Denver Icon Tom Woodard Becoming a Guiding Light in Golf

Tom Woodard
Photo Courtesy: PGA

The Director of Golf at Foothills Park & Recreation District has become a sought-after voice in the sport.

By Anthony Cotton

Tom Woodard spent much of last week playing golf in Florida, and while it might have been nice being away from the Colorado winter, the experience still proved to be as sobering as an Arctic blast coming down from the Rockies.

“I was in Port St. Lucie at the PGA of America headquarters; they sponsored an event for the Advocates Pro Golf Association, which is kind of a mini-tour for African-American players,” he said. “These were basically young guys just out of college—the course was playing 7,000 yards and the wind was blowing 25 miles an hour…le’s just say Father Time is a very bad man.”

But even if, at age 65,  he doesn’t hit as far these days, the week was nonetheless a revelation for Woodard, the director of golf at Foothills Park & Recreation District. The APGA is part of one of golf’s best feel-good stories in years—Kamalu Johnson, who went from a homeless dropout to earning a pair of sponsor’s exemptions on the PGA TOUR this season. And the sight of almost 50 players of color competing and playing golf at the upper reaches of the sport, attempting to break through to the game’s pinnacle, hearkened memories from Woodard’s past, when he was also trying to make a name for himself.

“I kinda started reminiscing back to 40 years ago; I remember graduating from the University of Colorado and moving to Orlando, Florida to play on the mini-tours,” said Woodward, who eventually played in two U.S. Opens and a PGA Championship while competing on tour. “So many things are different—it’s amazing how athletic golfers have become and how far everybody hits it—but at the same time, you still know that you have to have a complete game in order to be one of the very few who can make it to the PGA TOUR.”

It was 30 years ago that Woodard became first Black PGA Club Professional to compete in the PGA Championship; that event came just one year after the major championship was hosted at the Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club, which created an uproar at the time because of its discriminatory policies against African-Americans. Following the tournament, the PGA and the United States Golf Association, which runs the U.S. Open, changed their rules regarding course selection so that clubs hosting events were required to meet inclusive membership requirements.

The last week also continued what has been something of a rebirth for Woodard in the game. Last season, in the aftermath of the social justice controversies that roiled the nation, CBS provided a platform for a conversation on racism. The 60-second videos included a number of African-American athletes providing their perspectives on the issues America is facing.

Woodard said he’s been humbled by the idea that he has become a voice that is sought, whether it’s by a national network or a group of 20-somethings trying to get their feet wet.

“We are coming up on the one-year anniversary of George Floyd (the CBS project was called “8:46,” after the amount of time the Minneapolis man’s neck was reported to have been under the knee of a police officer, killing him.); I think that’s been part of it,” he said. “Between that, and the anniversary of playing in the PGA, it’s been an interesting year…(my career) is never really at the forefront of my mind, but this happens and you say, ‘Wow, I was a decent golfer…I did accomplish something.”

For more on Tom Woodard and the PGA, please read this excerpt from PGA Magazine.


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Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it. CAG publishes eight issues annually and delivers daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.

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