Lakareber Abe and Amari Avery Are Redefining Who Belongs in Golf

Isaiah swam collegiately at the University of Delaware and studied Digital Communications and Advertising. He currently serves as the Content Manager for the Epson Tour.

What happens to the diversity of women's golf when black success becomes routine, not historical?

Okay bestie, let us have a real conversation about something that matters. 💜

There is absolutely no denying that golf as a sport is growing in popularity, and the audiences it attracts are expanding. A game that was once reserved for country club elites is now reaching new demographics and drawing in fans and players alike who do not fit the historical depiction of traditional participants.

But entering its 76th season, we have yet to see a black winner on the LPGA Tour. Let that sink in for a moment.

Lakareber Abe

For Lakareber Abe and Amari Avery, that experience unfolded on fairways instead of pool decks. Now, on the brink of securing LPGA Tour membership, they stand not just as professional golfers, but as a part of a small, powerful legion reshaping who belongs in the game. And I am absolutely here for it! 🙌

"The moment when it really hit me was when I went to college," Amari recalls. "Throughout my whole junior golf career before college, I obviously knew, but I did not really think about it. But when I got to college, it was a huge deal."

Lakareber shared a similar experience, describing the public perception of her blackness as "being a unicorn." "You are probably the first who has played on your team and represented the school, so in ways, it is weird because you are automatically kind of an anomaly," said Abe. "It raises eyebrows in a positive way."

Growing up playing a sport where there is little to no representation of your heritage or culture leads many to adopt role models from other sports where they are finding success. Amari and Lakareber both remember some of the most iconic athletes they were inspired by as kids being the Williams sisters in professional tennis.

"Growing up watching tennis, it is so similar to golf, and maybe even swimming as well, being a little bit more individual," said Amari. "Watching Serena and Venus dominate was a lot of it, of course, as well as how they looked and the representation of seeing someone that looks like me doing things no one has ever done before."

And while they are among the latest athletes to find themselves on the journey to the LPGA Tour, Lakareber and Amari are certainly not the first professional black female golfers.

"You have Renee Powell, you have LaRee Sugg, but unfortunately, I feel like I did not have access to that information as a kid," Lakareber explained. "It is not really information I think is shared enough. So, it is really hard to find yourself in golf.

"I feel like most people would believe Tiger is the first African American guy to win on the PGA Tour, and he is not. Maybe that is on us, as golf, we do not tell our history very well."

Amari Avery

While this may be true, this is not a history paper, and if you want the full rundown on the history of black and African American representation in professional golf, you can head over to Google. Right now, the question is, how does golf get people involved and get them to stick around? How do you get them to find themselves in this game?

Building superstars is a goal of the LPGA, and expansion of the Tour's audience is a key part of that venture. But where does diversifying the reach of the sport factor in?

There is the famous Tiger quote that says, "Winning takes care of everything," but in reality, there is so much more to it.

Lakareber Abe was a WGCA All-American, a three-time All-SEC performer and earned SEC Academic Honor Roll recognition in each of her four years at Alabama. In 2014, Abe became the inaugural recipient of the Joy Culverhouse Scholarship.

"Tiger was so dominant for 20 plus years, and what he accomplished was so historic, yet the floodgates for minority golf did not really do what I think everyone expected it to," Amari said. "Obviously, there are a lot more black golfers playing now, but it has not been the norm at least to see black players competing year-round on the PGA or LPGA Tour. I hope that that is what happens this time around with the next generation."

Golf is a somewhat inaccessible sport in relation to other athletic youth programs many kids try from a young age. Even a basic introduction can cost thousands of dollars, and if the end goal is making it to the big leagues, the investment can climb into the tens or even hundreds of thousands. From equipment to lessons to tee times over an entire amateur career, golf remains one of the hardest and most expensive sports to play. 💰

But the expansion and addition of programs like LPGA*USGA Girls Golf in communities that have not had exposure to the game in the past is definitely a step in the right direction.

For Amari, her introduction to the game as a kid from Southern California came via Youth on Course, a program through which young people can play a round at courses across the country for $5 or less. Initiatives like these, where juniors can be introduced to golf without breaking the bank, demonstrate how intentional access can directly shape pathways into the sport.

Lakareber recalls her experience with the First Tee from her early golf days in Houston and how impactful it was, "having a place you could drop your kids off and then pick them up when you are ready. Programs like this facilitate helping parents who have to work or run errands on the weekends."

Lakareber continued, "When my sister and I started playing, you could get this little card, and you could go to any public course in Houston and show it and play nine holes. I think they got rid of this program because there were too many kids, but things like that changed my golf career."

Too Many Kids?

Too many kids? Is that not how you grow the sport and grow the industry as a whole? Bringing back or implementing new programs like this in more communities would undoubtedly have a huge impact on bringing new faces to the sport, as access is the first step to entry.

And while there is much more that needs to be happening outside of the professional sports world, seeing regular success on this front will have an impact.

When asked what change they hope the results of the first powerhouse black athlete on the LPGA Tour will affect, Avery wants to see on-course performance translate to diversification of the game entirely. "I hope it opens the floodgates, very similar to the Se Ri Pak influence with the Koreans and really just the Asian community as a whole in golf."

Lakareber agreed. "I think it lets people believe that it is not just about getting there. It is about how I can see myself succeeding and winning," said Abe. "And so, if that first win happens in our generation, and it is the next generation that truly flourishes and you see so many more succeed, I think that is what I would like to see."

The success that athletes like Amari and Lakareber enjoy today sets the standard for tomorrow. When black athletes win, it proves to the next generation of young fans that they belong before they even pick up a club. ⛳

And when that success comes to fruition, it then becomes the Tour's, and the media surrounding it, responsibility to amplify that success, tell the stories, show the faces and keep interest in black success piqued.

For now, though, with there not being a black powerhouse player on the LPGA Tour, how do you expand that reach?

Lakareber feels like that answer has much to do with amplification.

"In every sport you have your stars, but you have to have the support cast," she said. "The supporting cast does not have to be the next X number of good players on whatever tour or whatever league. It should be your best personalities, the people who want to have eyes on them. I do think sometimes golfers present as a monolith, but it is not."

The role the media play in connecting the black community to golf comes from a simple idea that Lakareber also calls out: "Black people love when they see another black person doing something and doing it well."

Beyond wins and visibility, both Amari and Lakareber are thinking about how they can use their presence on the Epson Tour to normalize black success in golf. They do not want to just be seen at the top of leaderboards, but expected to be there.

Even though they both would love to be the first black LPGA Tour winner, they also hope to make sure their fellow black players are not treated as exceptions. They want to create a reality where young black girls do not have to search for themselves in the sport because they already know they belong. 👏

The Future Is Now

So, when success comes, they want golf to make a point to elevate it so as to give the next generation of young black girls idols they can look up to, women who show them who they can and should be. Lakareber and Amari hope the game embraces the resulting shift in the golf audience and then does not expect those new fans to conform to the past of the sport.