LPGA Tour member Renee Powell has been inducted into the Ohio State University Athletics Hall of Fame. The longtime women’s golf trailblazer was part of a 14-person induction that took place on October 6 and was recognized at Ohio Stadium during the Buckeyes’ game against Maryland on October 7.
Powell became the second African American to join the LPGA Tour in 1967, retiring in 1980 after competing in hundreds of professional golf events all around the world. She joined the PGA of America in 1996 and was honored with the First Lady of Golf Award in 2003. Powell was also elected to the PGA of America Hall of Fame in 2017, joining her father as an inductee and making the pair the only father and daughter to both earn the accolade. In 2022, the World Golf Hall of Fame recognized Powell as the first recipient of the Charlie Sifford Award, an honor given to a person who embodies Sifford and his achievements through their “confidence, respect, perseverance and adaptability.”
Later in life, Powell has become an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion in the game of golf and has headed up the Clearview Legacy Foundation, an organization dedicated to the preservation and celebration of Clearview Golf Club, the only golf course designed, built, owned and operated by an African American, who just so happened to be Powell’s father, Bill. Powell is also a 2006 inductee of the National Black Golf Hall of Fame and a 2007 inductee of the African American Golfers Hall of Fame.
Powell was captain of the Ohio State University women’s golf team in her first and only year playing for the college in 1967. Despite her brief time as a Buckeye, this honor means a lot to Powell and is another tally on the extensive list of achievements she has accomplished throughout her storied career, both on and off the golf course.
“Thinking back that in those days, a major university supported my being the captain of the golf team,” said Powell of her Hall of Fame induction. “Of all the student-athletes that have passed through The Ohio State University, I am one of less than 500 to ever be inducted into their Hall of Fame. What an absolute honor!”
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