First Lee Elder scholarship winners already expanding golf to their communities

When the Augusta National Golf Club announced in November 2020 that it would be funding a women’s golf program at Paine College, an Historically Black College and University in Augusta, and endowing two student-athletes with the first Lee Elder scholarships in honor of the first Black man to compete in a Masters Tournament, Elder was understandable enthusiastic.

Elder died in November 2021, but a clear sign of his legacy was seen Wednesday.

Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley announced Wednesday that golfers Taya Buxton and Devin Smith would be the first recipients of the scholarship endowed in Elder’s name.

"I'm really proud to see them here," Ridley said during the annual pre-tournament press conference. "I'm happy for them and for Paine College."

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Ridley called it a particularly proud personal moment, as he and Elder first met at the 1977 Masters and played a practice round together.

"We knew how much Paine College meant to him. It's a special time for all of us that this came together, and we certainly miss Lee," Ridley said. "He was a man of such grace, and I really respect him."

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The scholarship recipients

Buxton, a 17-year-old senior at Oletangy Liberty High School in Powell, Ohio, will join Paine College’s first women’s golf team for the 2022-23 season.

“I felt like it would be a tremendous opportunity to receive the scholarship and come and be a part of the first year of women’s golf at Paine,” Braxton said. “It’s an honor to be here with the Augusta connection, and to have the chance, with some of my new teammates, to build this program.”

Buxton started playing golf as a young child, when her father and grandfather starting putting her on the course and teaching her the game.

It was in middle school when Buxton said she really fell in love with the game and as a junior in high school she began having visions of playing collegiately and making her presence felt as an influencer.

“Women’s golf is getting bigger every year,” she said. “And along with my desire to play and my confidence in the game, I just felt like I could really come in and make a difference. Impact the game and make changes to advance it even further.”

Smith, who plays at Savannah State, also saw honor in being at the Masters to see his, and Buxton’s favorite golfer, Tiger Woods, potentially make a comeback for the ages. Smith says he has tried to emulate Woods as a performer on the course and an ambassador off it.

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“I like to think that I have a lot of him in me, from just the way he approaches the game to how, like, I try to carry myself on the course,” Smith said. “Plus, competing in the game as a Black man myself, his career has just been such an influence and inspiration to me.”

Extending Elder's legacy

Smith, who’s been golfing since his father took him to a driving range as a child, said growing up around people who weren’t as familiar with golf prodded him to spark an interest in others the same way Woods influenced him.

“In the town I grew up in, a lot of my friends — many of them were Black too — were actually surprised that I played golf,” Smith said of Bloomingdale, Michigan, in the western part of the state. “Of course everybody was into basketball and football and other sports, but I felt like me being around them and being as into the game as I was could help expose them to become interested as well.

“I wanted them to see the game is much more fun than they probably thought it was. I also wanted them to know they didn’t have to be afraid of being accepted into golf courses. I wanted them to see that what I was doing was definitely a great sport.”

Both Buxton and Smith said they couldn’t wait to see how things could play out for Woods, whose potential return to competition at the Masters has dominated the storylines at Augusta National this year.

“Everything about him just inspires me to try and be a better golfer,” Buxton said. “Even here at The Masters and how he’s making the attempt to come back, and, it just really embodies who he is to the game to me. I’m excited to see it.”

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Taya Buxton, Devin Smith receive first Lee Elder scholarship awards