Rusty Hilst Boy’s Player of the Year: Tyler Strong
KS Junior Match Play Championship Runner-Up, Kansas City Amateur Championship Low Junior Finish, 5th place at Kansas Junior Amateur Championship, Made Match-Play at the Kansas Amateur Championship, Konza Prairie Amateur Low Junior, Member of the KS-NE Cup Team, Qualified for the First Round of the US Amateur, US Junior Amateur Qualifier, T9 at the KC Junior Championship, KJT Boys +16 T1 at Nicklaus Golf Club at Lionsgate.
Girl’s Player of the Year: Hadley Neese
2024 Prairie Invitational Third Place and Low Junior, KC Junior Championship Runner-Up, KC Junior Match Play Runner-Up, Kansas Junior Amateur 4th place, Kansas Women’s Amateur 7th place, Girls Four State Team Member, 6A KSHSSA Girls State 9th place.
Women’s Players of the Year
Women’s Player of the Year: Lyla Louderbaugh
Kansas Women’s Amateur Champion, CLG Women’s Match Play Champion, US Women’s Am Qualifying Medalist, US Women’s Amateur Match Play Qualifier.
Women’s Mid-Amateur & Senior Player of the Year: Martha Linscott
Kansas Women’s Mid-Am Champion, US Women’s Mid-Am Qualifying Medalist, CLG Women’s Match Play Round of 16, Kansas Women’s Amateur 20th, US Senior Women’s Amateur Championship Match Play Qualifier.
Women’s Super Senior & Legends Player of the Year: Denise Desilet
Kansas Women’s Senior Amateur Super Senior Champion, Spring Triple Threat T1, Fall Triple Threat Runner-Up.
Kansas Players of the Year
Kansas Men’s Player of the Year: Michael Winslow
114th Kansas Match Play Champion, US Amateur Championship Qualifying Exemption, KC Amateur Champion, 114th Stroke Play Qualifying T9, Kansas Amateur Qualifying Exemption.
Kansas Mid-Amateur Player of the Year: Zach VanDolah
KC Match Play Champion, Kansas Mid-Amateur Champion, 114th Kansas Amateur Match Play Round of 16, US Mid-Am Qualifying Medalist, KC Amateur (Mid-Am Finish) T2, 114th Kansas Amateur Stroke Play Qualifying (Mid-Am Finish) T3, Kansas Amateur Qualifying Exemption.
Kansas Senior & Super Senior Player of the Year: Bryan Norton
USGA Senior Amateur Round of 32, US Senior Amateur Qualifying Medalist, Kansas Senior Amateur Third Place.
Kansas Legends Player of the Year: Joe Rothwell
The Railer Senior T3, Kansas Senior Amateur (Super Senior) 4th, Association Senior Cup Winning Team, Senior Series Championship Runner-Up, Legends of Kansas Runner-up, Senior Team Championship 4th Place, Senior Four-Ball (Super Senior) T4, 6 Senior Series Wins.
Kansas City Players of the Year
Kansas City Men’s Amateur: Michael Winslow
Kansas Amateur Match Play Champion, KC Amateur Champion, Missouri Amateur Championship Semifinalist, T7 at the Watson Challenge
Kansas City Mid-Amateur Player of the Year: Zach VanDolah
KC Match Play Champion, US Mid-Am Qualifying Medalist, US Four-Ball Qualifying Medalist, Kansas Mid-Amateur Champion, 114th Kansas Amateur Match Play Round of 16, T10 at The Watson Challenge, Missouri Amateur Championship Round of 32, Missouri Mid-Amatuer T5th.
Kansas City Senior & Super Senior Player of the Year: Bryan Norton
US Senior Amateur Qualifying Medalist, USGA Senior Amateur Round of 32, Kansas Senior Amateur Third Place, FWA Tour Champion at Tiffany Greens, T31 at The Watson Challenge
Kansas City Legends Player of the Year: Don Kuehn
KC Amateur Legends Division Champion, Won 3 FWA Tour Events, T3 at FWA Tour Event at Praire Highlands
The Kansas City Amateur, presented by Granite Garage Floors Kansas City, was held at the Golf Club of Creekmoor from July 26 to 28. During rounds one and two, 141 players competed in stroke play, with a cut after 36 holes for each division.
