Please don’t call Andy Walker the next Tiger Woods. He’s too busy being the first Andy Walker.
One of the few African Americans playing National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I-A golf, Walker is believed to be
the first Black to play on a NCAA Division I men’s golf championship
team after Pepperdine University clinched that title in Chicago in May.
A few years ago, LaRee Suggs was a part of the UCLA women’s national
championship team. Walker, a rising senior, says he is used to “being
the only Black kid out there playing.”
No one apparently is keeping score of the number of African
Americans playing college golf, but all say it is a very small
percentage of the total. John David, executive director of the Minority
Golf Association of America (MGAA), estimated it at one-tenth of one
percent.
But that is about to change, many people think, due largely to the
stunning impact that Tiger Woods – whose father is Black and mother is
Asian – made on the world of golf. Woods, whose record-breaking
performance at The Masters in April electrified the nation, was not
only the first person of color to win the Grand Slam event, he was also
the youngest. As such, he has become a lightning rod attracting young
people particularly African Americans – to the game.
“We’ve been punching holes in the wall for the last few years,” David said. “Tiger knocked the wall down in one afternoon.”
While he avoids comparison, Walker, one of two Blacks to play in the
Division I championship, acknowledges the superstar’s contribution.
“He’s the best player in the world,” he said. “I know he opened up
doors for me. People go out and expect to see me on a golf course. They
see me hit the ball and know it is not a fluke. When I turn pro, he
will have opened up doors for me in other ways. He handles himself so
well. He’s an educated man who is not going to go out and say, ‘Whuz
up?’ or anything like that. That’s important.”
