Kappa Alpha Psi’s Horace McDougal Earned a Purple Heart in WWI and Then Became the First Black Person to Integrate a Collegiate Golf Team

Did you know that a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. earned a Purple Heart fighting in World War I and then went on to become the first Black person to integrate a collegiate golf team? His name was Horace McDougal, and he spent his life breaking down the barriers that kept Black golfers off the course.

Horace McDougal was born in Chicago in 1896. He showed his talent early, becoming the first Black student-athlete to represent Calumet High School. He competed in the Western Interscholastic Prep Tournament in 1911 and returned in 1914 as the only Black player in the field, finishing as the runner-up.

McDougal was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., initiated through the Theta Chapter at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois in 1921.

Golf in McDougal’s era was rigidly segregated. Shut out of white clubs and tournaments, he helped found Black golfing clubs to create places where Black players could compete. After serving in World War I, where he earned a Purple Heart, he enrolled at Northwestern University. In 1922, he became the first Black golfer on the Northwestern team, breaking the color barrier in Big Ten golf. As ABC7 Chicago reports, Northwestern University credits him as the first Black intercollegiate golfer.

He never stopped competing or opening doors. According to the Illinois PGA, McDougal played in the first Negro National Open in 1926, co-founded the Windy City Golf Association, and used his writing in the Chicago Defender to fight the discrimination he faced in the game. He later taught as a professional golf instructor, and his advocacy helped fuel the civil rights efforts that eventually opened public golf courses to Black players.

In 2025, decades after his death, Horace McDougal became the first Black inductee into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame.

From Calumet High School to the fairways of Northwestern University, Kappa Alpha Psi’s Horace McDougal opened the game of golf to the Black players who followed him.