Draft:Robert H. Hawkins

Golf came to America as early as the 1650s, with the more modern form of the game arriving in the 1730s. Golf then largely disappeared from the American landscape in the early to mid 1800s, returning in a more formal sense during the mid to late 1800s. Early America's Black population was likely introduced to golf through the white landowners who enslaved them, making it highly likely that the first caddies in America were enslaved people. As the game gained popularity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Black participation increased significantly and had a profound impact on the game's growth and development in America. Despite exclusion from most white clubs, African Americans participated in golf as caddies, stewards, course designers or builders, attendants, players, chefs, and skilled players.^[7]

Early stars of Black golf included John Shippen, the son of a formerly enslaved man from Virginia. Shippen competed in five US Opens between 1896 and 1913. In 1896 and 1899, he competed alongside his caddie and friend Oscar Bunn, a Native American from the Shinnecock Nation. In Massachusetts, George Franklin Grant, the first African American professor at Harvard, was a dentist and innovator who helped cultivate early Black golf networks in Massachusetts. He is quite notably credited by the United States Golf Association (USGA) as the inventor of the wooden golf tee. By the 1920s, Chicago became an important national center for the emergence of top Black golfers, including Pat Ball and Walter Speedy. In 1926, the United Golfers Association (UGA) was formed to organize national competition for African American players, paralleling the whites-only Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA).^[8][9] As racial segregation hardened in the early 20th century, Black golfers established independent clubs across the Midwest and Northeast; exclusively Black country clubs soon followed.^[7]

Robert H. Hawkins (1888–1973) was born in Adams, Massachusetts. He came to the game of golf like many African Americans of his time,  as a caddie. As he grew in the profession, he worked as a steward and club manager in both Vermont and Massachusetts. By the early 1920s, Hawkins had become one of the first Black golf professionals in New England to hold managerial authority at a predominantly white club, Sandy Burr Country Club in Wayland, Massachusetts.^[10][11]

In February 1926, Hawkins purchased the former Dr. John W. Randall estate in Stow, Massachusetts, comprising 196 acres and a large nineteenth-century mansion.^[12] Hawkins bought the property in February 1926 from George J. Wilson with a $6,000 down payment and $10,000 mortgage. He developed a nine-hole course and converted the estate into Mapledale Country Club, envisioning both a recreational space for African Americans and a venue for national-level competition.^[4]

Hawkins was instrumental in organizing the United Golfers Association (UGA) and hosted its founding and following two tournaments at Mapledale in 1926, 1927, and 1928. Although elected UGA president at the initial meeting, the organization later formalized leadership under other officers when it was chartered in 1927.^[5]

The United Golfer's Association (UGA) was founded in 1926, ten years after the Professional Golfers Association of America (PGA). This association served as the Black golfers response to the impact of segregation on the sport, including the whites-only PGA. Hawkins helped found the UGA, and hosted the first three Negro National Open Golf Championships for the United Golfer's Association (UGA) at his Mapledale course:^[6]

• 1926: The inaugural championship, held over Labor Day weekend, drew approximately thirty-five competitors. Harry Jackson won the event.^[4]
• 1927: Robert Ball of Chicago captured the title with a score of 293 over seventy-two holes. John Shippen, one of the earliest Black competitors in U.S. Opens, finished second.^[13]
• 1928: Porter Washington won the championship. The tournament also featured an interracial exhibition match between Black professionals and white New England PGA players, an uncommon occurrence during the Jim Crow era.^[14]

Each championship at Mapledale was held over Labor Day weekend, the first weekend in September, and included an evening gala event. The Negro National Open became the premier championship of the UGA and was contested annually until 1976 (except during World War II).^[6]

Mapledale struggled financially and closed in 1929, coinciding with the onset of the Great Depression. The property subsequently reopened as a public golf course. Hawkins’ original nine holes remain mostly intact on the now twenty-seven hole golf course at Stow Acres Golf Club. The Randall estate house also remains in use as a clubhouse facility within the property.

Mapledale Country Club occupies a significant place in the history of African American golf:

1. It was one of the earliest Black-owned golf courses in New England.
2. It hosted the founding tournament and first three national championships of the United Golfers Association (UGA).
3. It provided a rare integrated competitive exhibition during an era of widespread racial segregation.
4. It represented part of a broader national movement of African American country clubs established during the 1920s.

Although short-lived, Mapledale Country Club contributed mightily to the institutional foundation of organized Black golf in the United States and to the national prominence of the United Golfers Association.

Rediscover Mapledale formed as an official 501c3 in 2024 out of the Stow Historical Society and can be found at www.rediscovermapledale.org.

Mission & Vision

The mission of Rediscover Mapledale is to preserve the historical significance of the Mapledale Country Club at Stow Acres Country Club. The Organization aims to maintain the site in its historical context, using a Conservation Restriction to keep the land undeveloped and for golf use as long as it remains economically feasible.

Rediscover Mapledale's long-term vision is to commemorate Black history in Stow, MA, educate the community about this rich heritage, and celebrate the centennial anniversary of the Mapledale Country Club in 2026.

Events

Since 2024, Rediscover Mapledale has held the Robert H. Hawkins Memorial Golf Tournament to honor Robert H. Hawkins, a co-founder of the United Golfers Association in 1925 and founder of Mapledale Country Club (now Stow Acres), the first golf course built, owned, and operated in Massachusetts by an African American. Mapledale Country Club hosted the first three UGA “Negro National” Open Championship golf tournaments in New England in 1926, 1927, and 1928 before closing in 1929 under the weight of the Great Depression.

A portion of the proceeds is donated to the United Golfers Association, which is committed to advancing the careers of minority players in the sport of golf.

Educational Resources

Historical Exhibit

In 2024, Rediscover Mapledale installed a historical exhibit named Mapledale Country Club 1926-1929 on the grounds where Hawkins built his original nine holes. Four exhibit labels chronicle the history of Hawkins, Mapledale Country Club, the start of the UGA and their first three tournaments at Mapledale, along with the indigenous intersections with early golf and the landscape of Stow Acres. Golfers can read the panels while playing Hawkins original holes and along a community walking trail that encircles the golf course. Mapledale Country Club 1926-1929 was curated by Interpreting Sports and designed by Justin Jankus Creative Services with funding from Freedom's Way and in partnership with the United Golfer's Association and Mass Cultural Council.

Educator's Guide

Rediscover Mapledale has also produced and made available on their website the Mapledale Country Club Educator's Guide that teachers can use as classroom or project related material to teach students about Hawkins work and legacy. The purpose of this guide is to:

• offer educators resources in order to welcome this story into their curriculum
• support educators in identifying skill sets to be used when exploring this local history
• affirm educators’ desire to integrate disciplines while having valuable conversations

• United Golfers Association
• George Franklin Grant
• John Shippen
• Professional Golfers' Association of America