Changing the Course

How Charlie Sifford and Stanley Mosk Integrated the PGA

Peter May, Gary Player

$60.99

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Rowman & Littlefield
20 February 2024

Biography: sport; Social discrimination; Ethnic minorities & multicultural studies; Black & Asian studies; Golf

The compelling, little-known story of golfer Charlie Sifford and attorney Stanley Mosk who together made history by taking on the PGA and their Caucasians Only by-law.

It began with a chance meeting at a Los Angeles country club in 1959. That was the day Charlie Sifford, the first Black golfer to get his PGA card, and Stanley Mosk, a crusading civil rights attorney and California Supreme Court justice, met for the first time. Little did either of them know that it would grow into a history-making alliance that would end segregation in professional golf.

In Changing the Course: How Charlie Sifford and Stanley Mosk Integrated the PGA, Peter May tells the captivating story of Sifford and Mosk’s battle to end the rank racial discrimination that had been codified in the constitution of the PGA. Black golfers who preceded Sifford, such as Bill Spiller and Ted Rhodes, had unsuccessfully challenged the PGA’s discriminatory policy. Sifford had been fighting the PGA for years just to be able to compete with the white players. Mosk had little knowledge of the PGA or the fact that Blacks were being discriminated against by the organization’s by-laws. But the golfer had a cause that the attorney general was only too eager to champion. The two made for a powerful pair.

Changing the Course focuses on the individual journeys of Sifford and Mosk before delving into the crucial intersection of their lives that changed the professional golf world forever. Their stories provide a window into the changing landscape of mid-20th century America when the nation was forced to confront its history of racial injustice in professional sports and beyond.

By: Peter May
Foreword by: Gary Player
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 236mm, Width: 160mm, Spine: 24mm
Weight: 449g
ISBN: 9781538178010
ISBN 10: 153817801X
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 20 February 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Peter May has spent the last four decades covering sports for the Boston Globe, the New York Times, ESPN, the Hartford Courant and United Press International. He continues to freelance for the Boston Globe and the New York Times. He is the author of five books, most recently The Open Question: Ben Hogan and Golf’s Most Enduring Controversy, which was nominated for the Herbert Warren Wind Award. He lives in New Hampshire.

Reviews for Changing the Course: How Charlie Sifford and Stanley Mosk Integrated the PGA

In these pages, Peter May lays out with intricate detail the story of the unlikely partnership of the Black North Carolina golfer and the fearless California attorney general with all the highs and lows inherent to such an undertaking. --Ed Eckstine, son of Charlie's pal Billy and longtime entertainment executive Not only is Peter May's tracking of the chance intersection of Black golf great Charlie Sifford and the first Jew elected statewide in California, attorney general Stanley Mosk, to end golf's infamous Caucasians-only rule in 1961 revelatory, but it also reminds with interesting recounting from news reports of the day just how ingrained racism was in golf and, disturbingly, how the most celebrated names in the game had refused to engage it. --Kevin Blackistone, ESPN panelist, University of Maryland journalism professor, and Washington Post sports columnist Peter May's storytelling here qualifies as marvelous but also as crucial: It's crucial that we learn the details and the human cost of the vile realities of our history. --Chuck Culpepper, Washington Post sportswriter and author of William Hill award finalist Bloody Confused: A Clueless American Sportswriter Seeks Solace in English Soccer Stanley Mosk did as much for us as Charlie Sifford did. We couldn't play. Even though Charlie laid the groundwork, it was Mosk who opened the door. This book finally tells that story. --Walter Morgan, three-time winner on the PGA Senior Tour With cogent reporting and new insights, Peter May resurrects the pivotal story of how Charlie Sifford and Stanley Mosk, improbable allies, valiantly worked together to end codified racial discrimination in golf. It is a 1960s tale that's more relevant than ever today. --Bill Pennington, the New York Times