:00:13. > :00:20.I got a threat letters in my life. I couple of times they tried to run me
:00:21. > :00:24.off the highway as I was driving. I really did feel like my life was in
:00:25. > :00:31.danger. Growing up, golf was not for us. You look like you don't play
:00:32. > :00:33.golf. What is the local golf? As far as they were concerned, we are
:00:34. > :00:50.trash, so that's all we deserve. Golf, for many it is a hobby, The
:00:51. > :00:56.Sun career, but not so long ago if you were black or a woman it wasn't
:00:57. > :01:01.even an option. In the USA until 1961 professional golfers
:01:02. > :01:08.Association had a Caucasian only clause. Until then black players had
:01:09. > :01:10.to play in their own events. For women, their first players
:01:11. > :01:16.association was set up in 1950, yet it was only in 2014 and one of the
:01:17. > :01:22.oldest clubs in the world, the Royal and Ancient, voted to admit female
:01:23. > :01:29.members. So how far has the sport come in embracing race and gender
:01:30. > :01:32.diversity? William J Powell, or Bill as he was known, was born the
:01:33. > :01:37.grandson of slaves in Alabama in 1916. He moved to Ohio in a teenager
:01:38. > :01:43.and play golf at his school and college. In 1946 he returned from
:01:44. > :01:49.serving in the US Air Force during the Second World War. But he was
:01:50. > :01:56.banned from the all-white public courses in the area. With the world
:01:57. > :02:01.of golf all the closed to William Powell, he had his own vision, a
:02:02. > :02:06.course open to all. In the 1940s this was an old dairy farm. He spent
:02:07. > :02:10.two years working at night as a security guard, and by day he hand
:02:11. > :02:16.seeded this course. In 1948 is opened. William Powell was a
:02:17. > :02:23.pioneer, and he was watched on by his daughter Renae. My first members
:02:24. > :02:28.of the' -- memories of heading golf clubs were with my dad, I was around
:02:29. > :02:34.four years old and was hitting golf balls and trying to hit them down to
:02:35. > :02:39.where the creek was, the water. This is a picture of my mum and dad. This
:02:40. > :02:45.was number three green, that comes down here. We're standing on the
:02:46. > :02:52.first tee, and behind us is number three green. Your mum play golf? By
:02:53. > :02:58.Monday, my dad got us all involved in the game. My mum used to tease,
:02:59. > :03:03.she would say that when I was a little girl I used to run out and
:03:04. > :03:09.play and she would say, Colback in! And then I just continue to play the
:03:10. > :03:15.game. The LPGA had not started and mighty and 50 four stop I joined the
:03:16. > :03:20.Tour in 1967. At that time there were a lot of tensions in our
:03:21. > :03:26.country. Sometimes we were going to restaurants and it would serve
:03:27. > :03:31.everybody but me. And my remit on Tour, a Canadian pro, a few years
:03:32. > :03:35.ago she said, I used to wonder why would go to restaurants and they
:03:36. > :03:40.would serve their body else but us. I said, Sandra I didn't want to tell
:03:41. > :03:46.you it was because you were a Canadian, I didn't want you to feel
:03:47. > :03:50.bad! But things like that. I remember going home crying telling
:03:51. > :03:54.my parents the first time I got a threat letter I thought they would
:03:55. > :03:57.tell me to come home and they didn't! I thought, evidently they
:03:58. > :04:02.don't think somebody is quick to jump out from behind a tree and
:04:03. > :04:16.shoot me. Is that letters were saying? They were just say, dear N,
:04:17. > :04:19.he better not play if you know what is good for you. I went out a
:04:20. > :04:25.director and shot in the letters and he said, there is nothing we can do
:04:26. > :04:33.about it. Cos I really thought something would happen. But it
:04:34. > :04:36.didn't. One of the great players, and Hall of Famer 's, I had walked
:04:37. > :04:42.into the Wattel and the lost my reservation, and Cathy said, we all
:04:43. > :04:48.stay, we all walk. Those individuals knew me before I joined the Tour,
:04:49. > :05:00.and everybody... I had no problems with players on the Tour, it was the
:05:01. > :05:04.outside. She was there in the heart of racism and discrimination. And
:05:05. > :05:10.you see that kind of thing had just become institutionalised in this
:05:11. > :05:22.country, because even the country set of laws against us. I had some
:05:23. > :05:27.inkling of probably the challenges that she would have had, but you
:05:28. > :05:31.never got a hint of that from her. She never talked about it until you
:05:32. > :05:35.fully set down and had a real heart-to-heart discussion. It was
:05:36. > :05:43.not something she would ever show, that that was part of her history or
:05:44. > :05:49.even her father's history. I admired her spirit, but she was able to stay
:05:50. > :05:58.out there, because I'm aware of the cruelty that Shakespearean. -- that
:05:59. > :06:04.she experienced. I thought about summoning people that came before me
:06:05. > :06:09.and I always felt strongly that we stand on the shoulders of those who
:06:10. > :06:20.came before us. There were people who did so much to allow others, to
:06:21. > :06:23.give others freedom. Helen Webb Harris was one of those who paved
:06:24. > :06:28.the way. A schoolteacher and wife of a doctor, she was tired of staying
:06:29. > :06:33.at home while her husband played golf, so Helen, along with 12
:06:34. > :06:40.friends, founded their ladies club in 1937. The first African-American
:06:41. > :06:43.women's golf club in the USA. The only place they could play was a
:06:44. > :06:50.three hole golf course down at the mosh and in Monument. -- the
:06:51. > :06:53.Washington monument. And they were taunted by white teenagers. They
:06:54. > :07:03.threw rocks at them. And they were called names and all kinds of
:07:04. > :07:07.things. But they persisted. The battle began here in Washington, DC.
