organization might also follow suit.

“In view of recent developments relating to membership practices among private clubs,” Carlson said, “the USGA intends to re-examine its position toward accepting future invitations to conduct its 13 national championships and international matches.”

The PGA already has selected sites for its next four championships.

In 1991, it will be played at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind.; in 1992 at Bellerive in St. Louis; in 1993 at Aronimink Golf Club in New Square, Pa.; and in 1994 at Oak Tree Country Club in Oklahoma City.

The USGA will hold its next three men’s U.S. Opens at Hazeltine National in Chaska, Minn; Pebble Beach and Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J.

The next two women’s opens will be at Colonial Country Club in Ft. Worth and Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa.