With breathtaking ocean views and elevated tees, Bermuda features more courses per square mile than anywhere else. As part of a new initiative to drive more diversity in golf tourism to the island, Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA), in partnership with PGA Magazine and Ellison Consulting Group, celebrates Bermuda’s rich Black golf legacy with its inaugural Black Golfers Week, highlighting a lineup of socially conscious events November 3-7, 2021. The Black Golfers Week will take place following the PGA Tour’s Bermuda Butterfield Championship, October 25-31. Bermuda’s famed golf courses will be the main event venues, where 24 teams will be competing for the Black Golf Club and Team Championship trophy.
“We look forward to welcoming visitors to our island for this historic inaugural event honoring Bermuda’s golf legacy and providing an action-packed platform for diversity, equity, and inclusivity. Our island has more golf courses per square mile than anywhere else in the world. That fact, paired with a history that includes groundbreaking achievements by Bermudian golfers who helped break the color line in the US and Canada, it is a natural home for this launch event,” says Charles H. Jeffers II, CEO of the BTA.
Courtesy BTA
The Black Golfers Week will feature thrilling tournament play and fun festivities. However, most importantly, the event features conversations about bringing more diversity to golf. Guests can register for the following happenings:
- Driving Diversity Power Breakfast hosted by celebrated Olympian Dr. John Carlos
- Unity Cup, the Legends Lunch & Clinic for the next generation of golfers at Ocean View Golf Course
- PGA Magazine Driving Diversity Summit
- University Greek Barbeque
- Bermuda Black Golf Club and Team Championship at Port Royal Golf Course
- Black Golf Awards honoring the legacy of Black golf pioneers from around the globe
Hazel Clark/BTA
Hazel Clark, Bermuda Tourism Authority Director of Sports Business Development and a three-Time US Olympian, underscores the event’s importance. “As a leading sports tourism destination, Bermuda celebrates the achievements of athletes who have challenged the lack of diversity and accessibility in key sectors throughout history. Black Golfers Week offers a groundbreaking opportunity for communities worldwide to come together for action-driven conversations designed to build upon those achievements to advance diversity and access to the sport of golf,” says Clark.
The event organizer Earnie Ellison, Jr., of Ellison Consulting Group, concludes, “This Black Golf Club and Team Championship heralds Black Golf Clubs’ historical achievements that span more than a century and the collective influence of the Women and Men Club Members.”
In its entirety, Black Golfers Week aims to emphasize Bermuda’s position as an influential global leader in promoting diversity and inclusion in golf tourism. To learn more, visit the Bermuda Driving Diversity website here.
Editors Update: We’ve been informed the due to Conoravirus and Delta variant, the Bermuda 2021 Black Golfers Week has been postponed until 2022. Please visit the event website for additional information.
