Trailblazing professional golfer Renee Powell is among this year’s inductees into the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame, along with former Browns return specialist Joshua Cribbs, IMG Executive Bob Kain and Collinwood High School girls track coach Lou Slapnik.
Ideastream Public Media’s sports commentator Terry Pluto said he knew of Powell only by name and, after doing some research, was “blown away” by her journey. He reached out to her for a recent Cleveland.com column.
Renee Powell started learning to play golf from her father, Bill Powell. Pluto said Bill loved to play golf, but was denied entry at many courses because he was Black. So, his dream when he returned from World War II was to open his own course.
“He bought an old dairy farm, which is now Clearview Golf course in East Canton,” Pluto said.
Clearview is the first golf course in the United States to be built, owned and operated by an African American.
By the time Renee Powell was 14, she was already winning tournaments.
“This is at a point where you either went for it or you didn't. And she did. And Renee continued to play well and eventually became the second African American to play on the LPGA tour. She won a couple of tournaments and played, I think, for 13 years as a pro,” Pluto said.
In 2008, Powell received an honorary degree from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where the school also has a residence hall in her name.
In 2015, Powell was among the first class of women to gain membership into the exclusive Royal and Ancient Golf Club in England.
“She says, you know, ‘I think back to like when I was just a little Black girl and here I am at St Andrews playing at the greatest course in the world,’” Pluto said.
Pluto said Powell also faced racism and death threats.
“The remarkable thing is this is a woman of fiber and strength. I mean, these things hurt," Pluto said.
Powell told Pluto a story about a group of girls in elementary school telling her their parents said they could no longer be friends because she’s Black.
“She said that was the first time it really struck her that it didn't matter, in the eyes of some folks, who you were. It was how you looked,” Pluto said.
Today, 77-year-old Renee Powell is the head golf pro at Clearview Golf Course and her brother, Larry, runs the facility.
Pluto said she’s also been doing outreach work with female military veterans through her group, Clearview Hope. Some of the women were Vietnam veterans, and many were veterans of the Gulf War and the Iraq War.
"She would talk (to them) and say, ‘Come out to the course and play.’ And she developed this golfing league free of charge for these women who are in the military. And it's gone on for quite a while,” Pluto said.
Powell broke barriers and also reached across racial lines.
“But going through all the struggle, she really has stayed away from bitterness, as she told me, because, you know, when you're bitter, you just can't accomplish anything. You're just stuck in that kind of circle of anger and depression and victimhood," Pluto said. "And she didn't want to be that person. At the same time, you know, she didn’t want to put up with being slighted. But she's walked that line so well and just become a role model for not just African American women who work, for women, period, who go through various struggles."