Open Division
Michael Winslow won the Kansas City Amateur Championship, carding 68-78-64-210 (-6). The Open Division included many of the top competitive golfers in the area. After the second round, the cut was to a low 36, and ties leading into the final round. Winslow, the 2024 Kansas Amateur Champion, had an impressive final round of the tournament, carding 64 (-8) to jump from 21st place to the lead. “I started my final round five-under through five, which was huge,” Winslow said after finishing his round. “It was a blast! Preserved through the back nine in the wind to shoot one under on the back. It was a lot of fun!” Tyler Strong carded 69-72-71-212 (-4) to tie with Nathan Hughes, who shot 71-70-71-212 (-4), for Runner-up. After the three rounds, Strong won the title of Low Junior.
Senior Division
Dave Cunningham is the Senior Division Champion, carding 72-72-73-217 (+1). His consistency led to his victory. Ed Brown, the Senior Division runner-up, scored 78-72-75-225 (+9).
Super Senior
Steve Groom won the Super Senior Division, carding 71-72-75-218 (+2). Groom won the division by eight shots over Tracy Chamberlin, the runner-up, who scored 74-78-74-226 (+10) in the three rounds. Michael Casamento won the Super Senior Net Division, carding 73-72-76-221 (+5).
Players Division
Song Kim won the Players Division, carding an impressive 78-72-79-229 (+13). The Runner-up, Arjun Roy, carded 86-73-76-235 (+19). The Net Players Division Champion, Chris O’Dowd, scored 73-68-77-218 (+2).
Legends Division
Don Kuehn won the Legends Division, shooting 71-75-76 -222 (+6). He secured his fiftieth Championship Victory, a milestone that underscores his status as a legend in the sport.
The 114th Kansas Amateur Match Play Championship was held July 16-21st at Topeka Country Club. The Championship began with a 36-hole stroke play, qualifying for the Round of 64 matches.
Micheal Winslow earned the title of Kansas Amateur Champion after 35 holes in the Final Round against Will King. Winslow finished 2up after 35 holes and was projected to shoot 73-67 in the Final Match. In Stroke Play Qualifying, Winslow shot 70-70-140 (-2) to earn the tenth seed going into the Round of 64.
In the Round of 64, Winslow defeated Jack Bradbury 1up after 18 holes. In his second match, he won 3&2 against Jack Tarvin. During the Round of 16 Matches, Winslow played Jake Huffaker, winning the match 4&3. In the Quarterfinals, Winslow played the two seed, Alex Springer, and won 5&4. Winslow played the Semifinals against Zach Sokolosky, the 2023 Kansas Amateur Champion. This was a rematch from the Final Match of the 2023 Kansas Amateur, where Winslow placed second. Winslow won the Semifinal Match 1up after 18 holes.
In the Final Match, Winslow played against Will King, the fifth seed. Both players are collegiate golfers in the state of Kansas. King, a part of the KU Men’s Golf Team, shot 67-70-137 (-5) in the qualifying rounds earlier in the week. Winslow, a part of the Wichita State Men’s Golf Team, was tied with King after the first 18 of the 36-hole Final Match. Both players won five holes to make the match even going into the final 18. Winslow heated up, winning the first hole of the second round. Winslow was 3up through 14, coming down to their final holes. King won the 16th hole to continue to push his way back. However, the players tied the 17th hole, ending the match at Winslow 2up over King.
Winslow’s victory also earned him an Exemption into the U.S. Amateur Championship in August. “It’s huge to get in the U.S. Amateur; if you are playing Amateur golf, that’s the tournament everyone wants to be in. I can’t wait to get up to Hazeltine!” Winslow said.
Thank you to Topeka Country Club for hosting this wonderful event! We look forward to the 2025 Kansas Amateur Match Play Championship at Wichita Country Club.
T15 finish at the Optimist Qualifier, 10th place finish at the Railer Stroke Play Championship, 6th place at the Junior Boys Four-Ball Championship, Low Junior at the KC Amateur, Member of the Mid-America Cup Team, Qualified for Match Play at the Kansas Amateur, T3 at the KC Junior Amateur, and won the Kansas Junior Amateur.
