History Lesson: Ballard’s big day led to $100,000 in scholarships

ROCKFORD - 1965 was a momentous year for the Civil Rights movement. One hundred years after the Civil War ended slavery, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965, banning several practices governments used to suppress the African-American vote.

In Rockford, a different movement was launched when, on June 17, 1965, a 22-year-old African-American barber named Melvin Ballard made front-page news by winning the Rockford Cosmopolitan Pro-Am at Macktown in Rockton.

The Cosmopolitan Open was an LPGA stop in Rockford from 1958 to 1965. Run by Rockford’s Cosmopolitan Club, it drew the best in women’s golf, including Hall of Famers Kathy Whitworth, Sandra Haynie and Mickey Wright.

Organizers played a pro-am the Thursday before the tournament from 1961 to 1965. In the final pro-am, Ballard shot a 1-under-par 71 and Jo Ann Prentiss, who won six LPGA tournaments, scored a 2-under-par. Together, they shot a best-ball score of 61, three better than Joe Schneider and Sandra McClinton.

The Rockford Morning Star played up Ballard’s triumph, running a photo of him proudly holding his driver. Ballard had driven the third green at Macktown, which was a 350-yard hole back then. What’s especially significant is that African-Americans weren’t allowed on the PGA Tour until 1961 and in the 1960s Rockford newspapers still refused to run photos of African-American weddings.

In 1966, Ballard was drafted and entered the U.S. Army in March. Ballard’s unit, C Company, 3rd Battalion, 39th Infrantry, was sent to Vietnam in December 1966. On March 11, 1967, his unit was fighting near Saigon when he was shot and killed. Sgt. Ballard was one of 12 men from C Company to die that day.

In 1969, the Rockford Sportsman Golf Association, a group whose members played a lot of golf with Melvin, launched a tournament in his memory. Last year, about 90 players took part in the 50th annual event at Ingersoll Golf Course.

The RSGA has used the tournament to raise money for scholarships. Jerry Latin, the Rockford East, Northern Illinois and St. Louis Cardinals football star who now is the chairman of the RSGA, doesn’t have exact figures, but it’s likely the group has given out more than $100,000 in college scholarships over the years.

In 2018, Latin hinted to the Register Star that the tourney’s run was nearing an end. In 2019, Cody Rhymer won the men’s division and Hui Chong Dofflemyer won the women’s. This year, they hadn’t planned on holding a tournament. No one realized what was happening because the coronavirus pandemic had canceled all sporting events.

“I’m 66 and I’m the youngest guy in the RSGA,” Latin said of what is now the third-longest running golf tournament in Winnebago County.

“We’ve tried to recruit younger members,” Latin said. “I’ve had people talk to me about keeping it going, but no one wants to actually do the work.”

Alex Gary is a freelance correspondent.