DETROIT (March 22, 2021) – Intersport, in collaboration with Rocket Mortgage, Trion Solutions, Dow, The Children’s Foundation and Sommer Woods (co-founder of Woods and Watts Effect), announced today the launch of a new national golf event: ‘THE JOHN SHIPPEN’ to identify historical barriers and expand Black representation in the sport of golf. The event will be held at Detroit Golf Club June 27-28, with a one-hour TV special about THE JOHN SHIPPEN airing on CBS leading into final-round coverage of the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday, July 4.
The event, designed to showcase Black collegiate and professional golfers, is named after John Shippen, Jr., who was the first American-born golf professional and also the country’s first Black golf professional. Shippen was bestowed PGA of America membership posthumously in 2009.
![John Shippen](https://morning-read.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d5ef16e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1600x900+0+0/resize/840x473!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmorning-read-brightspot.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2F6e%2F03%2Fd9609d94443a98175ce11500429a%2Fjohn-shippen-photo-credit-john-shippen-memorial-golf-foundation.jpg)
THE JOHN SHIPPEN will invite the nation’s top amateur and professional Black golfers to provide a platform for heightened opportunities and recognition within the sport.
The women’s division will compete in a two-player team format, with the winning duo earning an exemption into the LPGA’s Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational (July 14–17), which is also played as a team event. The men’s division will be individual stroke play, and the winner will receive an exemption into the PGA TOUR’s Rocket Mortgage Classic (July 1-4). To ensure that any financial barriers are removed, THE JOHN SHIPPEN will cover all travel costs (airfare and hotel) for participating players.
“THE JOHN SHIPPEN aims to address barriers that have prevented talented Black golfers and aspiring business professionals from realizing their dreams of playing professional golf or working in the golf industry,” said Rocket Mortgage CEO Jay Farner.“Rocket Mortgage is proud to support this event.”
Intersport, in conjunction with Woods, collaborated to design THE JOHN SHIPPEN as a vehicle to provide opportunities that can fundamentally increase diversity in golf on a national scale. The sport of golf is an $84 billion industry with more than two million golf-related jobs. However, less than one percent of PGA of America club professionals are Black, and only four current PGA TOUR players are Black. These statistics do not reflect a lack of talented Black golfers, but rather, they reflect limited access and resources. Historical barriers for Black golfers include: affordable and consistent access to championship courses; quality golf equipment; top-rated swing coaches; sponsorship; and access to capital for housing and travel.
“We at Intersport believe THE JOHN SHIPPEN will serve as a springboard from which to bolster accessibility to the sport of golf for young Black players and sports professionals,” said Jason Langwell, Executive Vice President of Intersport and Executive Director of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. “As a national sports marketing firm, we are fully committed to the creation and expansion of opportunities and growth for Black athletes and professionals, now and in the future. Through our THE JOHN SHIPPEN Sports Business Summit, we will offer scholarships and paid internships to several student participants and will encourage our corporate partners and sponsors to do the same.”
THE JOHN SHIPPEN was also created to address the lack of Black representation in business and leadership roles in golf and across professional sports. To create an avenue for awareness and opportunities, THE JOHN SHIPPEN Sports Business Summit for high school and college students will be held virtually June 29-30, allowing athletes, influencers and business professionals to share their experiences and advice about how to pursue and secure a career within the business of sports. Summit attendees will be given the opportunity to apply for paid internships and scholarships from sponsors, organizations and foundations within and beyond the sports industry.
"Golf has been an important part of my life as a young golfer, as a collegiate athlete and as a professional working at the PGA TOUR,” said Sommer Woods, Co-Founder of Woods and Watts Effect, Tournament Lead for THE JOHN SHIPPEN and Volunteer Vice Chair of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. “Collaborating on THE JOHN SHIPPENaffords Woods & Watts Effect the opportunity to address an issue that we are passionate about, which is equity in sports. We are excited about our partnership with the Rocket Mortgage Classic and Intersport, and we look forward to this transformative event. This event can change the world, starting with the world of golf.”
Rocket Mortgage has signed on as presenting sponsor of THE JOHN SHIPPEN. Trion Solutions, the nation’s largest minority-owned Professional Employer Organization, has agreed to become the first of six national sponsors for the event.
THE JOHN SHIPPEN will be held during the week leading up to the Rocket Mortgage Classic, the first PGA TOUR event ever held within the city of Detroit. The Rocket Mortgage Classic was the most awarded event during the 2018-19 PGA TOUR season, being recognized for three awards, including the first “Fair Way Award” for its diversity and inclusion initiatives.
John Shippen, Jr. first worked in golf as a caddie at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York, and after playing in his first of six U.S. Opens in 1896, was hired as the golf professional at the Maidstone Club in East Hampton, New York later that year.
Shippen later worked as a golf professional at Aronimink Golf Club near Philadelphia and spent the majority of his working life at Shady Rest Golf Course in Scotch Plains, New Jersey - the first African-American owned and operated golf club in the United States - where he served from 1924-1960.
