The Par Four Golf Club has reached a milestone moment no one imagined would be possible.
Founded in 1968 as a social organization, Par Four Charities Inc. will host this weekend its 50th anniversary tournament, which has been known since 2016 as the Calvin Washington Memorial in memory of a beloved area golf leader.
The three-day event begins June 27 with a practice round for participants at Osceola Golf Course, then the two-day tournament at Osceola is June 28 and June 29. It’s now the area’s only multiple-day, stroke play, amateur golf tournament, open to all levels and ages of golfers.
Registration to play this weekend is still available. When the tournament begins with a shotgun start on the morning of June 28, there will be some emotion among the men who first put it all together.
“50 years,” said Raymond Griff, one of the nine original founders, as he paused for emphasis and refection. “I honestly thought it might just a short lived thing, but 50 years later now, I go back over, and just go ‘Wow, Wow!’ It is incredible. it really is.
“When we first started out, we were just an entertainment club, … Have fun, fellowship, go play golf,” he said.
This tournament’s history is powerful. When it began, there were few opportunities along the Gulf Coast for African-American golfers to play any courses, private or public. Segregation still existed.
The Par 4 Golf Club was preceded by one in Mobile, which will host the 65th annual Gulf City Golfers Tournament from July 11-13 at Mobile’s Azalea City Golf Course. Pensacola and Mobile are part of a 14-member circuit of similar clubs throughout the southeast known as the Southern Association of Amateur Golfers (SAAG).
All were formed during a time that courses were few and far between for black golfers to play in tournaments.
“Par Four (Golf Club) and all these other golf courses like Azalea City and others, they fought the fight to allow African-Americans to play golf at these public golf courses,” said Willie Lawrence, whose father, Willie Sr. was an active part of the club for decades and introduced him to golf.
Lawrence is now the head groundskeeper for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. At this year’s tournament, there will be a tee box area named in his father’s memory and the Blue Wahoos have donated prize and raffle items.
“Times were very different back in the late 1960s, early 70s,” said Lawrence, who has played in more than 10 of the Par Four Charities tournaments. “When my Dad introduced me to golf, I couldn’t even play at Osceola. I was say, 9 or 10 years old. You had to be at least 14 to play, but there were also times when they just wouldn’t let me play.”
The event has endured through a variety of challenges through the years. In 2020, the event was canceled due to the first onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic. It was not resumed until last year – a four-year gap – because of continuing health concerns and other issues.
“I think about all the years we struggled sometimes, but we always stayed together,” Griff said. “I think that is the biggest thing that’s kept it together.”
Griff began playing golf when he was 22 years old and just returned from military duty in Vietnam. He was looking for a sporting hobby to play.
“On of my friends said, ‘Let’s go play golf.’ I said, what’s golf?” said Griff, laughing. “We went to Saufley Field, they had a nine-hole course. They were laughing at me how I was swinging and the ball was still sitting here. Playing golf then got in my blood and been with it ever since.”
Carlton Charles is also one of the original nine members in 1968. The following year, he moved to New York. He then took up tennis.
“I had gotten into tennis and really stopped played golf,” he said. “To have (a tournament) going this long is really surprising. It was unexpected. I had no idea we would last this long. No idea whatsoever.”
When he did play with Griff at Saufley Field, he remembered only active or retired military were able to play the course. But the Par Four group, aside from Griff’s military background, still were able to play. Charles signed in as “Sgt. CJ Charles.”
“I know the (golf shop attendant) knew that we were the military,” he said laughing. “But he still let us play.”
Will Woods remembered the original group playing at a three-hole layout at Pensacola State College. That is how he learned to play golf. From that point, amazement grew on how Griff kept together the Par Four Club’s legacy.
“It is everlasting friendship and leadership that Raymond put forth,” Howard said. “Raymond always wanted to keep us together. We had known each other for 50 years.”
When Calvin Washington died in 2016, it brought more challenges. His passing left a heavy void. Washington, a graduate of Booker T. Washington High, became a fixture as maitre ‘d at Pensacola Country Club. He took up golf and became an accomplished player at the amateur level.
He joined the Par Four Golf Club in 1972. and Was the tournament chairman for 33 years with the Par Four Charities Tournament. Washington was inducted into the Pensacola Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.
The tournament was renamed in 2016 as the Calvin Washington Memorial Tournament.
“Calvin was the front door at Pensacola Country Club,” Lawrence said. “He was able to bridge the color gap. The doctors and lawyers who were members of the country club knew him and loved him.”
WANT TO PARTICIPATE?
WHAT: Par Four Golf Club 50th Anniversary Tournament
WHEN: Friday (June 27) through Sunday (June 29)
WHERE: Osceola Golf Course, Pensacola.
WHO: Open to male and female players of all ages
ENTRY FEE: $175 per-player, includes Friday practice round, two tournament rounds, Saturday dinner at Osceola clubhouse dining area, plus other amenities.
FORMAT: 36-hole stroke play tournament on Saturday and Sunday in various age divisions. Shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. on both days in effort to avoid afternoon heat and weather.
PRIZES: Awarded to flight winners and other top runners-up in each flight.
REGISTRATION: www.parfour.org.
INFO: 850-261-8576. Tournament director is Ron Weaden at (850) 696-9113.
IN MEMORIUM: Tournament co-name is The Calvin Washington Memorial in honor of the long time director.
Bill Vilona is a retired Pensacola News Journal sports columnist and now senior writer for Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He can be reached at [email protected]
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