On Wednesday, December 6, the Minneapolis Park Board unanimously voted to rename the 107-year-old chalet at Theodore Wirth Regional Park in North Minneapolis to the Eddie Manderville Chalet.
The vote was met with excited applause, cheers and tears from a small group of women golfers and supporters who attended the meeting to witness history being made.
It would not have happened but for the efforts of golfer and standout senior athlete Martha Arradondo, who was also in attendance. She started this journey two years ago because of her enduring eight-year friendship and mentorship with Manderville.
“Eddie and I became friends because of our love for golf, and we both believed that women of color needed to learn the game of golf,” said Arradondo. “He helped me and Shirley Hughes, daughter of Solomon Hughes, Sr., create the organization Black Women on Course (BWOC)13 years ago. BWOC now has a national database of over 200 golfers.”
When Eddie Manderville passed away in November 2020, Arradondo started her quest to get the chalet renamed, working with then-park board member and now-city councilmember LaTrisha Vetaw.
Manderville was a respected, accomplished golfer with an enduring legacy. He was instrumental in desegregating the men’s association at Theodore Wirth after he was denied access to the clubhouse and is credited with integrating the Theodore Wirth men’s golf club at a time when Black golfers in the Twin Cities were refused entry.
Manderville was recently inducted into the Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame 2023. He won the 1972 Gross Invitational Tournament; the 1983 Minnesota Professional Golf Association Senior Public Links Championship; and the 1987 Minnesota Golf Association Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championship with his partner, Dick Bolin.
He also qualified and played in the 1986 U.S. Senior Open and the 1991 U.S. Senior Amateur Tournament and won the 1998 Minnesota Golf Association Senior Tour.
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