Feature – Page 13 – The Golfer’s Journal

The years of indignities that Charlie Sifford suffered on and off the course forced him to develop thick skin and an instinct to fight for what he thought was his. “The things he went through did not go down well with him,” Sifford’s friend and fellow pro Larry Mowry told Golf Digest. “Let’s be honest: Charlie could be difficult.” So when he did smile, as in this photo the week after his first PGA Tour victory at the Greater Hartford Open, it was a genuine event. Photo: Old Golf Images/SBM

A Rare Smile

In 1967, after years of racist abuse, Charlie Sifford broke through for a victory. Twice

Sheep Ranch, 2017

Don’t Be a Sheep

Ruminations on an aimless afternoon wandering the Bally Bandon Sheep Ranch

Gary Plyaer

At Home With: Gary Player

Time spent not relaxing at the stud farm

The President’s Putter

Oxford vs. Cambridge, at a course called Rye. This uniquely British event distills the game into its purest form

The Emergent Pattern

An examination of the artwork of Geoffrey Cunningham

Swing Thoughts

To the Place We Belong

Strange curiosity or religious experience? A pilgrimage to Sweetens Cove

New Tricks

Veteran Sports Illustrated photographer Robert Beck goes beyond the visible

Whistling Past the Graveyard

Against the odds, Louisville Golf continues happily building hickories

AUGUSTA, GA - APRIL 1983: Seve Ballesteros tees off while a gallery watches during the 1983 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club April 11, 1983 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Augusta National/Getty Images)

The Year Is: 1983

Revisiting the characters and events that made for one of golf’s most intriguing years

Four-Letter Word

A declaration of intent from the first issue of The Golfer's Journal

Jimmy Walker eyes a put

Upward Perspective

Jimmy Walker’s astrophotography blurs the line between science and art

Hole Number 7 at Ballyneall, CO

The Book Of Mulligan

Ballyneal’s first caddie and club historian was a dedicated looper and one of the game’s true characters

Outsider Inside the Ropes

Photographer Kohjiro Kinno captures the game from a different perspective

Golfers cross the U.S.-Mexico border into Tijuana

The Lungs of Tijuana

Truth and golf can be tough to find in the chaos of a border city

Kay Byrne LPGA

Route 13

How the LPGA founders plotted, hustled and fought to build a tour up from golf’s back roads

cutting greens

Public Defenders

Three courses. Three different fates. As municipal golf courses around the country face the bulldozers, local communities are on the front lines

Hunter Thompson

That Evening in Aspen

Hunter S. Thompson introduced Terry McDonell to golf with LSD, liquor and live rounds.

Askernish. Photo by Jamie Gibson

What Lies Beneath the Machair

A spontaneous pilgrimage to the long-lost course of Askernish—the forgotten Tom Morris design that came back from the dead

St. Andrews and the British Open

“St. Andrews and the British Open”

From a 1984 Open Championship review

Mr. Trevino and Mr. Nicklaus

“Mr. Trevino and Mr. Nicklaus”

From a 1980 profile of Lee Trevino

A Master and The Masters

“A Master and the Masters”

From a 1976 profile of Bernard Darwin

Forever in Tweed, Amen

“The Sporting Scene Mainly Around Jones”

From a 1972 profile of Bobby Jones

More Wind

“An Entirely Different World”

From a 1972 profile of the President’s Putter match between Oxford and Cambridge

“Linksland and Meadowland”

“Linksland and Meadowland”

From a 1951 profile of Robert Trent Jones