On May 6, an eight-player field of professional and amateur Black female golfers, each with their own impressive achievements, will compete in THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup. This includes defending champion Paige Crawford, LPGA member Mariah Stackhouse, Epson Tour members Janelle Johnson, Georgia Oboh, along with Madison Barnett who competed in the LPGA's Dow Championship last year, and Jamaican National Amateur Golf Team member, Cami March. They will all be vying for a chance to secure an exemption into the LPGA Tour's Cognizant Founders Cup later in the week.
"We are looking forward to another terrific competition in THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup and will be eager to watch the winner represent so many talented Black women by playing on the LPGA Tour later that week," said Jason Langwell, Executive Vice President of tournament organizer, Intersport. "We appreciate the ongoing support of our dedicated partners at Cognizant in providing this tournament exemption and continuing to support our mission to improve access and opportunities for Black amateur and professional golfers."
2023 John Shippen Cognizant Cup winner Paige Crawford. (Photo courtesy THE JOHN SHIPPEN)
THE JOHN SHIPPEN Cognizant Cup (formerly THE JOHN SHIPPEN Shoot-Out Presented by Cognizant) began as a companion event of THE JOHN SHIPPEN National Invitational in Detroit. In 2022, the event was renamed, made a standalone competition, and moved to Mountain Ridge Country Club in West Caldwell. As of last year, the tournament has been played at Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton.
THE JOHN SHIPPEN was created in 2021 and is a series of competitions designed to provide playing opportunities on the LPGA Tour and PGA TOUR for the nation's top African-American women and men golfers.
John Shippen, Jr., the namesake for the golf tournaments and sports business summit, worked on the crews that helped to clear the land to build the Shinnecock Hills golf course on Long Island. Scottish golfer Willie Dunn taught a few of the younger crew members, including Shippen, how to caddie and play golf.
Shippen would later start working full-time as Dunn's assistant, giving golf lessons to club members, caddying, repairing clubs, scorekeeping, and assisting the course maintenance crew.
In 1896, Shinnecock Hills played host to the second U.S. Open. Club members (which reportedly included the Rothchilds, the Mellons, and the Carnegies) were so impressed with Shippen's abilities that they paid his and a friend's entry fee to the tournament.
However, although Shippen had the support of club members, the other professional golfers in the tournament were not as welcoming of Shippen. As a matter of fact, some of the other golfers sent a petition to the USGA saying that they objected to "colored boys meeting them on equal terms," and even threatened to withdraw if Shippen and his friend were allowed to partake in the tournament. To his credit, though, the USGA president at the time, Theodore Havemeyer, is said to have responded, "Gentlemen, you can leave or stay as you please. We are going to play this tournament tomorrow, with them--and with or without you." After that, everyone entered to play showed up, and the tournament went on as planned.
John Shippen, Jr. (Photo courtesy THE JOHN SHIPPEN)
Once the tournament got underway, Shippen showed that he belonged, tying for first after one round of play. However, one bad hole in the second round led to Shippen finishing the tournament in fifth. Although Shippen did not walk away in victory, his participation in the tournament cemented his legacy as both the first American-born golf professional and the country's first African-American golf professional.
While Shippen may have made history in New York, his story has a New Jersey ending. He eventually left Shinnecock, and, after stops at a few other clubs, made his way to Shady Rest Golf Club (now Scotch Hills Country Club) in Scotch Plains where he worked until his retirement. In 2009, Shippen was posthumously awarded his PGA Membership by the PGA of America, and in 2018 he was inducted into the New Jersey Golf Association Hall of Fame as a member of its inaugural class.
Over a century after Shippen's historic appearance at the 1896 U.S. Open, THE JOHN SHIPPEN was created to identify historical barriers, expand Black representation in golf, and address the lack of African-American representation in business and leadership roles within golf and the sports industry as a whole.
"As we enter our fourth year, we are proud of all that we have achieved with THE JOHN SHIPPEN," said Sommer Woods, tournament lead for THE JOHN SHIPPEN, "and we're eager to continue honoring Mr. Shippen's legacy by creating opportunities on and off the golf course for talented Black golfers and students of color looking to break into the sports industry."
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