Top Black pro, amateurs say golf needs more barrier-breakers like Shippen
Detroit — Shasta Averyhardt started playing golf at around age 7, quickly began working with an instructor, and eventually earned a scholarship to play at Jackson State, a historically Black university in Mississippi.
She also understands all the barriers that exist, and all the opportunities that often don’t, for Black golfers. She never played in an American Junior Golf Association tournament, because her family couldn’t afford it, with all the entry fees and travel costs.
Averyhardt, 35, of Flint, who played on the LPGA Tour in 2011 and 2013, is one of 12 women and 20 men who are competing