John Merchant, the first black person to be elected to the USGA's executive committee and a former unpaid counsel to Tiger Woods, has died. He was 87.
John Merchant, the first black person to be elected to the USGA's executive committee and a former unpaid counsel to Tiger Woods,"My dear Pop left peacefully to play the back nine," she wrote."My heart is heavy and I will miss him beyond measure."
Merchant had been a pioneer before. He was the first black graduate of the University of Virginia law school, arriving on campus in 1955, one year after Brown vs. Board of Education. "You couldn't get a certified handicap to play in any of the sanctioned events because you had to be a part of the men's association and they wouldn't let blacks join the men's association," he said in an interview withMerchant used the power of his position with the USGA to bring together industry leaders and minority advocates to address the issue of under-representation. He believed that if people sat down and talked, something positive would happen.
Like a true lawyer, Merchant recalls spending 274 hours organizing golf's first minority symposium in 1992. The gathering represented the first time minorities sat at a table with the industry establishment for an open dialogue. Blacks from 17 states attended, including Earl Woods and Renee Powell, one of three black players ever to compete on the LPGA.
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