Apex: The Black Masters: New documentary explores golf and race in Nova Scotia

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This article was published 31/01/2025 (628 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HALIFAX – Darrell Maxwell has fond memories of growing up next to the scenic golf course in the heart of the central Nova Scotia town of Truro, even though he wasn’t allowed to play there because of his race.

The 78-year-old Ottawa resident recalled in a recent interview that some of his earliest memories are linked to the Truro Golf Club, which runs parallel to a small, little-known historical Black community known as “The Island.”

Maxwell’s lifelong love affair with golf began at age five, when he started caddying at the club for a group of white, female golfers, earning 50 cents for nine holes. At the time, being a caddie was the only way for him to access the golf course.

“It was right in our backyard and it was a playground for me, but we were restricted to caddying,” he said. “(Black) people from our community worked at the golf club, but we were forbidden to be members.”

The evolving relationship between residents of The Island and the golf course is the subject of a new documentary by Halifax-based filmmakers Brittney Gavin and Amy Mielke. “Apex: The Black Masters” will begin streaming on CBC Gem on Friday. It describes how the area’s Black community went from being barred from the club to hosting a golf tournament on the greens for the last 50 years.

The film is the brainchild of Gavin, who grew up in the Halifax area but spent many summers of her youth visiting her grandmother, who lived in the small community composed of 28 houses along West Prince Street, adjacent to the golf course. The district got its name, The Island, decades ago because it was often isolated by flooding during periods of heavy rain.

As a filmmaker, Gavin said she wants to tell the story of lesser-known Black communities in Nova Scotia after having spent much of her early 20s living in Toronto and Calgary. “I was really shocked at how few people knew that there are Black people in Nova Scotia and that we have these historically Black communities,” she said.

The province has more than 50 historic Black communities established by Loyalists who fled the United States in the decades following the American Revolution.

Gavin said she was looking for a hook to tell the story of The Island and found it during the 50th anniversary of the community golf tournament that Maxwell founded in 1974, and which has become a local institution. Known as the Apex Invitational, the most recent tournament was held in early August 2024.

Gavin said that while golf is the way into the film, it’s not necessarily its main focus. “I don’t know anything about golf, nor am I a golfer, but it (the tournament) is an annual homecoming for the Black communities of Truro.”

The film’s wider focus is made evident by one of the first of several interviews in the 22-minute documentary. Golf tournament committee member Jude Clyke emphatically established that he is not a golfer.

“The first thing he said to me was, ‘I don’t give a damn about golf,’” said Gavin. “He’s like a very community-minded person and so I liked having someone who could represent that social lens.”

In the film, Clyke stresses that in recent years the golf tournament has established a scholarship fund for young Black students from Truro and the wider Colchester County, who want to pursue post-secondary studies. More than 140 scholarships have been given out since 1998 totalling over $113,000.

Maxwell, who was the first to break the golf club’s colour barrier when he became a member in 1961 at the age of 14, said he’s gratified to see how the tournament has evolved since its inception. “We started off pretty humbly and then it proceeded to catch fire and it turned into more than just a golf tournament,” he said. “I’m just thrilled to see the progression and the introduction of the scholarship fund.”

Maxwell said that initially he just wanted to share his love of the sport with younger athletes in the community after a playing career that saw him win the provincial junior championship and Nova Scotia Golfer of the Year in 1965.

“I wanted to encourage the younger ones … to pursue their dreams and let them know that golf was no longer an elitist game or a game that they were forbidden to play,” he said.

Gavin said the film captures a “full circle” moment when the golf club, which was founded in 1905, holds a reconciliation ceremony with the community and makes Maxwell the 16th honorary member in its 120-year history, celebrating him for his talent and contributions to the club.

“I’m just really happy that they helped us tell the story, that they saw the importance of that,” Gavin said. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 31, 2025.