Girls Player of the Year: Emerie Schartz
Kansas Women’s Amateur Champion, Kansas Junior Amateur Champion, Qualified for the US Girls Junior Amateur and Junior PGA National Championship.
Women’s Players of the Year
Women’s Player of the Year: Hanna Robinett
Prairie Invitational Champion, Kansas Women’s Amateur Runner Up, 16th place at the CLG Women’s Match Play.
Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year: Katy Winters
3rd place at the Kansas Women’s Mid-Amateur, 4th place at the Kansas Women’s Amateur, 3rd place at the Tee Fore Two, 17th place at the Prairie Invitational.
Women’s Senior & Super Senior Player of the Year: Denise Desilet
T2 at the Kansas Women’s Senior Amateur, Runner Up at the Tee Fore Two, Won Women’s Team Links Series at Auburn Hills, Won Fall Triple Threat.
Women’s Legends Player of the Year: Naoma Kilpatrick
Kansas Women’s Super Senior Amateur Champion, T2 at the Prairie Invitational Opal Hill Division.
Kansas Players of the Year
Kansas Men’s Player of the Year: Zach VanDolah
T12 at the Kansas Mid-Amateur, Runner Up at the Heart of America Four-Ball, Qualified for the US Mid-Amateur, Match Play Qualifier at the US Mid-Amateur Championship, Kansas City Amateur Champion, Quarterfinals at the Kansas Amateur.
Kansas Mid-Amateur Player of the Year: Nathaniel Spencer
T6 at the Kansas Mid-Amateur, Quarterfinals at the KC Match Play, Runner Up at the Railer (Mid-Am), T1 High Plains Amateur (Mid-Am), Round of 16 at the Kansas Amateur.
Kansas Senior & Super Senior Player of the Year: RJ Opliger
3rd place at the Kansas Mid-Amateur (Senior Division), 3rd place at the Kansas Senior Amateur (Super Senior), Runner Up at the KC Senior Match Play, Quarterfinals at the KC Match Play.
Kansas Legends Player of the Year: Joe Rothwell
Runner Up the Legends of Kansas Championship, 4th at the KC Amateur (Super Senior Divison), Senior Series Championship winner, Winning Team at the Association Senior Cup.
Kansas City Players of the Year
Kansas City Men’s & Mid-Amateur Player of the Year: Zach VanDolah
Runner Up at the Heart of America Four-Ball, Quarterfinals at the Kansas Amateur, Semifinals at the Missouri Amateur Match Play, KC Amateur Champion.
Kansas City Senior Player of the Year: Ed Brown
KC Senior Match Play Champion, KC Amateur Champion (Senior Division), Falcon Wealth Advisors Tour.
Kansas City Super Senior Player of the Year: RJ Opliger
Runner Up at the KC Senior Match Play, Quarterfinals at the KC Match Play, Runner Up at the KC Amateur (Super Senior).
Kansas City Legends Player of the Year: Don Kuehn
4th place at the KC Amateur (Super Senior/Legends), Falcon Wealth Advisors Tour Legends Division.
Three players found themselves under par at the Kansas City Amateur last weekend. Zach VanDolah won the Open Division shooting rounds of 72-72-70 (-3), Kit Grove finished in second place shooting 71-73-70 (-2), and Tyler McNeive shot 73-66-76 (-1) to earn Low Junior.
The Senior Division
In the Senior Division, Ed Brown won shooting 79-69-74 (+6), and Jon Platz tied for second with Steve Groom at seven-over-par.
The Super Senior Division
John Bailey won the Super Senior Division shooting even par 72-72-72 for his three rounds.
The Legends Division
Don Kuehn won the Legends Division shooting 73-72-74 (+3).
The Players Division
Song Kim won the Players Division shooting 86-78-70 (+18). Chris O’Dowd won overall Net in the division.
The Kansas Amateur Match Play Championship took place July 18-23rd at Falcon Lakes Golf Club. The Championship began with a 36-hole stroke play qualifying round to make it into the round of 64 matches.
Zach Sokolosky found himself at the top of the leaderboard after round two, shooting an impressive 14 under par, 68-62, earning him the number one seed going into match play. “I was able to get my putter very hot which was a big confidence booster going into match play,” Sokolosky said.
