TURNER'S LODGE PRO GOLF MUSEUM 

(Burneyville, OK, April 17, 2024) Golf writer and author Peter May will be a featured speaker May 1 at the Pete Brown Diamond Jubilee in Burneyville, OK, on the course where Brown won the 1964 Waco Turner Open.
It was Brown's first victory on the PGA Tour and the first ever by an African American golfer.
Why did it take so long for a Black golfer to win on the PGA Tour? Because the Caucasian-only bylaw of the PGA kept African American professionals on the sidelines from 1934-1962.
May's 2024 book, "Changing the Course -- How Charlie Sifford and Stanley Mosk Integrated the PGA" is a well-told story of the golfer and the attorney who finally combined to successfully force an end to the discriminatory policy.
Sifford became the first Black player to receive a PGA Tour playing card (1961), Brown was the second to join the Tour (1963). In an ironical twist the two pros were in the final threesome in the 1964 Waco Turner Open.
Sifford had also played in the 1962 Waco Turner Open, the first integrated professional event in Oklahoma. He tied for 21st Johnny Pott won the tournament.
May is a longtime sportswriter for the Boston Globe, NY Times, and ESPN.
May, PGA Tour professional Jim Dent, Ramona Harriet, historian of African American golf, Howard Williams, founder of the African American Sports Museum, Jay Upchurch, Norman, OK sportswriter, Sandy Cross of the PGA of America, and Dr. Michael Cooper of USGA will speak at 12:30 on the 18th green.
Other activities that day will include a ribbon cutting on "Life and Times of Pete Brown" exhibit in the museum at noon, refreshments and book-signing in the Country Club at 1:30, and the Pete Brown-Waco Turner Tribute 72nd Hole Scoring Challenge at 3 p.m. on Hole 18. Contests will vie to make par or better, like Pete Brown had to do to win the 1964 Waco Turner Open. But, the players will hit with the late Waco Turner's 1950s Wilson golf clubs.
American Nation Bank in southern Oklahoma is sponsor of the scoring contest. A prize of $500 will go to the winner plus $500 to the Pete Brown Scholarship in the Dayton Foundation.
Falconhead Resort is 12 miles west of Marietta, OK (Exit 15 on I-35) on Oklahoma Highway 32.