Skyview Golfers Assoc. Celebrates 50th Anniversary

by Johnnie Grant

For 50 years some of the best golfers in the United States have come to play in the Annual Skyview Golfers Pro-Am Tournament in Asheville, NC.

The Skyview Golfers Association was founded in 1959. Its mission as a nonprofit organization was to encourage youth participation and promote the game of golf among African Americans throughout the United States. The founding members were Charles Collette, Sam Chavis, Raymond Bland, John “Brooks” Dendy, Sam Quick, Tommy Lee Nance, Boyce Layton, Dewey Rutherfordton, and James Garrett Mays.

The first Skyview Golfer’s Tournament was an all African American
event, with 50 participants, intended to prepare African American
golfers for the Professional Golf Associations (PGA) tour. Charles
Colette served as tournament director from 1960 through 1972, and after
his death Billy Gardenheight, Sr. succeeded him. Gardenheight has
served in that capacity for the past 37 years.

SkyviewGolfers.jpg
Some
of the original members of the Skyview Golfer’s Association. Photo
taken in 1978. Left to right on golf cart: Parthenia Porter, Martha
Gardenheight, Maggie Simms in center, on right Betty Lester, Lena
Nance.
2nd row: Gilbert Payne, Roy Scott, Albert Brown, John Jones, Johnny Davidson, Henry Hardy, Howard Brown,
James Harrison, Lonnie Gilliam. Back row: Billy Gardenheight, Sr.,
James Cain, Lawrence Wilson, David Mahaffey, Dewy Rutherfordton.  Photo
courtesy of Ms. Lena Nance

Before a 1954 United States Supreme Court ruling, African Americans
were not allowed to frequent public parks or play the game of golf in
most Southern states. Young people interested in the game honed their
skills by working as caddies or set up makeshift links around their
neighborhoods. It wasn’t until the early 1960s, and under much duress,
that local African Americans were able to play the greens at
Asheville’s Municipal golf course, the “Muni.”

Following the desegregation of the local course, two white men,
Dr. Robert McDuffie, a local pediatrician, and Walt Gossett, played a
number of Skyview Pro-Am Tournaments with African American players (as
well as regular games). Those games helped open the door for golfers of
any ethnicity to participate in this historic tournament.

Since the first Skyview Tournament of 50 golfers, the open has
grown each year. Participants have traveled from 17 states, the
District of Columbia, Canada and Bermuda to participate in Skyview’s
Annual Pro-Am Tournament. (Besides North Carolina, players have come
from Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois,
Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.)

Today, Skyview is one of the largest tournaments in the
Southeast. And for locals, it’s more than a golf tournament – it’s a
homecoming. Community members gather to reunite with old friends and
make new acquaintances among the golfing participants and their
families. The side dressing is a fellowship of golfers sharing tall
tales, jokes, and other stories after the games are completed. For all,
the Skyview Tournament embodies an on-going love affair with the game
of golf.