In the round of 64 matches, Sokolosky defeated James Hill 3&2. In his second match, he won one up after 19 holes against Colby Unruh. During the round of 16 matches, Sokolosky defeated 2022 Kansas Amateur Champion, Asher Whitaker, 4&3. In the Quarterfinals he won 2&1 over Drew Carlson. In the Semifinals he defeated Chance Rinkol 1 up after 18 holes.
Sokolosky played against Michael Winslow, the 11 seed during the final match. Both Sokolosky and Winslow play on the Wichita State Men’s Golf Team. Winslow shot 72-66 (-6) during the qualifying rounds earlier in the week. The 36-hole final match was back and forth between Sokolosky and Winslow. After the first 18 holes, Sokolosky was 1 up. Winslow fought to tie the match throughout the second 18, however, Sokolosky birdied the 16th hole to push the match to 1 up. After ties on 17 and 18, Sokolosky won 1 up.
“This win means the world to me because I thought I had a chance to win the last two, maybe more. It was a long time coming and I was feeling very good with my game. I’m extremely happy to get it done this week,” Sokolosky said.
Facts:
Zach Sokolosky’s 36-hole stroke play total of 130 tied the Kansas Amateur record by Jesse Schulte at the 2002 Kansas Amateur at Tallgrass.
Zach Sokolosky’s second-round stroke play score of 62 broke the Kansas Amateur record for lowest stroke play round that was previously held by Jesse Schulte’s 64 during the first round of the 2002 Kansas Amateur.
That 62 by Sokolosky also tied the Falcon Lakes course record that was shot by Clay Devers about 10 years ago.
This isn’t a record, but just an observation. Zach is the first stroke play medalist since Sam Stevens in 2015 to go on to win the tournament after being medalist.
The 113th Kansas Amateur Match Play Championship began Tuesday at Falcon Lakes Golf Club. The players finished their starting round early Wednesday morning after two rain delays on Tuesday. The field comprises 144 players, 32 players are 18 or younger, and 14 players are over 50.
Park Ulrich led the tournament after round one, carding 65 (-7). Ulrich had nine birdies in his first round. He carded five birdies in his second round to score 70 (-2).
Zach Sokolosky will be the number one seed in Thursday’s round of match play. He carded 68-62-130 (-14) after the two rounds. Sokolosky tied Falcon Lakes course record, scoring 62 (-10) in his second round. He had nine birdies, an eagle, and a bogey to finish his incredible round.
There was a play-off between eight players for two remaining spots in the match play. Brian Freeman made a birdie on the second hole to advance, and James Hill birdied the fourth hole to advance.
Players to watch this week are Alex Springer (-11), who is in sole second; Jacob Lackey and Park Ulrich (-9), tied for third; Nathaniel Spencer, Ian McCrary, and Will King (-8), tied for fifth place.
Kansas City Junior and Senior Match Play Championship, presented by Granite Garage Floors Kansas City, took place this week at Shoal Creek Golf Course. The tournament began on Wednesday morning with an 18-hole stroke-play qualifying round.
JUNIOR GIRLS DIVISION
In the Junior Girls Division, Emree Cameron fired an impressive 66 (-5) on Friday’s qualifying round, earning her the number one seed going into match play. She didn’t slow down, in the round of 16 matches she defeated Gabby Vineyard 6&5. In Thursday’s Quarterfinal match, she defeated Reagan Kauthn 6&5, and in the Semifinal match, she won 1 up over Liz Lyons. Cameron faced Hadley Neese in the Final match, winning 8&7. “I just wanted to go out and play some good golf,” Cameron said, “and I birdied the first hole; I was just kind of on fire from there.”
JUNIOR BOYS DIVISION
In the Junior Boys Division, Nick Nickloy was crowned Champion on Friday afternoon. Nickloy shot 72 (+1) in Wednesday’s qualifying round earning him the 13-seed going into the round of 16 matches. Nickloy defeated Noah Holtzman 5&4 in his first match. In the Quarterfinal match, he defeated Elliott Cowden 3&1, and in the Semifinal match, he defeated Peyton Smith 3&1. In Friday’s Finals, Nickloy won 1 up over Jacob Fratzel. “I started out playing some tough guys, but won those early matches which led me to the win,” Nickloy said.
