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Fayetteville State hangs out with golf legend
The Fayetteville State golf team, making history as the first black college golf team in 35 years to advance to the championship round of an NCAA tournament, had the good fortune of meeting Bill Wright, one of the first seven inductees into the Western Washington University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1968
Wright was the keynote speaker at a banquet on Monday, May 18,
at to tip off the NCAA Division II National Men's Golf Championships
which WWU is hosting at the Loomis Trail Golf Club on May 19-22.
It was 50 years ago that Wright won the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, becoming the first African American to capture a United States Golf Association-sponsored national title.
From an early age, golf has been a part of Wright's life. Charlie Sifford, the first African-American inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, was often a guest in the Wright household during trips to Seattle. Wright and his father would watch Sifford during his practice routine. Watching paid off.
This summer marks the 50th anniversary of Wright winning a national title. In 1959, the then 23-year-old Wright won the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship held at the Wellshire Golf Course near Denver, Colorado. He was the first African-American to capture a USGA-sponsored championship.
After Wright won the Public Links championship, his father, at age 60, made it to the quarterfinals of that same tournament a couple years later. Wright said his father took a committed interest into his development as a golfer and their relationship directly affected how Wright became the man he is.
Wright credits much of his success to the time he played at Western Washington University where in 1960 he took medalist honors at the NAIA National Tournament.
Prior to Western, Wright had attended University of Washington for a few semesters. But when he found out that he wouldn't be able to play basketball or golf for the Huskies, he transferred to Western.
"I went to Western because of Dean McDonald," Wright said. "I wanted to go to the UW, but the basketball coach there at the time didn't want to have the first black player."
© 2009 Azeez Communications, Inc.