African American Golf Expo and Forum in Palm Beach County lends support to diversity in sport

Posted by author August 20, 2024 Sports

Sherri Pla was forging a Hall of Fame career at Florida Atlantic University on the basketball court, softball field and as a member of the cross country team when she developed a curiosity for golf.

One day, while on a softball trip her senior year, Pla asked her coach, the late Joan Joyce, if she could teach her how to play golf. Joyce also was a golf coach.

About eight years later, Pla, a multi-sport star at Suncoast High School, left her job as a high school math teacher and coach to pursue her dream in one sport she never played while growing up in Riviera Beach.

Pla took a job with the PGA of America and dedicated her life to playing professional golf. She qualified for the Symetra Tour (now the Epson Tour) in 2009 and made it through the second stage of Q-School earning her status on the LPGA Tour.

A remarkable journey from never swinging a club until she was 22 to realizing her aspirations by playing on the Symetra Tour and making two starts on the LPGA Tour.

“It was chasing my passion,” she said.

But now, as she continues to make her mark on the game as the girls and boys golf coach at Berean Christian School, a PGA Professional and an instructor at her own academy, Pla wonders how different it could have been if opportunities in golf for African Americans were not limited.

“I never stepped foot on a golf course, never held a golf club,” said Pla, who was inducted into the FAU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009 as a multi-sport athlete. “I had no idea about the sport or how you play, just no access or exposure. Had I learned earlier who knows, maybe I would have fell in love with golf more than basketball.”

Pla’s story resonated with Jim Beatty, whose company, Jim Beatty Golf Ventures, is organizing this week’s African American Golf Expo and Forum in Palm Beach County. The event, held for the fourth year and first in Florida, allows African Americans in golf, and those who support diversity, equity and inclusion in the game, to attend a youth and adult clinic and diversity scramble, networking sessions, listen to speakers and view more than 50 exhibits at the Palm Beach Gardens Marriott.

The event stresses opportunities for minorities in golf stretch far beyond just playing the sport.

“What we are trying to do is show African American folks there’s more to golf than just trying to be being a pro,” said Beatty, the executive editor of African American Golfer’s Digest.

“Everybody can’t be Tiger Woods.”

The event is co-chaired by Malachi Knowles, who founded the Riviera Beach-based Inner City Youth Golfers and African American Sports Hall of Fame; and George Linley, CEO of Palm Beach County Sports Commission.

Opportunities in $102 billion industry

Golf is a $102 billion industry. And according to the National Golf Foundation, about 3% of the 24 million golfers in the United States are people of color.

“There are jobs in golf, there are careers in golf,” Beatty added. “There are business opportunities in golf. The expo is meant to expose people to the opportunities in the golf industry.”

Pla, who hosts the youth and adult clinic Saturday at John Prince Learning Center in Lake Worth Beach, a part of the expo, said she was drawn to the sport in 1990s when she saw her athletic heroes, Michael Jordan and Penny Hardaway, talking about golf.

“Awareness has grown where more people are getting exposed to it at a younger age,” said Pla, who lives in West Palm Beach. “When I was in high school, I played just about every sport and lived in Palm Beach County, the golf mecca of the world. A person as athletic as I was, I never experienced golf until college.

“Now there are a lot of people making a conscious effort to really expose African Americans to golf and to create a place and niche where African Americans are accepted into the golf world, not only to play but definitely on the business side. Golf is a big business in our country.”

Few know that better than Stanley Campbell, one of the few African Americans in the country who own a golf course. In fact, Campbell, 69, owns three, including Martin Downs Golf Course in Palm City. Campbell and his wife, Cheryl, purchased the property at auction more than three years ago.

The expo includes a diversity scramble Saturday at Martin Downs.

“Golf is a multi-billion dollar industry and it’s very clear people of color have not been participating,” Campbell said, referring to those on the playing and business side of the sport.

Fewer than 15 golf courses in the United States are owned by African Americans. According to the African American Golfer’s Digest, 11 golf courses were owned by African Americans as of August 1, 2022, the most famous being Michael Jordan, who owns Grove XXIII in Hobe Sound.

Since then, Campbell, who lives in a home that overlooks Martin Downs, purchased the Gainesville Country Club and Northgreen Country Club in Rocky Mount, N.C.

With those courses come opportunities in golf services such as agronomy and products that keep golf courses green, equipment, merchandise, food and entertainment.

“We’ve got a long ways to go,” said Campbell, whose brother is rapper Luther Campbell. “I’m very hopeful we are making a way for all parts of the game. We’re trying to open the door for Black distributers … for elements that go along with the sales side of golf.

“Then we got to make our courses available so people of color can actually learn the game, feel comfortable with the game and be able to play it on a national or international basis.”

Make golf look like America

The golf industry for years has had task forces and committees to address the issue of diversity in its sport.

The industry has adopted the slogan: Make golf look like America.

Progress has been made promoting careers for minorities and people of color and promoting golf at HBCUs. But Beatty believes “there still is a long way to go.” And Campbell agrees, saying he is “not comfortable with the pace.”

But all agree expos like the one coming to our area this week will help advance that cause.

“Golf is a big business in our country and the African American Expo is really helping expose people at a younger age, and just having those opportunities to play golf and be in the golf business,” Pla said.

“To be in golf right now is amazing. We are seeing a boom in golf like never before.”

African American Golf Expo agenda

Expo Community Service Project: Friday 2-5 p.m. The inaugural expo community project at Riviera Beach Heights Community Garden.

Youth and Adult Golf Clinic: Saturday 9 a.m. at John Prince Park in Lake Worth Beach.

Expo and Forum: Saturday and Sunday 2-5 p.m.; Monday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Tuesday 9 a.m.-noon at Palm Beach Gardens Marriott. Featuring seminars, conference sessions and a trade show where industry executives, buyers and suppliers can connect and showcase their products and services.

Jim Beatty Invitational Diversity Scramble: Sunday 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at Martin Downs Country Club in Palm City.

Networking Session: Saturday-Monday 6-8 p.m. A networking session and cocktail hour each day at the Palm Beach Gardens Marriott.