Charlie Sifford, born on June 2, 1922, in Charlotte, North Carolina, broke golf's stringent color barrier when, in 1961, under pressure from the California Attorney General, the PGA permitted him full membership on the tour, making him the first black athlete to compete on the PGA tour. Considered the Jackie Robinson of golf, he lived in Los Angeles at Chester Washington GC, then called Western Avenue, a refuge for professional African American golfers while the PGA of America's Caucasian-only clause remained in force. He competed in 422 PGA tournaments and earned 22 professional victories, including six UGA National Negro Opens, three Gardena Valley Opens contested at Chester Washington GC, the 1957 Long Beach Open, the 1967 Greater Hartford Open, the first fully sanctioned PGA event ever won by an African-American, the 1969 Los Angeles Open, and the 1975 PGA Seniors Championship. In 2004, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame as the 104th athlete and the first African American to receive that honor, and on June 22, 2006, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of St. Andrews. In 2009, the Charlie Sifford Exemption was created to invite to the Northern Trust Open a player who represents the advancement of golf's diversity, and in 2014 President Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award. Charles Sifford died on February 3, 2015, at age 92, and on August 16, 2015, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas officially renamed a section of 120th Street along the north side of Chester Washington GC as Charlie Sifford Drive.
