When I walked up to the driving range to warm up I thought for a moment that I saw Marcus Allen hitting balls. Then I thought I saw Marshall Faulk. My first thoughts were…

“Damn, I didn’t think the first week went that well! Marcus, Marshall & Jerry Rice didn’t show up to play with us, did they!”

That would be no! They were there for the final round of The Advocates golf series. I forget who won. I was concentrating on our own match. But, Jerry Rice took 6th.

Oh yeah… in our match Team 2 won again. For those of you keeping score at home Team II has 2 wins. Since we switch the teams up each week we’re going to have to figure out some kind of scoring system. We’re going to have to post the standings so that some of us can relive our high school glory days.

Rodney Benson tried to hold off Team 2 all by himself today. Where was the rest of his squad?

We were going to mix the teams up each week. We didn’t want to create a Hatfields vs McCoys atmosphere out on the course. But, this week we had the same teams matched up against each other just like in week 1. Team 2 was fortunate enought to save face and bounce back to take the skins title for the week. Once again, nobody got hurt in the wallet. Team 2 walked away with a 3 skins advantage. That’s not going to pay the mortgage.

The first Sixtyone Soul Council got together at Chester Washington Golf Course today. The council meets every Saturday morning to play some golf, have some fun and figure out how to help change golf. Team 1 ..ahem.. led by Rodney Benson won 9 skins and dominated the day. It’s a good thing we play skins for the competition. Otherwise, that could have been costly.

Photos by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

In 1946 he quietly began to change golf

You may not have ever heard of Dr. William ‘Bill’ Powell, but in his article at golfworld.com Dave Shedloski calls him a goodwill ambassador and compares him to Nelson Mandela. Dr. Powell’s stage may not have been quite as large as Mandela’s stage so, for now, let’s just say that he was a golf pioneer here in the United States.

Dr. Powell passed away New Year’s Eve at 93 years old. At first glance he was typical, if you can call living to the ripe old age of 93 that. He was a humble man, a World War II veteran and a golfer. Look closer and you find out that he was a man of great strength and courage.

When he returned home from the war he began working on what was to become his legacy: Clearview Golf Club in Canton, OH. In 1946 there was nothing typical about Clearview and it made Dr. Powell the first black man in the United States to build, own and operate his own golf course.

The story of Dr. Powell and Clearview is important for many more reasons than the obvious. His legacy is not so much that he was able to physically create Clearview, but is really found in the spirit of his creation. Do yourself a favor and take some time to read Shedloski’s full article or just Google “Bill Powell – Clearview” to find out more about the man. Do a friend a favor a pass the story on to them.

It is easy to see how we could all benefit from being, even slightly, more like Dr. Powell. Unfortunately, most of us are drawn like moths to a flame towards the negatives in life. We are so fascinated by what is wrong with our lives that we, so often, fail to see that we are surrounded by an abundance of good. As Shedloski says in his piece;

“The absence of one of the most historically important figures in the game at the outset of a new year and new decade predictably conjures references to Tiger Woods. A realistic assessment leads one to surmise that William Powell wouldn’t garner more than passing mention, when, honestly, his story and his contributions to golf should dominate the conversation.”

I said earlier that Dr. Powell was a golf pioneer. The more you find out about the man you will realize that that is an understatement of the highest order.

Last Tuesday night we were finally able to get some of you together at the Lucy Florence Cultural Center in Los Angeles to help us officially launch the Sixtyone Foundation. We thought we could fit an informal gathering in between Thanksgiving and all the year end celebrations and we were pleased with the turn out. It gave us a chance to finally meet with many of you face to face and lay out our plans to 1) change the way people think about golf and 2) use the positive aspects & economic resources of the golf industry to change the lives of urban young people.

We were happy to finally get everyone in the same room and begin talking about how we can effectively work together and move this project forward. We appreciate all the input and heard everyone loud & clear. We understand that you are in support of our idea and now we need to get to work to make things happen.

Over the next few months we will begin rolling out our first Academy programs. We need each and every one of you to:

• Help us identify partner schools & organizations that you think could benefit from our program.
• Help us raise money so that no child is left out due to the lack of financial resources.
• Join our mentor program to provide our graduates with the long-term support they will need to be successful.
• Spread the word.

Sixtyone is a collective. We will not be able to reach our goals without your continued input and support. Please do not hesitate to contact us whenever you have a question or comment that you feel will help. We are all part of the solution.