The former Lakeside Municipal Golf Course was renamed the Jerry "Tim" Brooks Golf Course in July 2005. Mr. Brooks was an educator, avid & proficient golfer, advocate, pioneer and public servant.

Mr. Brooks, an African-American golfing pioneer, endured much racism in his early pursuit of his love for the game of golf. He talked about a tournament he entered in the 1960’s where Ku Klux Klan markers were prominently displayed. He was also beaten and shot at, because he would attempt to play golf at whites-only municipal golf courses. Yet he persevered and continued to play the game that he loved and excelled in.

He was the longest sitting member of the Caddo Parish School Board, having served since 1982. He taught in the Bossier Parish School System for many years. Mr. Brooks passed away in May 2004. Prior to his death he affected many lives. His efforts in youth golf led to many young people receiving college scholarships. Mr. Brooks was a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School in Shreveport, Louisiana and Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Mr. Brooks won consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference golf tournaments between 1956-1959. He was an NAIA All American for Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, becoming one of the first African-Americans to compete for that honor. He was inducted into the Southern University Hall of Fame in 1988.

Jerry “Tim” Brooks Golf Course was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 1, 2005, becoming one of only three African American golf courses so honored. The other two being Langston near Washington, D.C. and Clearview in Ohio, owned by the Powell family.

The golf course is of local historical significance in the areas of ethnic history and entertainment/recreation. Its opening in 1952 as the first golf course for African-Americans in Shreveport and the general Ark-La-Tex region represented a breakthrough. For the first time local African-American golfing enthusiasts could participate fully in the game and culture of golf, rather than being relegated to the status of caddies and other menials on the courses for whites.

When golf began in the United States, African American involvement in golf was limited strictly to serving as caddies, greenskeepers or attendants. Despite their lowly status in connection with golf, many African Americans took an avid interest in the game, practicing shots during "downtime" and building their skills.

Despite the barriers, the world of African American golf developed and ultimately thrived alongside its larger white counterpart. But throughout the historic period, it remained a world apart. Golf was among the last American sports to break the color barrier. Indeed, the "Caucasian only" clause in the chapter of the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) was not lifted until 1961.

Thus for African Americans in golf, the historic period may be summed up as the ascent from "caddydom" on segregated courses to a viable amateur and professional golfing establishment of their own. The development of the Lakeside Course was a prime example of this and a breakthrough for blacks in the Shreveport area.

Indeed, the course drew African American golf enthusiasts from around the Ark-La-Tex. According to interviews and The Shreveport Sun, Shreveport’s African American newspaper, the course saw heavy use with numerous tournaments and events as well as regular play.

The Lakeside course traces its origins to a petition circulated and presented to the City Recreation Committee by a local organization called the Cavaliers Social Club, (The Shreveport Sun, August 9, 1952). The course opened to the public November 17, 1952 with only seven holes available to play. The formal opening occurred on December first. Fees at that time were 50 cents during the week and 75 cents on weekends and holidays.

The Sun launched a column known as "Golfer’s Digest" soon after the course was dedicated. The January 17, 1953 issue proclaimed “Golfing is big business.” “Golfers from everywhere are out there in all types of weather. It seems as if the course is not only going to serve the golfers of Shreveport, but those of the La., Ark., and Texas areas also. Golfers were there from Dallas, Pine Bluff (Ark.) and Monroe (La.). "Golfers Digest" also noted that many local African American women who enjoyed playing the course. Following many varied events and goings-on at the course, as reported in the Sun, it is clear that Lakeside had emerged as the black golfing mecca of the Ark-La-Tex, and continued so through the close of the historic period (1955, following the Register’s 50 year cutoff) and beyond.

Lakeside Municipal Golf Course opened in late 1952 as the first African-American golf course in the region known as the Ark-La-Tex. It is located in a modest mixed commercial/residential area west of downtown Shreveport. The course is a medium length, relatively difficult, 33 par, nine-hole course whose design takes advantage of a hilly site. Despite some alterations, the course retains its 1952 configuration, features and appearance.

The course traces its origins to 1925. Between 1925 and 1943, the city maintained a property know as Lakeside Park which included a nine-hole golf course for whites. A 1946 Shreveport Council ordinance refers to the park and the course as "abandoned." That year the city sold almost half of the property (33 acres on the eastern side) to the Caddo Parish School Board for the development and construction of Booker T. Washington High School. Construction of an African-American golf course on the remainder of the site began in the summer of 1952. The course opened in November of that year. Although it is impossible to verify, it is likely that the remnants of the old 1925 course formed much of the basis for the design of the new course. A period newspaper refers to the old course as being "reconditioned." Another reference in the same paper indicates that some of the course was actually built in 1952.

The present course occupies a roughly square parcel of land. It is bounded by Milam Street on the south, Hearne Avenue on the west, a property line with a fence and partial tree-line on the north and a non-historic city-owned recreational complex and Booker T. Washington High School on the east. The acreage is roughly 38 acres.

The design of the course takes advantage of natural features to produce a very challenging course. There is a deep gully with a stream in the southwest corner that meanders in a north-northeasterly direction. This creates a water hazard and an out-of-bounds feature on several fairways. The design also exploits the hilly terrain to create fairways with near-drastic changes in elevation. Fairways are separated by stands of mature deciduous oaks that provide for generous “rough” areas as well as "Oak hazards." In keeping with its naturalistic approach, the design does not make use of manmade looking features such as sand traps or highly mounded greens.

We salute Jerry "Tim" Brooks!