Charlie Sifford is known as the Jackie Robinson of golf. Now, a scholarship in his honor helps students attend HBCUs.
Sifford mastered the game while playing at Cobbs Creek in West Philly, which is currently being restored by the the Cobbs Creek Foundation.
Coming from a single-parent household, with another sibling already in college, 20-year-old Philadelphia native Tommi Crump knew she would need a lot of scholarships if she wanted to attend Delaware State.
So, one day, her mother, Erika Wines, sent her a social media post about the Charlie Sifford Scholarship Fund. Crump applied for and received the $5,000 scholarship before her freshman year in 2024 and earned it again this year. The fund was created to honor Sifford, a trailblazing golfer who got his start at West Philadelphia’s Cobbs Creek Golf Course, and help fund college costs for students attending historically Black colleges and universities or for students focusing their education on a golf management program.
“It truly made a great impact on me and helped me out a lot financially because attending an out-of-state HBCU is very expensive,” said Crump, who’s majoring in preveterinary medicine. “And my mom definitely doesn’t have the funds to provide $40,000 a year for me to attend school. So it really means a lot that someone is gracious enough to provide me with financial aid support.”
Sifford is known as the Jackie Robinson of golf and was the first Black person to play and win on the PGA Tour. His perseverance helped many other young golfers make their way onto the course, including his protégé, Tiger Woods.
Now, his legacy lives on through the Sifford Scholarship Fund.
“He faced a lot of obstacles that could have discouraged a lot of people,” said Houston native Lourraine De Luna, another 2026 Sifford Scholar. “But he continued forward, changing the landscape of his sport. I’m also an athlete, so his story reminds me of true leadership that isn’t just about personal success. It’s about creating opportunities for those who come after me. It’s the kind of legacy I hope to leave as well.”
» READ MORE: How Golfing pioneer Sifford got his start at Philly's Cobbs Creek
As a sophomore soccer player at Lincoln University, De Luna, 19, is a first-year recipient of the award. Before applying for the scholarship, she already knew of Sifford’s legacy from her father, Alfred Quarles, a huge fan of the golfer. De Luna also is interested in golf and has volunteered at her aunt’s golf tournament, the DMP Servant’s Heart Charity Golf Classic, in Houston.
“Receiving this scholarship is an incredible honor because it connects me to a legacy bigger than myself,” De Luna said. “His impact continues to grow and inspire people every day, and I’m grateful to be carrying his legacy forward.”
De Luna and Crump are two of 12 scholarship recipients.
The Sifford Scholarship Fund was founded in 2022, during Sifford’s centennial year. Sifford, a Charlotte, N.C., native who moved to Philly as a teenager and lived there for nearly two decades, died in 2015 at age 92.
Each tournament did something to celebrate Sifford’s centennial year. But organizers of the Hartford Open, now known as the Travelers Championship, wanted to do something more to honor his legacy. Sifford’s first PGA Tour win came at the 1967 Hartford Open.
“They were the catalyst for starting the scholarship fund and they are the inaugural donor,” said Russell Crockett Jr., the managing partner of Just Let Me Play LLC, which manages Sifford’s estate. “They had a golf tournament on the golf course Charlie won the tournament on as a fundraiser for our scholarship fund. But, one of the criteria as part of a scholarship is that we had to have an already established foundation in order to manage the funds.”
» READ MORE: Golf pioneer Charlie Sifford, former Philly resident, dies at 92 | from 2015
That’s where the Cobbs Creek Foundation comes in. The foundation is a nonprofit focused on restoring the Cobbs Creek Golf Course, which is known as the “great uniter,” welcoming everyone to enjoy the game of golf, including Sifford, who called it his “home course.” In addition to its driving range, learning facility and nine-hole short course, the complex recently opened the Little Horse Tavern, named in honor of Sifford.
“This is where [my father] got his first start after experiencing what it was like to be a Black golfer in the segregated South,” Charles Sifford Jr. said at a Cobbs Creek event in April. “He began to see what might be possible. Even when opportunities were limited because of his skin color.
“Cobbs Creek is more than a golf course. It’s a place of community, a place to play and compete, and a place to belong. I love the fact that not only is the golf course being restored to its original routing. It brought back its original purpose — a place where all Philadelphians can come and enjoy.”
That connection made backing a scholarship to benefit HBCU students a no-brainer.
“It was a natural thing for us,” said Enrique Hervada, the chief operating officer of the Cobbs Creek Foundation. “We met Russ Crockett and Charles Sifford Jr., and they were looking for some help to get the foundation started. So we became their fiduciary for them.
“We try to support them however we can. It’s very rewarding for us at the foundation, the Cobbs Creek Foundation to see real things come out of the work we’ve done. We’re helping a lot of kids here as well, but as far as the Sifford scholarship, we’re thrilled to be a part of it. We think it’s a great mission and something we certainly believe in and are happy to help with.”
