WWU Hall of Famer, who broke golf’s color barrier and won U.S. amateur title, dies

Western Washington University Hall of Fame inductee William “Bill” Wright, who was the first Black man to win a major U.S. golf tournament, died Friday in Los Angeles at 84, the school announced in a release.

Wright, on July 18, 1959 became the first Black to win a tournament conducted by the United States Golf Association, when he captured the U.S. Amateur Public Links title at the Wellshire Golf Course near Denver. Wright was 23 and a senior at Western at the time of the win.