USA TODAY International Edition
Proving she belongs
Mariah Stackhouse is LPGA’s only full- time Black player
Mariah Stackhouse could recite the Gettysburg Address by the age of 3. She had no idea what it meant, of course, but the little girl with the booming voice had a knack for memorizing and would land key roles on stage, like the Gingerbread Man, because she was the only one who could remember all the lines.
You created me Black and beautiful, and with your blessing as my guide, every night I pray, and every day I praise your name.
Ken Stackhouse first came up with the idea of writing an affirmation for 3- year- old Mariah to memorize as a
way to build confidence and strength. The lines were rooted in the family’s strong Christian faith. The first affirmation actually included a section on tennis, her mother, Sharon, noted.
I am the best in the world at tennis and I get better every time I think about it. When I approach the net, I smash the ball.
“She loved to say smaaash with enthusiasm,” recalled Sharon.
When a tennis coach told Mariah that her golf swing was getting in the way of her tennis swing, her focused shifted, as did the affirmation.
I know that I can do anything I set my mind to. I am a very proud person with my own ideas and my own direction in life.
The affirmation, repeated in front of the mirror and in the car on the way to school, set a foundation for Mariah, who in 2020 is the only Black player on the LPGA with full status. The LPGA, now in its 70th year, resumes competition on Friday for the first time since mid- February at the new LPGA Drive On Championship at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. For Mariah, the summer has been one of conversations with family and close friends about race in America as national protests have followed in the wake of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis.
On a tour that not only celebrates its
diversity but relies on it heavily for the bottom line, traveling to 10 countries outside the U. S. on an annual basis, Stackhouse holds a most unique position.
“One of the beautiful parts of diversity on the LPGA is that when people go to these countries to play, at some point, whether it’s for a week or for a month, a white person is going to be a minority in Asia and they’re going to feel like a minority for the first time sometimes,” said Stackhouse’s agent, J. S. Kang, president of Epoch Sports Group. “Asian players are going to feel like a minority when they come to North America.
“But there’s one person on tour who is a minority in every single country she plays in. I think it’s a credit to her that you would never know it.”
Stackhouse grew up going to predominately Black schools in Clayton County, Georgia, and didn’t have a white teacher until she got to Stanford University. Her golf tournaments, however, were overwhelmingly white. She moved seamlessly through both.
“I don’t think kids grow up anywhere with too many biases or expectations,” she said of her contrasting worlds. “I was showing up to play a tournament and to try to win.”
Ken made sure his daughter understood that she hadn’t experienced the overt racism that many Black golfers endured because others had paved the way for her. There have been eight Black members of the LPGA. Tennis champion Althea Gibson was the first to join the tour in 1964.
Earlier this week the LPGA announced the first five recipients of the Renee Powell Grant, a program that honors Powell’s life- long commitment to the game. The grants assist current and prospective LPGA* USGA Girls Golf sites to create partnerships and outreach opportunities with youth organizations serving Black girls.
Four years ago, Stackhouse was one of four Black players in the field at the Cambia Portland Classic. The longtime friends snapped a photo to mark the occasion. Tiger Woods’ niece, Cheyenne, was among them and is also in the Drive On field. Woods now has limited tour status.
“I can say honestly that the golf community has been overwhelmingly positive to me,” said Stackhouse. “Have I ever felt othered? Sometimes it’s just me ( Black), so yes I’ve felt that on occasion. But those experiences were few compared to the familial vibe on tour. The LPGA is my road family, so times I might have felt othered don’t define my experience. I won’t allow it to.”
Stackhouse believes the LPGA’s diverse community more readily comes together because they’re already united in one struggle: gender equality in sports.
When Mariah was young, her parents didn’t share too many of their personal experiences growing up in South Carolina. Ken didn’t want Mariah and her younger brother, John, to carry around the extra weight.
“Life is hard,” he said, “and you want to run as lightly as possible.”
Ken was protective of Mariah but never wanted her to have a negative view of the white people she’d come across in golf, or anywhere else. Mariah said her dad wanted her to know that racism is not a “white- person thing” but rather a “racist- person thing.”
“I think he wanted me to have that distinction,” said Mariah, “not to harbor resentment and allow me to enjoy the progression we have made as a society. That’s what every movement has been about – being able to move more freely.”
On Juneteenth this year, Sharon tagged Mariah in a Facebook post that traced her mother’s side of the family, the Harrisons of Fairfield County, South Carolina, back to great- great- grandparents who were slaves.
Such a detailed family tree, said a thoughtful Mariah, makes her feel more rooted and connected to her ancestors and their struggles, but also offers a greater appreciation of how much has changed.
It wasn’t until this year, in fact, that Sharon, a hospital administrator, told her children about the time she experienced overt racism on a chaperoned club trip to Myrtle Beach with high school classmates. While walking with several Black girlfriends down the strip toward the city’s pavilion, a group of people from the hotel balconies above began shouting obscenities and throwing beer cans. The girls took off running.
“That kind of stuck with me the rest of my life,” Sharon said.
In her first few years on the LPGA tour, Mariah walked the fairways with a Nigerian caddie. His presence and his experiences helped quell the loneliness that rookies often face.
That first year ( 2017) she mostly stayed in hotels but has since switched to host families – both Black and white. Many treat her like a daughter. Mariah was especially sad to lose the Indianapolis stop, as she stayed with retired WNBA star Tamika Catchings during tournament week.
In the wake of George Floyd’s death, fellow LPGA player Emma Talley reached out to check in on her friend and let her know that she was on her heart. Talley believes the conversations about race relations in this country that have sparked in recent months are a starting point for change.
Stackhouse and Talley often reminisce on the first time they met at the 2006 U. S. Girls’ Junior, the only 12- yearolds in the field.
At the urging of her father, the outgoing Talley of Princeton, Kentucky, walked over to Mariah on the side of the putting green and introduced herself, saying “I’ve heard about y’all.” Mariah asked how she knew that it was her.
“Because you’re the only Black girl,” Talley blurted out.
Ken let out a hearty laugh, which confused young Talley even more.
They couldn’t have known then that they’d still be laughing about the introduction now, and that not much would change for Mariah in that regard. Often times she’s still the only Black player.
Perhaps it’s not surprising then that to this day, Mariah recites the affirmation. Its words were chosen carefully to stand the test of time. A beacon to light the way, Ken said.
“I felt like I belonged everywhere that I was,” said Mariah, “because I told myself daily in the mirror that I did belong everywhere that I was.”