:07:08. > :07:15.80 years ago this was a rubbish dump, full of broken glass, rusty
:07:16. > :07:19.tins and old tyres. The ladies were campaigning for the desegregation of
:07:20. > :07:25.public golf courses, but in 1938 they were given this. They were
:07:26. > :07:29.collecting trash on this course, and even when they built the course they
:07:30. > :07:38.had to play over the last bottles and cans. It's not so bad to me that
:07:39. > :07:43.it was put on a crash dump, we should have tried to take away the
:07:44. > :07:50.trash. But you see, as far as they were concerned, we were trash, so
:07:51. > :07:52.that's all we deserved. It was a dump, but they embraced that dump
:07:53. > :07:59.and they were going to make it their own, and they came out here with
:08:00. > :08:09.much pride and conviction to make this work for them. The Wake-Robin
:08:10. > :08:12.ladies continue to push for the opening of courses in Washington,
:08:13. > :08:17.DC, and in 1941 the district confirmed they would do so. Their
:08:18. > :08:21.battle for equality and then just there. They were also part of the
:08:22. > :08:28.movement to force the PGA to drop its whites only rule, which it did
:08:29. > :08:32.in 1961. Knowing where it started, all the historical individuals had
:08:33. > :08:40.come through this course, and I think I probably went by Langston
:08:41. > :08:46.many times before becoming a member of Wake-Robin, and not fully knowing
:08:47. > :08:55.all the history of Langston. My name is Elizabeth Rice McNeill. I have
:08:56. > :09:02.been in clubs 60 years. I came to Washington, DC from Pennsylvania. I
:09:03. > :09:09.lived with my auntie, she took me to church, and the church I went to was
:09:10. > :09:17.Sarah Smith's church, and she was a golfer. I went to her house to a
:09:18. > :09:24.meeting, and she had a big piano with these huge trophies on it. And
:09:25. > :09:32.I was fascinated by that. So we got a bunch of young girls together and
:09:33. > :09:35.reformed a little club. We had about 18 young girls who started out
:09:36. > :09:44.playing golf. I had never heard of golf before. I got hooked on it.
:09:45. > :09:55.Elizabeth Rice McNeill isn't unique individual or brown. -- she is a
:09:56. > :10:02.unique individual. Is it right you have six holes in one. I have six
:10:03. > :10:09.holes and one in my golfing career. That's phenomenal! It is, it is. We
:10:10. > :10:15.don't have any weak women in this club. We have had good, principled
:10:16. > :10:22.women, good leaders, who have kept this club going all these years.
:10:23. > :10:25.Eight decades after that first meeting, inclusion and support are
:10:26. > :10:31.still at the heart of their mission. The Helen Webb scholarship honours
:10:32. > :10:36.the memory of their founder by supporting young woman dreaming of
:10:37. > :10:39.turning professional. As a young female trying to play, it is
:10:40. > :10:43.difficult because there aren't that many, especially African-Americans.
:10:44. > :10:50.It tears me apart that there really aren't any, and just not what
:10:51. > :10:55.happened between the time of Renee and on. They kept pursuing even when
:10:56. > :11:01.it was tough, and that's what I'm trying to do, as hard as I can.
:11:02. > :11:05.These ladies just helped me so much. In 1962 tennis great day Gibson
:11:06. > :11:13.became the first African-American woman to complete any LPGA Tour.
