Building on the Impact of Tiger Woods, University Park to Name First Black Firm to Manage A Golf Club in Illinois

Sonia Coffee
Sonia Coffee

   

Building on the Impact of Tiger Woods, University Park to Name First Black Firm to Manage A Golf Club in Illinois

The world’s most famous golfer Tiger Woods has been sidelined indefinitely as he recovers from serious injuries following a car accident last month in Southern California. But the accident has only increased Wood’s influence as golfers, supporters and fans have undertaken ways to recognize him and highlight the things he supports. Wood’s influence in an industry seeking ways to increase participation of Blacks and other people of color will now reach Illinois.

     On Monday, officials from the village of University Park, located some 40 miles south of Chicago, will officially name the CHW Management Group of Columbus, Ohio to oversee its popular golf course, the University Park Golf Club. With that announcement, CHW Management becomes the first and only Black firm to manage a golf course in Illinois, and one of just a handful of Black firms to manage golf courses in the U.S. CHW Management is also headed by a woman, making Sonia Coffee, one of the few women-led management companies serving the estimated $84 billion golfing industry.

University Park officials will formerly introduce the new management company during a press conference on Monday, March 8, 2021, at 1 p.m. CT., at the golf course, located at 23520 Crawford Ave. Mayor Joseph E. Roudez III said officials in the village of about 7,000 residents, which straddles Cook and Will counties, are excited about playing a role in history, because Ms. Coffee is African American, but also a woman, addressing a major diversity concern in the mostly male and white golfing industry.

“It was a board decision,” Mayor Roudez said. “The presentation by Ms. Sonia Coffee and the CHW management team was head and shoulders above everyone else’s. The professionalism, the level of expertise and their staff will benefit the citizens of University Park. We will create a partnership that empowers the opportunity for an African American firm to make inroads for Blacks in golf. We want to provide Blacks and other people of color with access to the sport. We will work closely with Governor’s State University, which has a golf program. These were all deciding factors to move forward on this partnership.”

Sonia Coffee has been around the game of golf since she was a youth growing up in Columbus. Coffee was introduced to golf by her mother, who was a golf enthusiast and very active in a program called First Tee, which introduces Black youth to the sport. Coffee met Tiger Woods at a First Tee event, and she was inspired by him to leverage her expertise to expand opportunities for people of color and women in the industry.

“He has opened the door for many Black Americans to start playing the game of golf,” Coffee said. “He has inspired a lot of children to start taking up the game of golf, and he has influenced a lot of African Americans to explore business opportunities in the golf industry.”

Woods, 45, stated playing the game as a toddler. At the age of two, he received national attention for swinging a golf club, something he was taught by his late father. In some circles, he is the most famous golfer, ahead of the legendary Jack Nicklaus.

Since returning from back surgery in 2018, Woods has been a boon for the industry. According to the National Golf Foundation, Woods contributed to the surge of interest and a television rating jump of almost 30 percent. In addition to the 33.5 million golf participants, there were another 74 million who watched the game. But of those golfers, an estimated 800,000 are Black and that number has declined from one million over the past decade. Woods said that is due to the cost of the playing of the game and the time needed to play the game. University Park officials believe those numbers will increase in Illinois because CHW Management will expose the game to more people of color by providing training and mentoring for golf enthusiasts, programs that will address cost barriers to playing the sport and access to companies seeking to do business in the golfing industry.

Coffee said the injuries Woods sustained are devastating, but history has proven that Woods can never be counted out when it comes to professionally playing the sport, and, even during his absence from the game, he is creating opportunities for people of color in the industry, like the CHW Management Group.

“Right now, the opportunities seem to be coming more prevalent for African Americans to manage and own their own golf course,” Coffee said. “It is becoming widely vast for African Americans to achieve this goal if this is their goal.”

Mayor Roudez said he wants the University Park Golf Course, one of an estimated 15,000 golfing facilities in the U.S., to become the destination like no other for golfers and golf enthusiasts looking for a course south of Chicago.

“When they talk about the University Park Golf Course, everyone would want to go there,” Roudez said.” It will be the place to be, because of the level of service and because of the PGA pro retained to teach the game of golf. It will be a win-win for University Park, because it will expose more young people, especially Black and other youth of color to the game of golf. We look forward to the future with CHW Management. We look forward to working with them to make the golf course one of the best in Illinois.”

For more information about CHW Management Group, visit the company’s website at www.chwmanagementgroup.com. 

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