The excitement is “on course” once again as The John Shippen National Invitational Tournament returns to the storied Detroit Golf Club (DGC) on the city’s west side from Friday, June 21 to Sunday, June 23, 2024. The following weekend (June 27 – 30), the Rocket Mortgage Classic will be in full swing at the DGC.
The John Shippen National Invitational Tournament was created in 2021 by Intersport in partnership with Woods and Watts Effect. The two entities’ mission is to expand opportunities for talented amateur and professional Black golfers by removing barriers that have prevented African Americans from realizing their dreams of playing pro golf.
The John Shippen Invitational is actually a series of three golfing competitions, all of which provide opportunities for the nation’s top African American golfers to receive exemptions to compete in selected tournaments sanctioned by the LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) and PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association of America).
This year, all three Shippen tournaments will have “purses,” the term for prize-money paid to winning golfers and other top finishers.
“Offering purses for all three of The John Shippen events is a hugely important step as we continue to support the top Black men and women golfers in their development,” Jason Langwell, executive director of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, said in a statement. “Pursuing a professional golf career is an expensive endeavor. Our goal is to help ease the financial stresses and reward the players that perform well in our events.”
According to Langwell, the 2024 men’s John Shippen tournament winner will receive $13,200 from the $22,000 purse. The golfers finishing second and third will earn $6,600 and $2,200 respectively. However, only the winner of the men’s tournament will receive the coveted exemption to play in this year’s PGA Rocket Mortgage Classic.
While the expansion of purses is excellent news, a prize-money payment of any kind did not exist for John Shippen Invitational winners until last year.
“Due to our successful efforts in 2023 to create a purse for the very first time, I appreciate that Intersport saw fit to step up, go out and find sponsors, and pull money out of its budget to actually have an official purse for The John Shippen Invitational Tournament,” said Gregory Jackson, chair of ‘The Johnny,” the committee comprised largely of African American members of the Detroit Golf Club to honor the legacy of John Shippen by providing viable pathways for up and coming Black pro golfers in the country. “However, even with Intersport’s official purse this year, the goal of The Johnny Committee is to again create our own purse.”
Jackson is spearheading efforts of The Johnny to surpass the $90,000 raised in 2023 for the Invitational. The goal in 2024, said Jackson, is to fundraise $150,000.
“The funds raised by The Johnny will supplement the $22,000 purse provided by Intersport,” Jackson explained. “Intersport’s purse will only provide payments to the top three finishers. The Johnny will promote diverse representation and provide resources to a larger portion of the field to help offset some of the expenses incurred by African Americans in their pursuit of playing golf at a high level.”
In 2023, Chase Johnson won the John Shippen National Invitational at DGC, earning prize money from The Johnny and an automatic exemption to play in the ensuing Rocket Mortgage Classic. On the women’s side, Paige Crawford won the John Shippen Cognizant Cup in Clifton, New Jersey.
“The Shippen tournaments for Black women golfers, unfortunately, are not played at DGC due to the timing of their tournaments,” Jackson said. “The Johnny’s intent, however, is to carve out a prize pot of money, and going forward award the women who win Shippen tournaments and a number of them who place.”
The 2024 John Shippen Cognizant Cup for Women was held on May 6 at the Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, New Jersey. The winner was 15-year-old Ashley Shaw from Litchfield Park, Arizona. She was awarded an exemption to play in the LPGA’s Cognizant Founders Cup Tournament, held May 9 – 12, where the teen phenom competed against the world’s best female golfers.
This year’s second Shippen event is The John Shippen National Invitational (for women), held on June 4th and 5th at Blythefield Country Club in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The winner will earn exemptions to play in the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give from June 13 -16 and the Dow Championship from June 17 – 30.
Later in June, all eyes will focus on the top Black men golfers – amateurs and professionals – competing in this year’s Invitational (June 21 -23) at DGC. Jackson said The Johnny Committee and Black members of the Detroit Golf Club are proud of their ongoing support of the annual golf tournament to empower African American golfers.
“We believe, and no one has proven us wrong, that the Detroit Golf Club has the largest African American membership of any private golf club in America – by far,” Jackson said. “With over 100 African American members, it seems only right that we put together a significant pot of money to expand the purse for African American pro men and women golfers to make the Invitationals something very special while paying tribute to the golfing legend John Shippen, who was the first American-born golf professional and the first Black Golf professional.”
Jackson said that in addition to African American members of the Detroit Golf Club supporting The Johnny, several Caucasian members and corporate sponsors have contributed to the cause. Jackson also said that he has great respect for the legendary John Shippen, who persevered in the face of constant bigotry and racism that raged in the late 1800s into the 1900s.
Born on December 5, 1879 in Washington, D.C., John Shippen, Jr. soon moved with his family to Southampton on Long Island, New York. As a young teen, he helped build the fabled Shinnecock Hills Golf Course, one of the nation’s earliest golf clubs. Shippen caddied for White golfers but learned and mastered the nuances of the game despite segregated laws and overt efforts to prevent Black people from playing at private and public golf courses in America.
When the second-ever U.S. Open was played at Shinnecock Hills in 1896, Shippen entered the tournament despite outrage and protests from several English and Scottish professionals in the field. Nevertheless, Shippen played and finished in fifth place. With the field of foreign-born players competing in the U.S. Open, Shippen became the first United States-born golf professional and the first Black golf professional in the nation. Shippen went on to compete in four other U.S. Opens: 1899 (25th place), 1900 (27th place), 1902 (5th place), and 1913 (41st place).
After serving as a golf professional at numerous golf clubs on the east coast, Shippen retired from the sport in 1960. In 1968, the golfing legend passed at the age of 89. In 2009, the PGA honored Shippen with a PGA of America membership posthumously.
For more information about The John Shippen National Invitational, log on to www.thejohnshippen.com. For businesses, organizations, and individuals wanting to make contributions to The Johnny to expand the purse for Black golfers competing in this year’s men’s Invitational, call the Law Offices of Randall J. Gillary at 248.528.0440.
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