Freeway Golf Course

Freeway Golf Course located in Sicklerville NJ is the first African-American owned 18-hole golf course in America. Paulette Copeland-Bolton is currently the president of the Greater Philadelphia Golf and Country Club, which owns and operates the Freeway Golf Course. In 1967 four black businessmen, who were also golfers, heard that a golf course was up for auction. With segregation still upon them, they felt owning their own golf course was a good idea. These men were Al Letson, a realtor, Maxwell Stanford, a business owner, Robert Salsbury, a motel owner, and James Blocker, vice-president at First Pennsylvania Bank. They decided to bid for the golf course. This was a major decision and a very expensive objective. They decide to involve the black golf clubs. It only took a few months to get 100 golfers to pledge $1,000.00 each for the down payment. In many instances, First Pennsylvania Bank loaned the individuals the $1,000.00 that was needed. An offer of $250,000 was accepted and Freeway Golf Course was purchased. The story of Freeway Golf Course is a part of black history. Many well-known golfers have played at Freeway. The first Sammy Davis Jr. Open was held a Freeway Golf Course. The tournament was such a great success that the next year it was moved to Hartford, CT. and was added to the PGA Tour. The tournament is now known as the Travelers Insurance Championship. Since the purchase the course has been continually maintained and improved. The largest improvement was a computerized irrigation system that enables us to irrigate all or part of the golf course at any time day or night. Our golf legend Bill Bishop is our Class A PGA Pro. Each year for the past 41 years he has hosted the Bill Bishop Benefit Pro-Am Golf Classic bringing professional golfers to Freeway. The tournament proceeds benefit the Bill Bishop Golf Foundation, which fund the Bill Bishop Junior Golf Program. Freeway Golf Course is the home course for many of our golf clubs, Freeway Golf Club, Green Ladies, Del-Val Golf Club, Philadelphia Chapter of the National Negro Golf Association, and others.