:11:14. > :11:25.Powell followed in 1967. It took another 28 years for the next black
:11:26. > :11:29.player to arrive in 1995. Since then others, most recently Mariah
:11:30. > :11:37.Stackhouse, have all made it. Eight African-American women in six to
:11:38. > :11:40.seven years. -- 67 years. There are situations where you feel genuinely
:11:41. > :11:43.uncomfortable and you feel you need to get out of that situation. People
:11:44. > :11:48.staring at you, wondering whether you work there come a not golfing in
:11:49. > :11:57.the adjournment, or asking where you are from. I get the occasional, "Are
:11:58. > :12:00.you Tiger Woods' Nice?" It's not that they don't mean to be
:12:01. > :12:07.discriminating or rude or anything, but sometimes people will think just
:12:08. > :12:11.because you are African-American... But thankfully I am in a generation
:12:12. > :12:18.where it is not too horrible as to what Renee had to go through all
:12:19. > :12:24.those years ago. It makes me stride. I believe it has a long way to go,
:12:25. > :12:34.because still I go into a store and I have a golf outfit on, and you
:12:35. > :12:39.meet people that say," I didn't know that minorities play golf. You look
:12:40. > :12:43.like you don't play golf." Well, what is the look of golf? You're
:12:44. > :12:48.right, it is a male, Caucasian dominated sport. And I think that
:12:49. > :12:52.right now it is getting better, which is inclusion. That's the big
:12:53. > :12:57.thing. Inclusion and having access to the game. And not just getting
:12:58. > :13:01.started, but continuing to have the opportunity to go ahead and think,
:13:02. > :13:05.you know what? I want to do this professionally. It works out, great,
:13:06. > :13:17.if not, I will work on the golf industry. It is getting better, to
:13:18. > :13:20.slow progress, but it is progress. Playing out here with a course that
:13:21. > :13:28.is so much history, and playing with Renee, it is so inspiring to me.
:13:29. > :13:33.Every time I see her and the others, Sadena Parks, Mariah Stackhouse and
:13:34. > :13:36.the others, it is great to be around them because first off there are
:13:37. > :13:43.great people, they have great characters, and we all have
:13:44. > :13:49.something in common. Being the next one to make it onto. In 2015 Renee
:13:50. > :13:53.Powell was again making history. After the break through to allow
:13:54. > :13:58.female members into the Royal and Ancient, she was one of the first
:13:59. > :14:04.women to be invited. To me it is the highest honour one can ever get, the
:14:05. > :14:07.Old Course! The Royal and Ancient, with golf began, right there! To be
:14:08. > :14:13.one of the first seven women that was selected from around the entire
:14:14. > :14:21.world was absolutely amazing. And to me also it was a win in a sense for
:14:22. > :14:26.women. It was a win for African-Americans and my family. So
:14:27. > :14:29.when I actually walked through the door as a bonus ID member, it was
:14:30. > :14:34.like all these other women were walking with me and my whole family
:14:35. > :14:48.was going with me. It's just amazing. I'm so appreciative of that
:14:49. > :14:52.membership. But it is all due to all the sacrifices that my family had to
:14:53. > :15:02.make to be a part of something that is real history, and the fact that
:15:03. > :15:11.it was your family or your parents let me that history, yeah. And I'm
:15:12. > :15:21.the one that really gets a chance to benefit from it. On the face of it,
:15:22. > :15:23.golf has come a long way to ridding itself of the explicit barriers
:15:24. > :15:30.towards minorities and women. But how many implicit barriers remain?
:15:31. > :15:34.Let's say you managed to play the sport as a youngster and perhaps go
:15:35. > :15:36.to college scholarship was Mike you're good enough, so you look to
:15:37. > :15:41.make it a career in turn professional. How difficult is that?
