Whaley continues breaking barriers
Two moments of discrimination took place 1,000 miles and worlds apart, neither pointing to Suzy Whaley making history this week at the PGA of America.
Whaley was just getting hooked on golf in Syracuse, New York, and she was good enough to compete in tournaments when her name was scratched off the entry list of a junior tournament for boys because she was a girl.
“And now I’ve played in a PGA Tour event,” said Whaley, who at the 2003 Greater Hartford Open became the first woman in 58 years to qualify for a PGA Tour event. “Look how far we’ve gone. It’s not where we need to be, but we’re making progress. And that makes me smile.”
Around the time Whaley had her first whiff of discrimination as a young girl, Barrie Naismith Jeffcoat was working at a golf club in Atlanta as a 29-year-old woman who was giving lessons and going nowhere.
She hired young men to handle the carts and pick up golf balls from the range. Some of them went on to become PGA professionals and got jobs at other clubs.
She couldn’t join the PGA as a certified pro because she was a woman.
“Something was wrong with this picture,” Naismith Jeffcoat said in a telephone interview Monday from her home in Virginia. “At the time I was giving lessons to Superior Court Judge (Joel) Fryer. He gave me the name of his attorney. The attorney advised me to call the PGA. I got a lawyer on the phone with the PGA and he told me, ‘You can call Jimmy Carter, but it won’t do you any good.’”
Instead of calling the president, she filed a lawsuit against the PGA in 1978. By the end of the year, the PGA signed the Naismith Consent Degree, giving women equal rights to become PGA professionals. Naismith became the first female member on Feb. 1, 1979.
She stayed with the PGA a few more years, yet the impact will be felt strongest this week at the PGA of America’s annual meeting in California.
Whaley is set to become the first female president in its 102-year history.
Whaley is a consensus-builder, perhaps her greatest asset.
She is foremost a golf professional, still giving private lessons at Suzy Whaley Golf, the course she owns in Cromwell, Connecticut, and serving as PGA director of instruction at the Country Club of Mirasol in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, during the winter months. Her husband, Bill, was her first golf coach. Both her daughters played in college.
“My strength would be that I love the game of golf. I want to get clubs in people’s hands,” said Whaley, recently certified as a master professional. “My vision for the membership is to help enhance their careers. How can we get them resources and tools to go where they want to go?”
She also recognizes the historic occasion of the annual meeting Friday, and she doesn’t take it lightly.
“It’s definitely historic, and I’m honored and completely grateful the membership has that faith and trust,” she said.
THIS WEEK ON TOUR
Par: 72.
$2.5 million. Winner’s share: $440,000.
Thursday-Saturday, 2-5 p .m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 2-4:30 p.m. (Golf Channel).
Kevin Sutherland. Weekly grounds tickets are $75; individual round tickets are $30. Kids 18 and under are free with paying customer. Go to ticketmaster.com for more information.
General parking is at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Free shuttles to and from the course.
Only the top six players have a mathematical chance of winning the Charles Schwab Cup: Bernard Langer, Scott Parel, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jerry Kelly, Scott McCarron and David Toms. … Because Langer is leading, he could still win the Schwab Cup if Parel finishes out of the top five, Jimenez is not a runner-up and the other three do not win. Parel could win with a finish as low as fourth. … Steve Stricker (No. 13) is the only player among the 36-man field not playing. Stricker ends the year with $1,196,235 in seven events. Stricker played 12 times on the PGA Tour and earned $582,566. … Langer has won the Schwab Cup three times in the last four years.
El Camaleon GC at the Mayakoba Resort, Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Thursday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel).
Jordan Spieth makes his first appearance in Mayakoba, and his final appearance before getting married. … Rickie Fowler and Tony Finau give the field three of the top 15 players in the world. … For the second straight week, a fall event on the PGA Tour has a higher strength-of-field rating than the Rolex Series event on the European Tour.
Jian Lake Blue Bay GC, Hainan Island, China.
Wednesday-Friday, 8 p.m.-1 a.m. (Golf Channel).
The tournament starts Wednesday to give players a head start returning to Florida for the final event of the year. … This is the fifth straight event in Asia, and the final event to qualify for the CME Group Tour Championship. … The field for the season finale includes the top 72 LPGA members and anyone who has won at least one official LPGA event this year.
Associated Press