SENIOR DIVISION
Ed Brown won the KC Senior Match Play after defeating RJ Oplinger 2&1 on Friday. Brown shot 72 (+1) during the qualifying round and won his first match against Michael Bickley 3&1. In the Quarterfinals Brown defeated Jon Platz 1 up, and in the Semifinals he defeated Johnathan Valuck 6&5. After making some changes to his driver, Brown said that his driver was “his biggest weapon” this week.
VanDolah Wins Kansas City Match Play Championship – Presented by Granite Garage Floors
Zach VanDolah won the Kansas City Match Play Championship on Sunday evening.
Going into the week, VanDolah was feeling confident because he knew the golf course well. Swope Memorial Golf Course has been home to the event since its resurrection in 2013. “I was able to work on the pieces of my game that I knew I would rely on at Swope which was mainly tee shots and wedges to tight pins.” VanDolah said.
VanDolah, the 2 seed, shot 69 in Friday’s Qualifying Round, and he didn’t slow down from there. He won his first match 3&2 against Jeff Mason. In the round of 16, he defeated Park Ulrich 5&3. In the Quarterfinals, he defeated 2021 KC Match Play Champion, Doug Albers, 4&2. In the Semi-finals, he played against Max Ernst and won 4&3.
During the Final Match, he was struggling to hit greens and had to make a lot of up and downs. “I missed it right on 13, the long par 3, and had a long pitch across the green to a left pin. I hit the pitch like I wanted to, but it hit the green and was running a bit hot. It ended up hitting the pin and going in.”
VanDolah had a few more shots go his way leading to his 4&2 victory over Drew Carlson in the Final match.
When asked how he feels about this win, VanDolah says “I’m fortunate to get to compete a lot, and to finally seal the deal was huge. I feel like I have been knocking at the door for a while and have lost some heartbreakers throughout my life. It’s a good feeling to get the win, especially against the competition I faced. All my matches were against great players. All of whom could have won this thing.”
Four golfers will continue to the Semi-final matches on Sunday Morning at the Kansas City Match Play Championship.
Drew Carlson vs. Andrew Campbell Zach VanDolah vs. Max Ernst
Carlson won both of his matches 4&3, the first against Liam Coughlin and his Quarterfinal match against Ben Pearson.
Campbell won his first match of the day against Jeff Spradlin 2 up and his Quarterfinal match against Nathan Hughes 4&3.
Carlson, the 25 seed, will play Campbell, the 29 seed, in the Semi-finals Sunday Morning at 7:30 am.
VanDolah will look to earn his KC Match Play crown on Sunday, after finishing Runner Up in the 2021 Championship. He defeated Park Ulrich 5&3 and the 2021 KC Match Play defending Champion, Doug Albers, 4&2 during the Quarterfinals.
Ernst defeated Conrad Roberts 2 up in his first match and defeated Will Harding 4&3 during the Quarterfinals.
VanDolah, the 2 seed, and Ernst, the 22 seed, will play in the Semi-finals Sunday Morning at 7:38 am.
Live scoring and tournament updates can be found here >>
Friday Update:
Baldwin Earns Medalist in Qualifying Round
In perfect Kansas City Match Play style, there was a weather delay to begin the Championship Friday morning at Swope Memorial Golf Course. One hundred men teed it up in the stroke-play qualifying round in hopes of making it into the Match Play Bracket, which was determined by the best 32 scores.
Leading the field was Brooks Baldwin of Warrensburg, shooting five-under-par. Baldwin started his round with an eagle on the par 5, 12th hole. He made another birdie on hole 15 before making the turn at three-under-par. On the front nine (his back nine) he birdied holes 1, 2, 3, 7, and 9…a total of six birdies appeared on his card for the day.
2021 KC Match Play Runner Up, Zach VanDolah fired an impressive round of 69 to secure his spot in the Match Play bracket safely.
The cut line into match play was four-over-par. Kit Grove won the 6 for 1 playoff, earning him the 32nd seed.
16 Will Continue Playing In Saturday’s Championship
With the weather cleared, the 32 qualifiers began their matches around 3:00 PM Friday, beginning an upset-filled afternoon.
