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Clifford Roberts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clifford Roberts (March 6, 1894 – September 29, 1977) was an American golf administrator.
Born in Morning Sun, Iowa, he served as Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club from 1931 through 1976 and was named "Chairman in Memoriam" after his death. He also served as Chairman of the Masters Tournament from 1934 through 1976.
An astute investment banker, Roberts made his mark on Wall Street as a partner with Reynolds & Company. The New York financier, along with golf legend Bobby Jones, formed a partnership with noted golf course designer Alister MacKenzie to plan the Augusta National Golf Club and to establish The Masters golf tournament. In the early years, he and Jones personally extended invitations to the tournament. Moreover, his friendship with America's 34th president led Dwight Eisenhower to make Augusta National his retreat during the 1950s.
Roberts was sometimes described as a 'benevolent dictator' and had a poor track record concerning race relations. It wasn't until 1975, that Lee Elder became the first black golfer to play in the Masters Tournament (although he wasn't the first non-white golfer to compete, for example Sukree Onsham of Thailand played in 1970 and 1971). During his tenure, there were no black members of Augusta National, and in 1977, he was quoted as saying "As long as I'm alive, golfers will be white, and caddies will be black".
Roberts committed suicide by gunshot in 1977.
He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1978.
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