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The Bronze Amateur Name Change


Great Day For Tourney Golf

Editorial, Minneapolis Spokesman, July 29, 1955, p. 2


The former Minnesota Negro Open Golf Tournament, now known as the Upper Midwest Bronze Golf Tournament, had a new look Saturday and Sunday, July 23 and 24. For the first time in its history, the tournament was open to other Amercians besides Negro Americans. Four white Americans and one Japanese American were among the entries.
 
Veteran Negro golfers, especially the younger men and women expressed themselves as favorably disposed towards the decision of the tournament sponsors to end the racial exclusive policy which has been under criticism for several years. Thelma Cowans of Los Angeles, three times national women's champion, frankly gave her stamp of approval to the end of Negro imposed ______ in the local tournament. She pointed out that as the nunber of white entries in the various tournaments sponsored by Negroes all over the country increases, Negro amateurs facing tougher competition will be forced to improve their game.
 
The promoters of the Minnesota tourney deserve credit for changing both the name and policy of the tournament, even if it was done under pressure from the NAACP. There was a time when a racially exclusive tournament could be excused on the basis that golf was a new game for many members of the Negro community. However, as the game improved in popularity among Negroes and the best players among them sought entry to local and national tournaments which were formally all white, it was time for Negro promoted tournaments to change their admission policies and permit any man or woman golfer who cared to pay the entry fee regardless of their race, color or creed to enter the tourney.
 
Last year there was considerable community heat generated by the controversy over the name of the tournament and its racial bar. The promoters on the defensive gave the impression critics had ulterior motives that the tournament was a purely private promotion which it was not, because the merchandise prizes which make up the most valuable awards are yearly donated by merchants and firms who felt that this was their way of showing their appreciation to the Negro community for the patronage they receive from it.
 
The tournament, though promoted by private individuals for a profit we hope was nonetheless a public promotion subject both to the evaluation, criticism and appreciation of the public.
 
We don't know how the promoters of the Upper Midwest Bronze Golf Tournament felt as they awarded prizes to Negro and white alike Sunday night, but we do know that many Negro spectators, golfers and gallery members joined this paper in feeling very good about the whole thing. Now, neither the promoters or the community has anything for which to apologize.
 
No longer will sponsors of other public tournaments be able to say to the Negro community, you people have a golf tournament which bars other groups, what are you hollering about?
 
In a few years the controversy over the Minnesota Negro Open Golf Tournament will have faded away in the minds of those who think and many people will be wondering what all the shouting was about.
 
In the meantime our congratulations to all who participated in the change of policy, the promoters and the NAACP. With the situation cleared the tournament may now proceed to make the event the biggest in the country. In the Twin Cities of Minnesota we have the golf course, the hospitality and the promoters. All we need is increasing interest in golf, greater participation, greater community responsibility and a greater tolerance, one for the other.