Charlie Takes His Shot: How Charlie Sifford Broke the Color Barrier in Golf

2018 Eureka! Nonfiction Children’s Book Honor Award, presented by the California Reading Association

When the rules kept Charlie Sifford from playing in the Professional Golf Association, he set out to change them.

Charlie Sifford loved golf, but in the 1930’s only white people were allowed to play in the Professional Golf Association. Sifford had won plenty of Black tournaments, but he was determined to break the color barrier in the PGA. In 1960 he did, only to face discrimination from hotels that wouldn’t rent him rooms and clubs that wouldn’t let him use the same locker as the white players. But Sifford kept playing, becoming the first Black golfer to win a PGA tournament and eventually ranking among the greats in golf.