Barrier-breaking Powell will captain U.S. Junior Solheim Cup team

May 5—Renee Powell is no stranger to receiving high honors. She's been doing so throughout the course of her 75 years.

The latest distinction in her hallowed career is captaining the United States team in the upcoming Ping Junior Solheim Cup at Sylvania Country Club.

"I am so excited about the Ping Junior Solheim Cup and being the USA captain," the Ohioan said. "The great thing about the Ping Junior Solheim Cup is that so many of the ladies who play in the Solheim Cup previously played in the Junior Solheim Cup."

The junior version will take place Sept. 1 and 2 in the lead-up to the Solheim Cup at Inverness.

The Junior Solheim Cup is a mirror of the professional tournament, featuring the top American and European junior girls playing foursome, four-ball, and singles matches.

The Americans aren't the only team with golf royalty leading their group — Annika Sorenstam will captain the Europeans.

"We're honored Renee has accepted our offer to captain the U.S. Ping Junior Solheim Cup team in 2021," Ping chairman and CEO John A. Solheim said. "She's a true pioneer in the game of golf whose accomplishments speak for themselves and contributions to the sport around the world are long and ever-lasting. Her support of girls golf throughout her Hall of Fame career makes her the perfect choice for the captain's role.

"She'll draw on her experience as far back as captaining her college golf teams to her career on the LPGA Tour to inspire and motivate her team. I know she'll leave a positive and life-long impression on every girl who earns their way onto the team."

In 1967, Powell became just the second Black woman to compete on the LPGA Tour. She won her lone professional tournament in Australia in 1973, shooting a final-round course-record 67 to capture the Kelly Springfield Open.

Upon retirement, Powell became an influential figure in growing the game and introducing golf to underserved segments of society. She became the first female head golf professional in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, hosted nearly 30 clinics in Africa as an International Goodwill Ambassador, and was one of the first female golfers to design her own clothing line.

Powell has hosted lectures and clinics at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, exposing minority students and communities to the game of golf. In 2008, she became the first female golfer and just the third American to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of St. Andrews. A decade later, the university named a residence after Powell.

The prestige hasn't faded as she's aged.

Quite the opposite, actually.

Powell became the first woman of color to be elected to membership in the PGA of America and served as the first At-Large Director of the organization's board. In 2015, she was one of two American women bestowed honorary membership into the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.

Two distinguished honors came her way in 2020, as Powell received the Golf Writers Association of America's Charlie Bartlett Award, which is given to a playing professional for their unselfish contributions for the betterment of society. A few months later, she collected the Donald Ross Award from the American Society of Golf Course Architects, becoming only the fifth golf professional to receive the award, joining Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Byron Nelson, and Gene Sarazen.

"I've learned so much from Renee and will continue to learn from her," Solheim Cup director Becky Newell said.

When Solheim called Powell last fall asking if she'd captain the U.S. team, she was reluctant. Powell is the co-owner and head pro at Clearview Country Club in East Canton, a course her father built in 1946. Clearview, named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, remains the only golf course designed, constructed, owned, and operated by a Black man.

And 2021 is the 75th anniversary of its opening, with a flurry of events scheduled to commemorate the occasion. But after mulling over Solheim's offer, which included conversations with Kathy Whitworth, PGA of America president Suzy Whaley, and 2019 U.S. captain Mary Bea Porter-King, Powell came to the realization that her answer was simple.

"I said, 'Oh, my gosh, what's wrong with me? This is an incredible opportunity,'" Powell recollected. "I've always been involved with junior golf anyway, and to be a part of something that is part of our nation and it's here in Ohio, that's pretty awesome.

"Watching young people grow and watching young people reach the top level of their game is always exciting to see. Just being able to watch their faces and watch the pride that they're going to have in participating for their country, I think it brings out pride in every citizen in our nation."

The Junior Solheim Cup was founded in 2002 by Karsten and Louise Solheim, the creators of Ping Golf and a driving force in the advent of the Solheim Cup. The list of Junior Solheim Cup alumni reads like a Who's Who of women's golf: Jessica and Nelly Korda, Lexi Thompson, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel, Brittany Lincicome, Brittany Lang, Anna Nordqvist, Charley Hull, Carlota Ciganda, Georgia Hall, Caroline Masson, and Mel Reid.

The U.S. is 7-2-1 all-time and has won the last six competitions. The Americans have never lost on U.S. soil.

"I'm looking forward to it," Powell said, "and bringing home a win for the USA."