The John Shippen Memorial Golf Foundation was founded in 1995 by Thurman and Ruby Simmons in Scotch Plains. They began studying his legacy in 1988 and have spent more than 30 years elevating Shippen’s name and recognizing his place in American history. In addition to funding paid internship and scholarship opportunities, a portion of the proceeds from THE JOHN SHIPPEN will be donated to The John Shippen Memorial Golf Foundation.
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For updated information on THE JOHN SHIPPEN, please visit www.TheJohnShippen.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram (@TheJohnShippen) and on Twitter (@TheJShippen). For information about sponsorship opportunities or how to get involved, email us at thejohnshippen@intersport.net.
About Intersport
Since 1985, Intersport has been an award-winning innovator and leader in the creation of sports, lifestyle, culinary and entertainment-based marketing platforms. With expertise in Sponsorship Consulting, Experiential Marketing, Hospitality, Customer Engagement, Content Marketing, Productions and Sports Properties, this Chicago-based Marketing & Media Solutions Company helps their clients to create ideas, content and experiences that attract and engage passionate audiences. To learn more about Intersport, visit www.intersport.global, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
About Woods & Watts Effect
Woods & Watts Effect is an equity and inclusion consulting firm of transformation engineers, co-founded by Sommer Woods and Michele Lewis Watts, Ph.D. They are a solutions-driven team that adeptly designs programs that assess a company’s strengths and areas for improvement relative to inclusion and social equity. Woods & Watts Effect is innovative in their thinking, their engagement and their execution. Through a bold, non-traditional and engaging approach, they produce viable and actionable solutions for sustainable change. More information is available at WoodsWattsEffect.com.
About Quicken Loans/Rocket Mortgage
Detroit-based Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest home mortgage lender and a part of Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT), enables the American Dream of homeownership and financial freedom through its obsession with an industry-leading, digital-driven client experience. The company closed $213 billion dollars of mortgage volume across all 50 states in the first three quarters of 2020. In late 2015, Quicken Loans introduced Rocket Mortgage, the first fully digital mortgage experience. Currently, 98% of all home loans originated by Quicken Loans utilize Rocket Mortgage Technology.
Quicken Loans moved its headquarters to downtown Detroit in 2010. Today, Quicken Loans and Rocket Companies employ more than 22,000 full-time team members nationwide. The company generates loan production from web centers located in Detroit, Cleveland and Phoenix and operates a centralized loan processing facility in Detroit. Quicken Loans ranked highest in the country for customer satisfaction for primary mortgage origination by J.D. Power for 11 consecutive years, 2010 – 2020, and also ranked highest in the country for customer satisfaction among all mortgage servicers seven consecutive years, 2014 – 2020.
Quicken Loans was once again named to FORTUNE magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list in 2020 and has been included in the magazine’s top 1/3rd of companies named to the list for the past 17 consecutive years. In addition, Essence Magazine named Quicken Loans “#1 Place to Work in the Country for African Americans.”
For more information and company news visit QuickenLoans.com/press-room.
About Trion Solutions
Trion Solutions, with corporate headquarters in Troy, Mich., and additional offices in Aventura, Fla., Scottsdale, Ariz. and Traverse City, Mich., is among the nation’s Top 10 largest Professional Employer Organizations. Trion works to relieve the stress and burden for businesses of all sizes in managing payroll, benefits administration, workers’ compensation, regulatory compliance, retirement planning and other HR-related services. The company was co-founded by Bonner Upshaw III and David L. Stone, Trion CEO and President respectfully. It is certified minority owned and was a national finalist in the 2019 EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. More about Trion Solutions can be found at www.relyontrion.com.
About Dow
Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines global breadth, asset integration and scale, focused innovation and leading business positions to achieve profitable growth. The Company’s ambition is to become the most innovative, customer centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company, with a purpose to deliver a sustainable future for the world through our materials science expertise and collaboration with our partners. Dow’s portfolio of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings and silicones businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated science-based products and solutions for its customers in high-growth market segments, such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer care. Dow operates 106 manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employs approximately 35,700 people. Dow delivered sales of approximately $39 billion in 2020.
About The Children’s Foundation
The Children’s Foundation, an independent community foundation for children, is the largest funder dedicated solely to advancing the health and wellness of children in the state of Michigan and beyond. The Foundation is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and actively engages in working with community partners to provide opportunities for underserved children and families to pursue healthy lifestyles and education. Since 2011, The Foundation has distributed more than 70 million dollars in grant funding to more than 120 partners throughout the state and continues to build partnerships in the City of Detroit. Current initiatives of The Children’s Foundation include Children’s Hospital of Michigan Foundation, The Jamie Daniels Foundation, First Tee – Greater Detroit and the Paul W. Smith Charities. Current areas of focus for the Foundation include mental health, nutritional wellness, abuse and neglect, oncology and cardiology research and injury prevention. Learn more at www.YourChildrensFoundation.org.
Greg Ball
Senior Account Executive
BZA Public Relations (BZA)
760-271-9183 | gregb@bzapr.com
LinkedIn: BZA Public Relations