By Jonathan Potts

Growing up in Brooklyn and Queens, History Professor Steven Schlossman, 58, hardly fit golf's country-club stereotype. And yet, as he honed his skills on the public courses near his home - winning high school and collegiate championships - it was a sport in which he increasingly found refuge.


"As a kid growing up in an apartment in New York City, I found the game compelling because it got me out in the countryside without having to go too far," said Schlossman, who captained the golf team at Queens College.

Schlossman gave up golf in graduate school, but as a historian, the game continued to fascinate him. Over the past 25 years, the history of sport has gained popularity as a subject on college campuses, and during the 1990s, Carnegie Mellon's History Department hired an adjunct professor to teach the history of sport.

So last spring, after toying with the idea for several years, Schlossman taught, for the first time, "The Rise of Modern Golf, 1860-2005."

"Sports are a central cultural institution whose changing place in American society needs to be reflected in the curriculum. ...I think that here at Carnegie Mellon, because of our special interest in social history, the topic of sports is a very good one for exploring race, social class, gender and age," Schlossman said.

Seventeen students enrolled in the seminar-style course, including several members of Carnegie Mellon's golf team, representing a cross-section of the university's schools and colleges. Required readings included "The Greatest Game Ever Played: Vardon, Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf" by Mark Frost; "The Immortal Bobby: Bobby Jones and the Golden Age of Golf" by Ron Rapoport; and "The Wicked Game: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and the Story of Modern Golf" by Howard Sounes.


The class may have been about a sport, but it wasn't all fun and games. Students said that the readings, lectures and videos sparked in-depth discussions, and that Schlossman's tough exams were definitely not for duffers.

"I loved it. We got to read some very interesting books. I've read a lot of golf books before but none that pertained to the social issues related to golf," said Jordan Esten, a senior business and finance major.

Senior Joe Phillips, the lone history major in the course, said that Schlossman successfully illustrated how golf embodied the way that American institutions dealt with racial and economic injustice.

"I definitely learned a lot about the prejudices of the game. Golf has a lot more flaws, not necessarily on the course, but with the American country club, and how it's treated people and excluded people," Esten said.

The course included a visit from Carol Semple Thompson, seven-time USGA women's amateur golf champion and captain of the 2006 U.S. Curtis Cup team. Thompson discussed her career and how professional and amateur golf has changed for both men and women over the past four decades.

Thompson told the class that when she began playing competitively in the early 1970s, she opted not to turn professional because there was little money on the women's tour at the time. "People find it difficult to understand the appeal of amateurism. I believe that for love of the game, it's still the best way to go," she said.

Schlossman also took his students on a tour of the Oakmont Country Club's storied golf course that included a talk on the club's history by Head Professional Bob Ford. Oakmont will host the U.S. Open for a record eighth time in 2007.

Pittsburgh is in fact home to several outstanding golf courses, and since making his home here Schlossman has resumed playing golf. "During my time in Pittsburgh there's been a tremendous expansion of golf opportunities for the middle class," he said.

Schlossman is teaching a course in the fall called "Memories of the Game" which will focus on the genres of golf writing, including biography, autobiography and golf journalism. Schlossman said the game continues to reflect his own experiences.

"I find the variety of skills demanded by this game to be more challenging than any other game I've played. ...The aloneness, the individuality of golf, is exactly parallel to the aloneness of being a historian," he said.


Related Links:

The Department of History
Steven Schlossman