After publishing my first Substack story in December, a profile on late Oakland golf pro Lucius Bateman, I received an email from Howard Oliver. Oliver, an East Oakland native who once qualified for the USGA Mid-Amateur event, knew Bateman’s story well, along with those of many other golf instructors who guided Oakland youth.
I was then introduced to Preston Pinkney, director of a youth golf academy at Lake Chabot, my home course as a child and at Oakland Tech.
Oliver and Pinkney are rooted in Oakland history. Each instructor engraves the names of pioneering Oakland instructors on their tournament trophies – Oliver has The Reola Cup, named after his mentor Reola Freeman; and Pinkney’s hardware has the name of longtime Chabot instructor Linda Rawls.
I spent a day each with Oliver and Pinkney, learning the unique ways each man brings the game to underrepresented communities — in golf, that’s mostly everyone but white men. For The Oaklandside story, I reported on how a Baseball Hall of Famer’s clubs helped launch a fundraiser at exclusive Blackhawk Country Club; how golf connects one father, who was never introduced to the game as a child, with his sons; and of how a music recording session in Richmond helped turn a rapper and producer down a new career path.
There are a few other stories in the works that I’m very excited about. Stay tuned!