PHOENIX — With every swing on a perfect Arizona morning, four men celebrated Black History and the heroes who helped bring them together at Encanto Golf Course.
“You feel an appreciation for people who were willing to step out, to take a chance,” said Desert Mashie Golf Club President Booker Evans.
In 1946, against the backdrop of systemic racism and exclusion, ten Black men, determined to play the game they loved, and formed the first inclusive golf club.
“You were really looking at the possibility of violence, you weren’t just looking at somebody stopping you at the gate, you were looking at the possibility of angering someone just because you showed up,” said Evans.
Evans says at the time, every course in the Valley but one refused to let them tee it up due to the color of their skin.
“They were just trying to have a place where they could enjoy themselves playing golf and they found Encanto,” said Club Tournament and Jr Program Director Sean Colebrook.
Access to the Phoenix golf course opened the door for them to start an organization called the Desert Mashie Golf Club. It would focus on expanding opportunities for minorities and Jr’s by growing a love for the game.
“There’s life lessons out here, we’ve all heard that,” said longtime member Jerry Hill.
“Golf's taught me integrity, sportsmanship, honesty,” said Colebrook.
Now, 75 years later, the all-inclusive club boasts more than 190 members. It hosts monthly tournaments, hands out scholarships, and helps to shape the next generation along the way.
“The camaraderie and friendship with all these guys is just amazing, we are family,” said Club Vice President Art Brown.
It allowed folks like Hill, now a member going on 51 years, to see something more in himself.
“The people that I met when I was young, they were doctors, they were lawyers, they were business owners, and I had never been around so many people that did that,” said Hill.
The club continues to be a beacon of hope and a testament to the power of friendship in its determination in the pursuit of equality. With those now leading the way honoring their past, with an eye toward the future
“You know it’s one thing to be the first but it’s another thing to be the first that reaches back and pulls some other people with you and that’s what they did,” said Evans.
Due to its incredible and sustaining impact on the community, the Desert Mashie Golf Club was inducted into the Arizona Golf Hall of Fame in 2021.