When Renee Powell stepped up to receive the inaugural Rolex For the Love of the Game Award at the Kraft Nabisco championship in Palm Springs last evening (27 March) she was cheered on by the elite of the ladies’ game gathered there for the first major of the season and also by a very special guest in the packed auditorium who had crossed the Atlantic to be present.
Dr Kenny Wood, co-founder of the Scottish organisation New Links St Andrews which aims to broaden the horizons of inner city and minority youth through golf, education, and cultural visits to St Andrews, was there to show solidarity with a heroine turned colleague.
For Wood and Powell, the future involves annual exchanges of youth golfers and a hoped for university scholarship to the Home Of Golf.
‘What Renee has achieved in her life fills me with admiration and a deep respect,’ said Kenny Wood. ‘The way she has dedicated herself to improving the life chances of others worldwide through golf is simply inspirational.’
Renee Powell is the second of only three African American women to have played on the LPGA tour, which was founded in 1950. A player from the age of three, when her father William Powell first put a shortened club in her hands, Renee had a distinguished 13-year professional career which saw her play golf in many countries around the world.
Her international outlook has inspired a love of teaching and a desire to see young people given the chance to play the game of golf and to learn the social and sporting skills that go with it.
In 2008 she will bring four young golfers from her LPGA Girls’ Camp at Clearview, Ohio, to Scotland to participate in the New Links St Andrews initiative.
Established in 2006, New Links St Andrews has helped to establish a scholarship to the University of St Andrews and Dr Wood, who is an astronomy professor at the university, proposed Charlie Sifford for an honorary degree – an award that made world headlines. New Links St Andrews also helped to bring eight golfers from the Young Golfers of America Association in Los Angeles to Scotland to the experience life at the birthplace of golf, including a round on the legendary Old Course.
‘St Andrews is the perfect venue for these encounters,’ says Kenny Wood. ‘The Home of Golf is open to all and I look forward to seeing Renee Powell and the Clearview girls on the Swilcan Bridge, the place where so many of the greats have stood over the centuries and the most enduring symbol of golf’s ability to bring the people of the world together at St Andrews.’
Renee now devotes much of her time to developing the public golf course and facilities at Clearview which was founded by her father and is maintained by her brother.
‘This has become a life’s work for my entire family,’ said Renee. ‘We are dedicated to making Clearview available to golfers of all abilities and backgrounds as St Andrews always has done. I hope that the tie up with New Links St Andrews will be the start of a long and fulfilling relationship.’
Notes to editors:
New Links St Andrews was founded in 2006 by Dr Kenny Wood of the University of St Andrews, his wife Chris Wood and George Davis of Los Angeles. New Links St Andrews is developing a programme of exchange trips to the Home of Golf for young people and is currently applying for charitable status in Scotland. A first New Links scholarship to the University of St Andrews will be announced later this year.
www.newlinks.org
Clearview Golf Club
Clearview GC, East Canton, Ohio was established in 1946 and opened to the public two years later. It was built by William Powell and is the only course designed, built, owned, and operated by an African American. Clearview was named a National Historic Site by the US Department of the Interior in 2001.
Renee Powell learned the game of golf from her father and went on to the LPGA Tour. Clearview’s Head Golf Professional, she is known as one of America’s top teachers.
Larry Powell is Clearview’s Course Superintendent. His work has been recognized by NASA and the Golf Course Superintendent’s Association.
In 2001, the Clearview Legacy Foundation was established to preserve the course for future generations, to develop improved facilities for teaching the game of golf, and to expand turfgrass research.
Funding is sought to expand the course from 5890 yards to 6400 yards, add bunkers, renovate greens, and construct a teaching facility. An irrigation system, locker rooms, and a museum exhibit are also planned.
www.clearview-gc.com
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