Charlotte golf legend leaves behind legacy, paving the way for Black players

CHARLOTTE — Many are remembering golf legend James Black who broke barriers and records as one of the first Black professional golfers.

Black died last week after a lengthy illness. He was 81.

“James Black was my hero,” said James “Slim” Bouler, a golfer.

Golfers at First Tee Greater Charlotte remembered how much of an influence Black had on the sport and in the Queen City.

“Truly iconic,” said Dennis Summers, a golfer.

Black gave Summers his first golf lesson 25 years ago.

“I picked up golf and (with) the first set of clubs that I bought, and I bought from a pawn shop, came out here to get lessons from Mr. Black,” Summers said. “Mr. Black is a special. He will be truly missed.”

Black grew up next to a golf course, but things were very different in Charlotte and across the country back then.

“When they started, golf was strictly segregated. The only way a Black man got on the golf course, he was a caddie,” Summers said.

“You got to understand that when the time he came along, it was hard for Black men to get on PGA,” Bouler said. “The story he always taught us was to never give up.”

Bouler spent a lot of time as a kid studying Black and even skipped school to watch him play the game.

“Somebody would see him and would come to school and say, ‘Black and them out there playing at the golf course,’” Bouler said. “We would cut class and cut through the woods. It was like a gathering. It was something you couldn’t believe.”

At 21, Black played in his first PGA event to become the first Black man to top a PGA leaderboard at the end of a full round.

The next Black golfer to do that was Tiger Woods in 1998.

“Arnold Parmer, it said one time that Mr. James Black had the best hands of any golfer that he’s ever met,” Summers said.

Black went on to start 11 PGA events.

Summers said his passing echoes throughout the golf community.

“He’s done so much for the sport of golf and for the city of Charlotte. A lot of his stories will go untold,” Summers said. “We lost truly a giant in the sport of golf”

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