A daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a realtor, a newspaper columnist, putting coach to the great Charlie Sifford, and a champion golfer. That’s who Thelma Louise Simmons, or Thelma Cowans, was. A true renaissance woman, who deserved a seat at the table. All too often, Black women leave this earth without receiving their flowers. We are decades late, but Mrs. Cowan, here are your flowers.

Born in Eatonton, Georgia in 1912 to Sid and Carrie Simmons, Thelma was one of eight children. It is lost on no historian that the most famous son of her hometown was Joel Chandler Harris, the author of the Uncle Remus novels.

In 1922, the Simmons family would up and move to Detroit, but Thelma wouldn’t forget her Georgia roots.

At age 15, Thelma would marry her first husband, Charles Lorenzo McTyre. The two had a son and a daughter, but the marriage would end in 1936. There isn’t much on Thelma’s early life beyond her family life, until she picked up a club.

The 1940s were a time of cultural change. The world was at war for a second time. Men were preparing to leave their families and women would find themselves in the workforce and enjoying it. The Golden Age of Hollywood had the nation enthralled with glamor, depictions of the American Dream in motion pictures. So much was going on, and people longed for something to give them peace of mind. Thelma was anemic, and her doctor had suggested that she pick up golf -- claiming that the fresh air would make her strong. The course of Thelma’s life and golf history would be changed forever.

Thelma fell in love with the game, and so did her sister Theresa. She and her sister would return to Georgia, where they attended Morris Brown College in Atlanta. The duo would go on to establish a golf team there and organize tournaments where other black women would compete. One year, Thelma won the Southern Intercollegiate Women’s Championship held in Tuskegee, Alabama. Theresa finished second. This began a long on-course rivalry between the sisters. Theresa often got her revenge, just as in the 1945 Forest City tournament in Cleveland, Ohio, where Theresa won, beating Thelma.

Hidden Pioneer

Thelma Cowans Blazed A Trail For Black Women Golfers

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