Ginger Howard | |
---|---|
Personal information | |
Full name | Ginger Howard |
Born | March 15, 1994 |
Sporting nationality | United States |
Career | |
Turned professional | 2012 |
Ginger Howard (born March 15, 1994)[1] is an American professional golfer. At the age of 17, she was the youngest African American golfer to turn professional.[2] In 2010, she was the first-ever Black golfer to play on a Junior Ryder Cup team, helping Team USA to win the title in Scotland.[2] She later became one of four African American golfers playing in the 2016 LPGA Tour.[3]
Howard grew up in West Philadelphia,[4] and was introduced to golf at the age of 6 by her father, Robert, who worked as a retail manager; her mother, Gianna, worked as a nurse. In 2003, the family moved from Maryland to Florida to be closer to better golf courses.[2]
In Florida, Howard was home-schooled in the mornings with her younger sister Robbi,[4] and then coached at the IMG Academy in the afternoons.[2] She later turned down offers from Duke University and Florida State University to focus on her professional golf career.[5][6]
In May 2007, at the age of 13, Howard advanced through the first stage of qualifying for the U.S. Women's Open, shooting 75 in a USGA local event at Imperial Golf Club in Naples, Florida.[7] She qualified for a total of four U.S. Girls' Juniors.[5] In 2010, Howard was the runner-up at the Junior PGA Championship, losing in a three-hole play-off,[8][9] to earn her a spot on Team USA's Junior Ryder Cup squad.[10][11] She was the first African American junior golfer named to a Ryder Cup team.[2] In September 2010, Team USA retained the Junior Ryder Cup title by beating Europe at Gleneagles, Scotland,[12] the first time the U.S. team had won on foreign soil.[13]
Howard turned professional in 2012.[14] During her rookie year, Howard won five Suncoast Series Pro titles,[15] and finished first on the money list at the end of the season.[5] She also played on the LPGA's development circuit, the Symetra Tour,[16] where she was one of the youngest players on the circuit.[6]
In December 2015, Howard earned conditional status on the LPGA Tour through qualifying school,[17][18] becoming one of four African American women on the tour in 2016,[19] and one of eight black members of the LPGA since 1964.[3]
At the end of 2018, Howard's seventh year on the Symetra Tour,[20] she stopped playing competitive golf to focus on rehabilitation from chronic shoulder and knee injuries.[21]
Having returned to competitive golf, in April 2021, Howard won the Mackie Construction Ladies Professional Championship on the Women’s All Pro Tour.[22]