Nearly 70 years later, Fir State Golf Club still has solid membership and great community presence

By Rudy Horn, Special to Inside Golf
In 1947, three golfers, Wilbert Ponder, Pat Francis, and Oscar Johnson established the Fir State Golf Club as a means for Black and other minority golfers to be able to learn and compete in the sport of golf in. At the time of its founding, there was a white’s only clause that was applied to all Seattle municipal golf clubs.

While Black golfers and other minorities, as individuals, could play at the public courses, and they frequented Jefferson Park on Beacon Hill, they could not play in tournaments and compete for prizes, which required membership in a recognized club.

When membership reached 15, including two women and one Caucasian, they elected officers and called the club Fir State after Washington State’s tree. To them, the evergreen Fir tree was a symbol of strength and the ability to weather many storms. In 1949, Fir State became the first Black Golf Club to be charted in the state of Washington, and is the second oldest Black golf club in the country to have a home golf course.

At this time, Rosa Parks had not yet been arrested for giving up her seat on a public bus and the 14th amendment to the U.S. constitution, the civil rights act, was 17 years away. “These determined golfers became some of the earliest heroes in the fight for equality and racial justice in Seattle.”

Fir State members were still banned from public King County tournaments until 1952. Even after that ban had been lifted, African American golfers were still regularly denied a chance to play in tournaments through the 50s and 60s.

In 1959, Bill Wright, a 23 year old Fir State member and Franklin High graduate won the prestigious USGA Public Links Championship at the Welshire Golf Course in Denver becoming the first African American player to do so.

While Bill was winning championships on the course, his parents, Bob and Madeline Wright, both Fir state members and talented golfers themselves, directly confronted the racial discrimination policies of the Seattle Parks Department. The Wright’s officially challenged the racial discrimination policies of the private golf clubs by charging the Seattle Parks Board with a complaint to the State Board Against Discrimination. Bob Wright’s application to the West Seattle Golf Club was denied even though he had sponsorship from a member. At issue was the use of Seattle public golf course names in the title of the golf clubs. The association with the municipal course name in the club title made the city government liable. This charge resulted in the Seattle Parks Department instructing the clubs to either stop discriminating or change their names.

In response, the Jefferson Park Golf Club changed to the Beacon Hill Golf Club, and the West Seattle Golf Club became the Bayview Golf Club. With the city no longer liable, the private clubs could continue to discriminate.

Tired of Seattle’s leadership stalling and not satisfied with a mere name change, the State Anti-Discrimination Board voted 3-2 on May 4, 1961 to send a plea for Governor Rossellini to intervene. The Board charged the Seattle Parks Department with “willful violation” of the rights of Bob Wright.

It is clear that the formation of the Fir State Golf Club influenced change in statewide policy regarding legal racial discrimination. It is unclear exactly when the Seattle golfing clubs stopped discriminating against minority golfers, but eventually the clubs changed back to include the names of the associated golf course.

Today, Fir State still has strong membership and a presence in the community. They hold weekly club plays at their home golf course, Jefferson Park. Bill Wright, his parents, and Fir State are acknowledged by the USGA (United Stated Golf Association) as being pioneers in the fight for racial equality in the sport of golf.

Publisher’s note: There is a Kickstarter campaign to crowd fund a documentary called “Out of the Rough.”