Fred Parpole, a Bahamian native of Dallas, took golf seriously just a decade ago and became the first black president of the United States Golf Association in February.

“I probably picked up a golf club for the first time about 20 years ago,” Beck Group CEO Parpole, 48, said at the U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club. I don’t know, but I couldn’t really afford it,” he said. “I was still a young pro, so there was no place to play, it was just a hassle.”

Now a single-digit handicap golfer, he said he was “disappointed” that no black players were in the tournament among the 156 competing for the record-breaking $3.6 million first place prize.

Tiger Woods is out of action as he recovers from an injury. Former PGA Tour player Harold Varner III, who earned $4 million after winning the LIV Golf Tour in Washington DC last month, failed to make it through the qualifying event in North Carolina on Monday.

Two other black players, Joseph Bramlett, who finished tied for 37th at the 2022 U.S. Open, and Cameron Champ, who missed out on the tournament, are also absent from the LACC this week.

according to USGAOf the record 10,187 golfers who tried to qualify for the national championship this year, 126 identified themselves as either black or African-American. That’s 1.2% for him, or about 1 in 100 competitors.

Parpole and USGA chief executive Mike Wang told media this week that the organization is focused on increasing diversity among ropes.

“I wish I could just push a magic wand,” said Parpole. “If we want to attract elite golfers of all backgrounds, we need to improve accessibility.”

Wang said the USGA’s beginner’s program has helped make golf popular among 12-year-old black kids, but the frenzy is too late to end by the time they’re 20. said a lot.

He also acknowledged that professional golf failed to capitalize on Woods’ monumental victory at the Masters in 1997, but said the pandemic had presented new opportunities to diversify the sport. rice field.

“A lot of people see their golf courses as full again, but what’s happened in the last four years is that the main differences are juniors, women and people of color,” Wang said. said.

While playing basketball and track and field, Purpole earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Texas at Arlington. He graduated from his School of Business at Harvard, where he advanced his management program and was on the Bahamas national basketball team in 1994.

As CEO of The Beck Group of Dallas, he leads the company’s domestic and international architectural design, planning, real estate consulting and construction businesses.

Parpole was elected to the USGA Executive Committee in 2019. He will chair the Championship Committee in 2021, introducing the National Adaptive Open for golfers with disabilities and announcing several championship anchor sites during his tenure.

After leading a Flag Day celebration and Army 248th birthday celebration as part of his duties at the LACC, Parpole told The Times he remembered seeing Woods on television when he was 22. He said he was.

“It was an inspiration for me to see someone like me playing golf at that level and with that charisma,” he said. “Sometimes you have to look at it to get it.”

As the USGA’s first black president, Parpole said, “I want kids of color and all backgrounds to know that there is absolutely room in this game, and at every level.”

Furthermore, he added: “I don’t want my presentation or my position here to be just inspirational. We want it to mean something. That’s why we’re devoting time, effort and resources to opening more avenues.”

Purpole also argued that golf can offer more than trophies, wealth and prestige.

“Golf is often a gateway to closer relationships and deeper relationships within a community,” he said. “The great thing about golf is who we are with and where it takes us. And because if we want the city we want, we want the country we want.” If so, I think we should find more ways to spend time with each other across races.”

He continued: “And that’s one of the things I’ve discovered as an African-American, and that’s what golf has done for me. I’ve been with great people. Opportunities have arrived, and these relationships will be part of bringing our cities and communities closer together across racial boundaries, which is why I love golf. We want kids of color to be interested in playing golf, and think about how it impacts their lives.”

Herbert Lowe is a Visiting Scholar at The Times and Senior Lecturer in the University of Florida School of Journalism and Communication.