:15:42. > :15:49.For high near Alvarez, it proved very tough. For me personally it was
:15:50. > :15:52.a struggle just to find sponsors. That was one main reason that I
:15:53. > :15:58.decided to stop playing was because I was just exhausted of having to
:15:59. > :16:02.ask people for money. I had played decent, I had finished third at a
:16:03. > :16:07.European Tour event of the year, I had made the cut at the US Open, so
:16:08. > :16:11.I felt like I had proved myself as a player in many regards where I was
:16:12. > :16:16.hoping that someone would take a chance on me, and I was barely just
:16:17. > :16:20.covering my expensive. It is several thousand dollars a year just for
:16:21. > :16:26.entry fees. And then you are looking at paying your caddy, up to $2000 a
:16:27. > :16:36.week, and then flights, rental cars, hotels if you cannot find post
:16:37. > :16:43.housing. It can range from 50,000 a year from just the expenses itself
:16:44. > :16:47.-- up to $75,000 a year. And that puts much pressure on it took away
:16:48. > :16:50.the joy of playing because I was constantly worrying how to pay for
:16:51. > :16:59.the next element. If I don't pay well, how will I pay rent? How will
:17:00. > :17:02.I live outside my golf expenses? And I just decided from a mental health
:17:03. > :17:15.and well-being it was better to step away from it rather than put myself
:17:16. > :17:19.into debt as I know others had done. In 2016 15 female golfers earned
:17:20. > :17:26.over $1 million in prize money on the LPGA Tour. 110 male golfers
:17:27. > :17:30.crossed that mark on the PGA Tour. The biggest chance of earnings comes
:17:31. > :17:35.in the Majors. Combined, the offer $17.8 million in prize money, with
:17:36. > :17:39.the US women's open offering the largest amount. This year it has
:17:40. > :17:45.increased to $5 million in total that is one of the most important
:17:46. > :17:50.events of the year. 80 years after Helen Webb Harris founded the first
:17:51. > :17:53.black women's golf club in the USA, the oldest major for women's, the US
:17:54. > :17:58.Open, is being criticised for being healthier. We are at Trump National
:17:59. > :18:05.in New Jersey, owned by Donald Trump. There have been calls to have
:18:06. > :18:12.the major mover boycotted because of his rubber tree comments towards
:18:13. > :18:17.women and minorities. -- his derogative comments. I know some
:18:18. > :18:25.people didn't want it there, and it was a really tough decision. There
:18:26. > :18:27.was a lot of backlash against it, and distillers. Understandably so
:18:28. > :18:31.because a lot of people are justifiably upset it is being held
:18:32. > :18:37.there. The fact they say they can have this event at a Trump course
:18:38. > :18:42.because they are apolitical and because Trump is not technically
:18:43. > :18:47.violating the rules that they have established about eligibility for
:18:48. > :18:51.holding tournaments and that is that the course does not have
:18:52. > :18:56.discriminatory policies or practices against minorities and women, and I
:18:57. > :19:06.maintain that what Trump has done and said violates the spirit of the
:19:07. > :19:28.rule. In response, the US golf Association told us that column :
:19:29. > :19:37.The Association also wanted to pay tribute to Renee Powell, a pioneer
:19:38. > :19:42.of inclusion in the sport. When you look at women's sport in general,
:19:43. > :19:45.controversy seems to be the driving factor of one coverage is given, and
:19:46. > :19:52.this is something that is going to take away from just focusing on that
:19:53. > :19:55.playing of that week because it will be a huge part of the discussion
:19:56. > :19:59.that this is Donald Trump's course and what that means, that it was
:20:00. > :20:05.held at his golf course. It is becoming a very political issue that
:20:06. > :20:10.I know a lot of players wish it had not become. If you're struggling to
:20:11. > :20:16.keep your Tour card at that point and you're in the open, and you are
:20:17. > :20:20.dead last in the list, you have to do what you have to do. You've got
:20:21. > :20:27.to eat! That's the simplest way to say it. You have to look out for
:20:28. > :20:34.yourself, and at that moment make sure that you are still going to be
:20:35. > :20:38.will to live your dream. The battles for some continue, but now there is
:20:39. > :20:45.a generation enabled and inspired by Helen Webb Harris and the Wake-Robin
:20:46. > :20:52.ladies, by Bill and Renee Powell, their vision and determination to
:20:53. > :20:57.open up the world of golf. I didn't have somebody to be inspired by that
:20:58. > :21:01.looked just like me. All I watched was Tiger Woods. I feel that is
:21:02. > :21:05.great for young kids know that they have some girls to look up to that
:21:06. > :21:10.are still young and later down the load, maybe 30 years from now, they
:21:11. > :21:15.will be following in her footsteps. Our own governing bodies don't tell
:21:16. > :21:21.stories, and in fact, they suppress a lot of history. Stories of people
:21:22. > :21:28.are coming, stepping up, doing what's right. Making sure these kind
:21:29. > :21:43.of important stories about golf and about the evolution of golf need to
:21:44. > :21:46.be told. Until we get the numbers up within the organisations of current
:21:47. > :21:56.golf, I don't think it's going to change romantically. Because I think
:21:57. > :22:00.a lot of things start from the top. Look at the Board of Directors of
:22:01. > :22:05.all the golf organisations, and they are mostly old white men. We need to
:22:06. > :22:11.be in those positions to actually advocate for change. But they are
:22:12. > :22:15.not asking us to be on the board, asking their bodies to be on the
:22:16. > :22:22.board with them. And as a result, not much changes. I truly feel that
:22:23. > :22:28.everybody should play golf. It is such an incredible sport and I have
:22:29. > :22:35.gained from it. We want the world to know what we are capable of. And not
:22:36. > :23:00.be denied their God-given rights that we all have.
:23:01. > :23:01.Cloudy and damn picture across many parts on