Stephen Curry, renowned player for the Golden State Warriors, will receive the Charlie Sifford Award for his efforts to increase diversity in the sport of golf.

A program called “Underrated Golf” was started by Curry two years ago with the goal of giving high school athletes from all backgrounds equal treatment, access, and opportunity. In addition, he provided six years’ worth of funding to the Howard University golf team so that the historically black university could play at the Division I level. The last time Howard fielded a golf team was in the 1970s.

On Monday, June 10 (the day before the U.S. Open), Curry will be honored at a World Golf Hall of Fame ceremony in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

When Sifford joined the PGA Tour in 1961, he did so as the first Black golfer to do so. In 2004, he was honored by admission into the World Golf Hall of Fame. To recognize someone who exhibits the same dogged determination, self-assurance, respect, and flexibility that led to Charlie Sifford’s ground-breaking accomplishments, the Charlie Sifford Award will be presented for the first time in 2021.

Curry: “I am deeply humbled to receive this year’s Charlie Sifford Award and appreciative to the World Golf Hall of Fame for this accolade in the game I love.” As one golfer put it, “I believe we have the opportunity to grow the game of golf by providing equity, access, and opportunity to young golfers who have that same passion, dedication, and determination as so many of us out on the green.”