Renee Powell - LPGA/PGA Professional

International Golf Ambassador

Champion for Veterans

Social Change Patriot

Renee Powell is one of the most resilient and persevering athletes of our time, and golf's greatest living ambassador.

Raised on the East Canton, Ohio golf course built by her father, William “Bill” Powell, during times of racial adversity and segregation, Renee learned early on what it meant to excel against the odds.

By age three, she was swinging a golf club for the first time, and early in her teenage years she had won more than 30 tournaments. In 1967, she became the second African-American woman to compete on the LPGA Tour. As a tour professional, she withstood the challenges and struggles of socially turbulent period and played in more than 250 worldwide events. Renee won the 1973 Kelly Springfield Open in Brisbane, Australia.

In 1971, Renee was part of a USO tour to Vietnam, in support of our troops, and would expand upon that rare experience throughout a career to support both men and women in military service to our country.

In the late 1970s, Renee extended her history-making career to new levels. In 1979, while a member of the Professional Golfers Association of Great Britain & Ireland, she was named the first woman head professional of a private golf club in the United Kingdom, Silvermere Golf Club.

It was during this time that she also designed popular golf apparel and would begin guest commentating at golf events in the United States on both CBS and ABC.

Following her LPGA tour career, Renee dedicated her life to diversifying the game of golf and extending the mission of her father to make the sport welcoming to all.

Renee became an International Goodwill Ambassador traveling to Africa on more than 25 trips to host golf clinics. She has also committed her life to expanding golf to more youth, women, seniors, minorities, and military veterans.

In 2011, she launched Clearview HOPE (Helping Our Patriots Everywhere) a cost-free, year-round therapeutic and recreational golf program specifically for women veterans. In 2016, Clearview also became the site for a PGA HOPE program, which attracted male veterans. Renee’s dual programs sparked expansion of PGA HOPE programming throughout the Northern Ohio PGA Section.

Renee has earned countless awards during her more than five decades in the game of golf. Three premier honors happened as Renee was embraced by St. Andrews, Scotland, the “Home of Golf.”

In 2008, Renee became the third American, and the only woman golfer, to ever receive an honorary doctorate from The University of St. Andrews. In 2015, she became one of two American women initially given honorary membership into the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. And in 2018, the 600-plus year old University of St. Andrews made Renee the first American to have a campus building dedicated in her name.

Renee is a member of 12 Halls of Fame, and her other notable awards include being named PGA of America First Lady of Golf, the LPGA Rolex For the Love of the Game Award, the PGA Tour Card Walker Award, the USGA Ike Grainger Award, the LPGA Pioneer Award, and the inaugural Charlie Sifford Award for advancing diversity in the game of golf.

In 2010, The University of Maryland Eastern Shore awarded Renee with an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service.

In the late 1970s, Renee extended her history-making career to new levels. In 1979, while a member of the Professional Golfers Association of Great Britain & Ireland, she was named the first woman head professional of a private golf club in the United Kingdom, Silvermere Golf Club. 

It was during this time that she also made an impact in the golf industry as a designer of golf apparel, and in broadcasting as a guest commentator at U.S. golf events on both CBS and ABC.

Today, Renee Powell is the LPGA/PGA Head Golf Professional at historic Clearview Golf Club in East Canton, Ohio., where visitors can enjoy events in the Powell Education Building and learn more about a groundbreaking American family by touring the William and Marcella Powell Museum.

As a public speaker in demand, Renee has informed, inspired, and enlightened countless audiences locally, nationally, and internationally.

Renee’s community outreach includes being a Board Member Emeritus of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and board member of the Mercy Medical Center, Stark Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Pathway Caring for Children. She is also a member of Rotary International.

For more information about Renee Powell, please visit www.clearviewgolfclub.com

We'd be delighted to hear more about your interest in having Renee Powell at your organization's next event. Send us an email to rpowell@clearviewgolfclub.com or give us a call at 330.488.0404. 

We look forward to hearing from you!