"The United Golfers Association has traditionally provided the essential services needed by all golfers who might otherwise have been left out. We have actively pursued our set goals by promoting the game of golf under the most bizarre circumstance..."

- Porter Pernell, president of the UGA, in a welcoming letter to golfers participating in the UGA's 50th Annual National Championship in 1976

On labor day weekend, 1926, professional golfers from all over the country gathered at the Mapledale Country Club in Stow, Massachusetts, to compete for a national title. The purse wasn't much -- only $100 for the winner -- and the course was a simple nine-hole layout. But none of that mattered: For the first time, these professionals could compete for an officially sanctioned national championship. The tournament was sponsored by the newly-formed United States Colored Golf Association, and was proudly billed as the first Negro National Open.

The National, as it came to be known, quickly established itself as the major event for African-American golfers. The tournament was a proving ground for gifted minorities at a time when they usually were not allowed to enter white tournaments. Yet in its early years, the National was far more than a golf tournament. It was where black golfers came together in a show of strength and solidarity, both of which they needed in a segregated America.

Many blacks -- like John Shippen, who had a shot at winning the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills in 1897 -- had learned golf as caddies. It was virtually the only way they could play on private and public courses. One social historian has estimated that of the more than 5,000 golf facilities in the United States in 1939, fewer than 20 were open to black players.

To advance their cause, many black golfers banded together in clubs -- clubs without courses, to be sure, but there was strength in numbers. In Chicago, the Windy City Golf Club was active as early as 1915, organizing tournaments and challenging the practices that prevented members from competing against white golfers. In New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., similar clubs formed under the leadership of prominent African-Americans, many of them doctors, architects, and businessmen who were not inclined to walk away when a door was closed to them.

By the 1920s, these clubs had come together to form the USCGA, and in 1926 the organization created a national tournament, to be held at Mapledale, a club created by Robert Hawkins, one of the most enterprising promoters of black golf. In fact, the first three Nationals were held at Mapledale, and in 1928 the tournament included both a professional and amateur division. Hawkins wanted to make sure that all the participants enjoyed themselves, and the National offered -- in addition to the purse for professionals -- prizes for the longest drive, the best dressed golfer, and the "best looking set of golf clubs," as well as a dinner dance.

When Mapledale closed in 1929, the National -- always held the last full week of August -- moved on to locations as farflung as Casa Loma, Wisconsin, and Kankakee, Illinois. The USCGA changed its name, becoming the United Golf Association (UGA). In 1930, when a Women's Amateur competition was inaugurated, the tournament determined three national titles.

Pat Ball was the dominant black golfer of the era, winning the National four times between 1927 and 1941. His last victory came at the Ponkapogue Golf Club, near Boston, when "the ancient Pat" (he was 42) made up four strokes over the last 12 holes. Ball's victory was all the sweeter since his wife, Cleo, won the women's title.

After World War II, when play resumed after a four-year hiatus, the National enjoyed its glory years. As more courses opened to African-Americans, the number of talented players increased exponentially. The best of them -- Ted Rhodes, Howard Wheeler, Bill Spiller, and Charlie Sifford -- were stars on the developing UGA circuit, which staged tournaments all over the country. These golfers were barred from most PGA tournaments because membership in the PGA was limited to "Professional Golfers of the Caucasian Race" -- a clause that remained in effect until 1961.

"Butch" Wheeler was the first post-war player to put his name on the National trophy, winning the title three times in succession from 1946 to 1948. A tall, lanky player with a cross-handed grip, Wheeler could regularly belt drives of 300 yards.

Rhodes, known as "Rags" for his sartorial elegance, was a more orthodox, consistent, and stylish player whose game was built around his devastating accuracy, especially with irons, and a fine touch around the greens. Soft-spoken and easy-going, Rhodes gave the impression of gliding effortlessly around the golf course, and he often won tournaments by huge margins. In 1949, he won the first of three consecutive National titles.

Yet the best-known golfer, the one who attracted the largest and most enthusiastic galleries, had made his reputation elsewhere. He was Joe Louis, the "Brown Bomber," perhaps the most celebrated and beloved athlete in the world at that time.

In 1936, the year before he won the world heavyweight boxing title, Louis discovered golf -- and he couldn't get enough of it. His managers had to restrict his play to every other day when he was in training. He hired top black golfers, including Rhodes for a time, as his "personal professionals." He staked needy golfers to the entry fees for UGA tournaments, and he sponsored his own UGA tournament, the Joe Louis Open, at Detroit's Rackham Golf Course. He competed in many of the UGA events, and in 1951, Louis fulfilled a goal by winning the National -- in the amateur division.

By the mid 1950s, the top professional honors belonged securely to Charlie Sifford, who won a record five consecutive National titles from 1952 to 1956, and added a sixth in 1960 -- the same year he began to play regularly on the PGA Tour. This same pattern was to be repeated by other black golfers like Pete Brown, Lee Elder, Calvin Peete, and Jim Thorpe; they won their competitive spurs on the UGA circuit and then moved to the PGA Tour. Small wonder: Top money on the UGA circuit averaged about $500, while the PGA pros were playing for $20,000 and more.

The National celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1976 at Torrey Pines in San Diego. As usual, hundreds of golfers turned up for the event, many making the long journey from the East Coast. Segregation had long since ended, but Tournament Director Tim Thomas remembers arriving at Torrey Pines and being told that the tournament would have to be cancelled. The superintendent said the course couldn't accommodate so many players. "We had to go down to the mayor's office to straighten it out," says Thomas, "but I had the brackets arranged for each flight and the scorecards marked. I had it right there in my briefcase. We played. Yes, we played."

Yet, that 1976 event was one of the last. The UGA didn't have enough money to run another professional competition, and by the mid-'80s, with UGA membership on the decline, the National just faded away. Once black golfers had access to courses, once the PGA opened its tournaments, the need for separate events became a thing of the past. "I'll tell you what happened to the National," Thomas says. "Integration, that's what happened. But we had our day, and it was well worth it."