Notable Matches Include:
2021 KC Match Play Champion, Doug Albers, defeated Ryan Thompson 3&2
#32 seed, Kit Grove, defeated #1 seed, Brooks Baldwin, 1up
#30 seed, Jon Platz, defeated #3 seed, Andrew Hatten, 4&3
#29 seed, Andrew Campbell, defeated #4 seed, Jay Gregory, 5&4
#28 seed, Nathan Hughes, defeated #5 seed, Brian Fehr, 2&1
The Match against Caleb Carter & Max Ernst went into extra holes, with Ernst winning on the 21st hole of the match
16 golfers will tee off Saturday morning beginning at 8:00 AM.
Pairings, live scoring, and results can be found here >>
[Ed. note: In 2014 the Kansas City Golf Hall of fame inducted four Black golfers who integrated the previously segregated links at Swope Park. The following remarks were delivered by Hall of fame Committee member, Don Kuehn]
A few years ago, while I was doing research for a series of articles for the centennial of the Kansas City Golf Association (which became known as “Jimmy, the caddie”), I came across an article that haunted me for several months.
In July 2005, on the eve of the USGA’s Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship at Swope Memorial Golf Course, J. Brady McCollough wrote a story for the Kansas City Star that I just couldn’t shake.
Had McCollough not explored his topic with the depth he did back then and interviewed the people he did (many of whom have since died), a chapter of our history, and an important piece of civil rights history in Kansas City may have been lost forever.
I’ll mention McCollough again a bit later, but, now, I want to tell you a story. I call it “The Steepest hill in local golf.” Today we think of this tale as unbelievable; troubling in so many ways. But, in the 1940s and ’50s, it was the way it was.
From the time golf came to Kansas City in about 1894, until early 1950 there were fifty-five golf courses opened in the area (this is according to my friend, “Jimmy, the Caddie”). Nineteen of these were supposedly “open to the public.”
There was a movement around the country back then, to build municipal and public golf courses as a way to “democratize” the game, allowing poor and middle-class people an opportunity to enjoy the values of health, recreation, and camaraderie that we associate with playing golf… that is, so long as you were white.
But these same values were largely denied to men and women of color.
On an otherwise quiet Friday afternoon in March of 1950 that began to change. That was the day four very brave and very dedicated black men showed up at the pro shop counter at Swope #1 and demanded the right to play the course they had been barred from since it opened.
Golf had been played somewhere in Swope Park since the first free links opened near the front gate in 1906. James Dalgleish designed the original public course in the park in 1911. And, of course, we know that A. W. Tillinghast crafted what we now call Swope Memorial in 1934.
In all that time, no black man or woman had ever played on these so-called “public” golf courses. With one exception: because of a lawsuit brought against the city, the Central States Golf Association did, indeed, hold a tournament at #1 in 1948. The Central States was a “tour” of amateur and professional minority golfers who played throughout the Midwest on whatever courses they could find. But that aside…
There was that other course that African-Americans were “allowed” to play. It was the hardscrabble, unkempt nine-holes down the hill. Folks called it Swope #2.
In order to fully understand how deep the roots of the game had grown, I have to tell you that black golfers had been playing the game in Kansas City since the early 1920s.
Here’s the “back-story” as they say:
In 1879 a freed slave by the name of Junius Groves (photo) walked from Kentucky to Kansas City. When he got here he had virtually no money, but he found work as a sharecropper, eventually, he did save some money, bought a little land, and started growing potatoes.
By the early 1900s, he was so successful he became known as “The Potato King of the World”. He was so good at what he did, a small town grew up around his operation between Edwardsville and Bonner Springs. It was called Groves Center.
So, I guess you’re asking yourself: “Don, what do potatoes have to do with golf?”
Well, I’ll tell you. Groves built a small golf course on some of his property just for the use of his black employees. I doubt there was any other exclusively-black golf course anywhere else in the country at the time… that is, not on purpose, anyway.
So, from the dirt and dust of the potato farm, came a group of players who eventually morphed into the Heart of America Golf Club. The HOA became THE organization for minority golfers in this area.
In 1938, they sued the city and its Parks Board for the right of its members to play on the course that they were, in fact, paying for through their taxes.
