Renee Powell will be honored

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Renee Powell gave a public lecture last summer at St. Andrews titled, “The Many Faces of Women’s Golf.” She returns to the gray old town in Scotland this summer for an occasion she never imagined.

A coach, player, pioneer and one of only three blacks to play on the LPGA Tour, Powell will become the first female golfer awarded an honorary degree at the University of St. Andrews.

“This is my first honorary degree, and to receive it from the University of St. Andrews, I am truly humbled,” said Powell, who is the head pro at Clearview Golf Club in East Canton, Ohio. “I am very honored to be one of just a handful of golfers to receive an honorary doctorate from the university. And to be the first female golfer is incredible.”

Powell played 13 years on the LPGA Tour before retiring in 1980 to become a golf instructor in the United States, Africa and Europe. Clearview Golf Course is the only U.S. course that is designed own and operated by a black person — in this case, her father, William Powell.

Other golfers who be awarded an honorary degree include Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, and Charlie Sifford.

It will be Powell’s third trip to the home of golf.

“When I walk around St. Andrews, I realize how very fortunate I am to have been taught the game of golf and to play to such a level that has allowed me the opportunity to travel to St. Andrews,” she said.