Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club, located in Shelby County, east of Hoover, Alabama, USA, (Birmingham metro area) is an invitation-only private golf club which opened in 1977. The course was designed by professional golfer Jack Nicklaus and is rated as the top golf course in the state.[1] In fact, Shoal Creek has consistently listed as one of America's top courses, most recently being ranked #50 in Golf Digest and #70 in Golf Week.[2][3]
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Shoal Creek has played host to numerous PGA, USGA, and NCAA events, including many tour championships like the 1984 and 1990 PGA Championship, the 1986 U.S. Amateur, and the 2008 U.S. Junior Amateur. In addition, the course has been the site of USGA qualifiers for the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur and U.S. Junior Amateur as well as the Southern Golf Association Championship. Other tournaments hosted there include the 1978 Southeastern Conference Championship, the 1992-1996 Jerry Pate Intercollegiate Tournament, the 1992 Women's Alabama Golf Association Junior Championship, the 2001 Birmingham Golf Association Junior Championship, and its own Shoal Creek Senior Invitational since 1998.
Up until 1990, Shoal Creek had no African-American members, similar to other clubs across the nation. A firestorm began when club founder Hall Thompson commented that the club would not be pressured to accept African-American members, stating "this is our home, and we pick and choose who we want."[4] These comments, made prior to the 1990 PGA Championship, made the tournament front-page news as civil rights groups such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference threatened to protest the event and sponsors pulled advertising from the tournament. The PGA considered moving the tournament away from Shoal Creek, but in the end reached a compromise with the club: local insurance executive Louis Willie was invited to become an honorary member with full membership to come after the waiting-list period of any membership application. This incident forced everyone associated with golf—clubs, the PGA, and the USGA—to look at minority access in the sport. The PGA and USGA changed rules regarding course selection, requiring clubs that hosted events to meet inclusive membership requirements.
Since this incident, Shoal Creek did not host any major golf event until 2008, when the club hosted the U.S. Junior Amateur. In regards to membership, Shoal Creek has welcomed some African-Americans, women, and Jews as members.[5]
In September 2009, Condoleezza Rice, the former United States Secretary of State under President George W. Bush became a full member of Shoal Creek. Rice is originally from the Birmingham, Alabama area. In addition to joining Shoal Creek, Rice became a member of Greystone Golf and Country Club.