Times were changing.
A few years later the US entered World War II. Thousands of black men enlisted in the armed services. Thousands of black women worked in war industries.
In 1948 President Harry Truman issued Executive Order #9981 which abolished racial discrimination in the armed forces. Although effectuating the president’s order would take years, it proved to be the first bullet fired at “Jim Crow” in the military.
So, veterans came home and tried to rebuild their lives. But on the streets of Kansas City, like the rest of the country, it wasn’t so easy.
Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey had broken the color barrier in the major leagues; Dr. Martin Luther King’s first application of non-violence was still years away; Brown v. Board of Education was not on the radar yet; Ms. Rosa Parks wouldn’t take her stand on the Montgomery bus for another five years. But golf was becoming one of the first battlegrounds in the fight for civil rights.
African-Americans fought for freedom in Europe and Asia but found little of it when they came home. The right to vote, to have access to good schools, to eat in restaurants, and to shop in stores of their choosing were denied them.
In golf, Swope #1 was like a virtual country club for middle-class whites. The A.W. Tillinghast design was about as closed to the non-white public as Kansas City Country Club or Milburn were.
Black golfers had access to the nine holes at Swope #2, but… only on Mondays and Tuesdays!
Well, on March 24, 1950, the President of the HoAGC, Mr. George Johnson – who started playing on that potato farm back in the ’20s – and three of his buddies:
Leroy Doty
Mr. Reuben Benton, a newspaperman who later became co-owner of The Call newspaper;
Mr. Sylvester “Pat” Johnson; and Mr. Leroy Doty (left)— who were also part of the Heart of America Golf Club — climbed the steepest hill in local golf: they drove up to Swope #1 and forced the issue.
According to that article written by J. Brady McCollough for the Kansas City Star (July 17, 2005)[1]:
“They drove that winding road up the hill, walked into the clubhouse, and laid their greens fees on the counter. The man behind the counter looked up, astonished. They knew what he would say.
‘You can’t play here, but you can play at course #2.’
He expected them to walk away and get back into their cars like the black men who preceded them. But not on this day. Not with the seeds of change that had been planted across the country.
The Call reported the conversation that ensued something like this: (I suspect the vernacular of the times was “sanitized” prior to publication):
Now, boys, you know you can’t play here; you’re colored fellows.
Who said we can’t?
They said it downtown.
Who said it, and why?
Can’t say who said it, but they said it, and that’s all I know.
Well, if you can’t say who said we can’t play, and if you don’t know why, then we’ll just go ahead and play and let them tell us.
They went to the first tee and hit their drives under the glare of the superintendent. Beaten, he walked back to the clubhouse.
Meanwhile, anticipating the sounds of sirens and police that never came, the four men enjoyed what would be the first of many rounds on the hallowed grounds of Swope #1.
But the white men who frequented the course weren’t about to give up their turf that easily. Incidents of broken windows and slashed tires were numerous. Some would show up in groups of five and roll dice to see who would stay behind for the first nine holes, then the high score of the other four would stand guard while the others played the back.
Others would meet at a shopping area near 47th street and take a taxi to the course.
Eventually, the city stopped maintaining the Tillinghast course as fewer and fewer white players showed up. The period of decline lasted almost 25 years. Not until Mr. Ollie Gates (an old friend of Reuben Benton’s) and head of the Parks Board, pushed for the city to back the renovation of Swope to its pre-1950s splendor did it become everybody’s golf course again.
Fifty-five years later, in 2005, the USGA conducted the Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship at Swope Memorial (as it is now known). Players from all over the globe competed.
Just as the Foursome might have imagined… the doors of the course were open to all.
They called themselves “The Foursome”. And they beat Jim Crow 1-up in a classic battle that went on for years.
For their courage to defy the “Jim Crow” conventions of the times; for the example, they set for the generations who followed them to the well-maintained fairways of municipal courses all across America; for the love, they demonstrated for the game of golf against great obstacles… the Board of Directors of the Kansas City Golf Association is proud to include The Foursome: Mr. George Johnson, Mr. Reuben Benton, Mr. Sylvester Johnson, and Mr. Leroy Doty, in the 2014 class of the Kansas City Golf Hall of Fame.
