Mackey continuing to make strides in golf

Taneka Mackey, just the second Bahamian female golf pro, is once again making history for The Bahamas.

The former top junior and senior female golfer in the country, national champion on numerous occasions, made headlines over the weekend, as the first Bahamian woman and only black woman full-time caddie on the LPGA Tour, being recognized during what is regarded as Black History Month in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Mackey, who became known to Bahamians from her junior days as Taneka Sandiford, has overcome a number of challenges to excel in sports including being diagnosed a couple years ago with multiple sclerosis.

ESPN quoted her saying that she embraces her role and is looking to continue to open the doors for young Bahamian women in sports and young women in general.

“[Growing up] I heard other kids, and even adults joke about how I was playing a white person’s sport or a rich person’s sport. That wasn’t my reality. My parents provided me what I needed to play a sport that I was good at. I shrugged it off and kept playing.

“It didn’t even occur to me that maybe I wasn’t supposed to be playing this sport because of my skin color or my family’s economic status. All I knew was that I had a special power behind my swing. 

“I always wanted to keep up with the boys and be competitive with them in all sports…. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have thoughts about if I deserved to be there throughout my time on tour as a caddie. The sentiments from my childhood of the other kids and adults telling me that golf was a white and rich sport can sometimes creep into my mind, but I don’t want to entertain that chatter for half a second. I may not be white, and I may not be rich, but I am here.

“God put me here for a reason…. I might not be playing on tour, but that doesn’t mean I’m not making a difference.”

Mackey started playing the sport of golf at age 10, but became more known for basketball during her high school days at St. John’s College in Nassau. It was there that she showed her athleticism, excelling in both sports. Mackey, then Sandiford, helped lead St. John’s to four Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS) senior girls basketball titles and a couple of national high schools’ basketball titles.

“For years, basketball remained my everything. I never thought that another sport would trump basketball,” she said as quoted by ESPN. “I never took golf lessons. I didn’t even realize that I could take golf lessons, though golf pros taught lessons at the local course. The first few years of playing, my instructor was actually a soccer coach who had a passion and heart for the game, and beyond that, I got help from other junior golfers and volunteers with the Bahamas Golf Federation. I thought this was normal. I didn’t know any different.”

Now 26, it’s through the sport of golf where Mackey is making her mark and continuing to break barriers for black women and Bahamian females in sports. Just one other Bahamian woman, Georgette Rolle, has ever had any other affiliation with the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). Rolle is a former LPGA golf pro and teaching professional. 

As for Mackey, she is a five-time junior national team member, representing the country in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Antigua & Barbuda, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. While on the Pensacola Christian College women’s basketball team in Pensacola, Florida, she continued to play golf and compete in local golf tournaments. Mackey transferred to Redlands Community College in El Reno, Oklahoma, and competed on the golf team there for two years before joining the Chicago State University’s women’s golf team on an athletic scholarship in 2014.

When the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic came on stream at the Ocean Club Golf Course on Paradise Island, Mackey had an opportunity to represent The Bahamas as an exempt player, but it meant giving up her amateur status and college scholarship to compete. She declined the invitation, but still volunteered her services and ended up caddying for American Jill McGill.

Four years later, in 2017, Mackey caddied for American Amy Olson at the classic and now serves in that capacity full-time today. Olson said it was Mackey’s wide, friendly smile that drew her in, accompanied by her professional demeanor on and off the course.

Mackey said she is humbled with her journey to the LPGA Tour, explaining why she might be the first full-time black woman caddie on the tour but certainly not be the last.

“All I could think about was how I would tell my future kids about how I caddied in an LPGA Tour event for a professional golfer and how no one would ever be able to take that experience from me,” she said. “I might not have been playing, but I was there on that stage, and I wanted to represent my country to the fullest. I wore The Bahamas flag on my hat and shirt… I wanted the spectators to know that I’m a Bahamian. I wanted the kids in the stands to see that I’m representing their country. I’m there for them, for us…. After almost one year of caddying on tour, I felt an empowerment that I had never experienced before. At the age of 24, I could call myself a professional caddie, and that meant everything to me.”

In November 2018, Mackey had a life-changing experience. She had a seizure while jogging and was rushed to the hospital where it was discovered that she had 20-plus lesions on her brain, and on February 7, 2019, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis – a potentially disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord for which there is no cure.

She eventually got clearance to continue caddying, which she said was something she needed to do to relax her mind and show people that you can be down but not out.

“My diagnosis just solidified that I wanted to leave a legacy – a legacy for the people of The Bahamas, for black girls and boys, to look at me and realize that they can too if I could do it,” said Mackey. “No matter what obstacle you might be facing, you can accomplish your dreams and more. You have to seize every opportunity – even if it wasn’t part of your original plan.”

Now, today, Mackey is enjoying the experience, the exposure and travel of her trade, serving as the first Bahamian woman and only black woman full-time caddie on the LPGA Tour.

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