Charlie Sifford, who broke golf's color barrier, dies at 92

Sad to hear about the loss of golfer, Charlie Sifford. I will always remember meeting him - a really cool guy.

(CNN)Charlie Sifford, the first African-American to play on the PGA Tour, died Tuesday at age 92, the Professional Golfers' Association of America said.

"His love of golf, despite many barriers in his path, strengthened him as he became a beacon for diversity in our game," PGA of America President Derek Sprague said in a statement. "By his courage, Dr. Sifford inspired others to follow their dreams. ... Golf was fortunate to have had this exceptional American in our midst."

Sifford was called the Jackie Robinson of golf for breaking the color barrier in 1961 when he was 38 years old.

"I wanted to prove that a black man could play golf," he told CNN affiliate WEWS after he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November.

His son told the station that his father was advised by Robinson to use his smooth swing to fight the integration battle.

"Which I think is the way he went through his struggles -- smooth, quiet," Craig Sifford told the station.

Unlike Robinson, who took the field with eight teammates, Charlie Sifford played an individual's game.

"It didn't bother me. It wasn't going to stop me," Sifford said.

Tiger Woods referred to Sifford as a grandfather.

"Terrible loss for golf and me personally. My grandfather is gone, and we all lost a brave, decent and honorable man. I'll miss u Charlie," Woods tweeted.

Jack Nicklaus said Sifford was his playing partner for the first two rounds Nicklaus played in a PGA Tour event. He called Sifford a kind and gracious gentleman.

"Charlie led by example, handling himself with great class and dignity inside and outside the ropes," Nicklaus said on his website. "We can't underestimate the impact Charlie's career has had on the face of golf today. Charlie was a leader and an inspiration."

Sifford won two PGA Tour events, his first victory coming in the 1967 Greater Hartford Open. He also won at the Los Angeles Open two years later.

It was a difficult career. In his speech honoring Sifford at the White House, President Barack Obama talked about Sifford's travails.

"Charlie was sometimes banned from clubhouse restaurants. Folks threatened him, shouted slurs from the gallery, kicked his ball into the rough," the President said. "Charlie's laughing about that -- my ball is always in the rough."

On Wednesday the President said he was honored to award the golfer the Presidential Medal of Freedom "for altering the course of the sport and the country he loved."

To order my book Autograph Hell, please click HERE
For more information about my Summit Murder Mystery series, please CLICK HERE
Follow me on twitter, HERE
'Like' my Facebook page, HERE
Subscribe to my YouTube channel, HERE and HERE

Is the selfie the new autograph?

By Brent Briggeman Advertisement Every time a fan pulls out a phone and asks Michael McKenry to pose for a selfie, it makes him laugh. It reminds the Rockies catcher of "The Goonies," where one of the young characters created a device that holds the camera out in front of him. "When you think about it, he's the one who invented the selfie stick," McKenry said of the kid in the 1985 film. "And it took all this time for technology to catch up." Technology has caught up, all right. Roughly 100 million selfies are taken daily according to a study from Google, those making up part of the nearly 900 billion photos snapped in a year according to Agence France-Presse. The Internet is filled with surveys that tell what your...

How to Preserve your Autographed Photo Collectables

I came across this article and thought it was a good one to share! We all know that preserving your photos is very important! What is the point of collecting autographs if the photos become faded and start to deteriorate in a few years because you don't handle them properly? Take a look at these autograph preservation tips! 1. Acid free is the way to go - Whether you choose plastic bags, cardboard folders or frames to display your autographs, you need to make sure that the material you use is acid free. Standard bags, folders and frames are made with materials that release acids over time. These acids can make your photographs and other memorabilia fade and disintegrate. Make sure that the products that you buy to store your autographs is clearly labeled acid-free. If the package doesn't specify that, don't trust it with your photos. 2. Keep humidity low - Humidity causes moisture which can be devastating to paper products like photographs. To keep your...

What's in a name? Fortunes

Shaun Smillie The prominent pieces of the collection are the Lennon signature and the autographs The Beatles signed at their 1963 Royal Command performance. File photo Image by: GETTY IMAGES Christine got around. She hobnobbed with the stars of her day, if only briefly. But in those brief encounters, she persuaded them to append their autographs - and she did it over and over. The band The Searchers signed her book, as did Cliff Richard. John Lennon signed it twice. Christine collected those autographs more than half a century ago and next week they are expected to fetch tens of thousands of rands at auction in Johannesburg. The prominent pieces of the collection are the Lennon signature and the autographs The Beatles signed at their 1963 Royal Command performance. It was at this performance, in front of Princess Margaret, that Lennon famously remarked: "The people in the cheaper seats, clap your hands. And...

Autograph Hell

Search This Blog