Travelers to run golf tournament that benefits trailblazer Sifford’s foundation

The Travelers Championship will host a golf outing to honor the legacy of Charlie Sifford, who would have turned 100 on Thursday, and benefit a scholarship in his name.

Sifford made history on the PGA Tour during the 1960s, becoming the first Black golfer to earn a Tour card in 1961 and winning the Greater Hartford Open at Wethersfield CC in 1967.

The Charlie Sifford Centennial Celebration Golf Outing will be run at Wethersfield on June 21, just before the Travelers Championship gets underway at the TPC. Tournament officials are posthumously naming Sifford honorary chairperson for the 2022 tournament.

“Charlie Sifford made golf history, and we’re thrilled to celebrate his accomplishments and what he means to the game for such a good cause,” said Nathan Grube, Travelers Championship director. “Because of everything that Charlie represents and stood for, we believe it’s important to honor his name and memory, especially during this centennial year of his birth.”

Sifford’s breaking of race barriers in pro golf cleared the way for minority golfers to build careers on the tour in subsequent decades.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Dr. Charles L. Sifford Scholarship, which was created to support students who attend a historically Black college or university, or for minority students focusing their education in a golf management program.

The Cobbs Creek Foundation will sponsor the Sifford Scholarship, working with The Travelers and the Skins and Pins Golf Club. Cobbs Creek was Sifford’s home course in Philadelphia.

“The Sifford family is immensely proud and honored that the Travelers Championship is recognizing my father with an exhibition tournament,” Charles Sifford Jr. said. “This tournament is an example of his vision of diversity and inclusion by the golf establishment. The Greater Hartford Open in 1967 was his first PGA Tour victory.”

The event at Wethersfield CC will start with breakfast, followed by a 9 a.m. shotgun scramble, lunch on the course and a reception afterward. The cost to play is $300 per person or $1,200 for a foursome. Sponsorship opportunities are also available.

Sifford also won the Los Angeles Open in 1969, then won on the PGA Tour Champions circuit in 1980. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004 and awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014. He died in 2015.

“Charlie was a trailblazer who holds a special place in the hearts of many golf fans, especially in Connecticut after he won here,” said Andy Bessette, executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Travelers.