The Sacred Course: What Two Indigenous Golf Leaders Reveal About the Spirit of Sport

On the hallowed grounds of Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, where the Atlantic winds carry ancient prayers, two Native golfers have stepped into roles that transcend fairways and greens. Ethan Mangum, of Choctaw, Cherokee, and Black heritage, and Taylor Harvey, of Hopi and Apache descent, served as team leaders for the USGA’s Pathways Discover Program at the 126th U.S. Open—a position that speaks to a deeper calling.

For Indigenous peoples, the game of golf is not merely competition but a walking meditation, a journey across sacred earth. “Golf introduced me to a whole new world that I thought did not exist and propelled my passion to see black and brown faces in the golf industry,” Harvey told the source. Her words echo a spiritual truth: that every swing is an offering, every course a place of renewal.

Mangum, who will soon earn a master’s degree from the University of St. Andrews, sees his path as both service and pilgrimage. “I am very grateful to the USGA for inviting me back to be an asset,” he said. Their leadership reminds us that the game’s true purpose is not victory, but the weaving of community and the honoring of ancestors who walked before us on this land.