At a dinner for the participants and their guests the night before the tournament, those in attendance included the eight-time L.P.G.A. Tour winner Sandra Post, who met Powell at the 1962 United States Girls’ Junior Championship. Powell, then 16, was the first African-American to play in the event. Post, 14, was the only Canadian. They have been friends since.

Once they were on the tour, Post, the first golfer from her country to earn L.P.G.A. membership, often roomed with Powell. It was partly to save money but also to shelter Powell from prejudice. It amazed Powell how often her reservation was lost or how many times the last room would be claimed in the time it took Powell to walk past the lit “Vacancies” sign to the front desk.

At the motels where they stayed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Post would check in at the front desk so Powell did not have to fret about being turned away. Post remembered going to restaurants with Powell and watching everybody else get served while they waited and waited and waited. Many nights, they got up and left hungry without ever seeing their food.

Post said, “Renee would say, ‘I didn’t want to tell you, but it’s because you’re Canadian.’ ”

Powell competed in more than 250 professional golf events and won once, in Brisbane, Australia. Her best finish on the L.P.G.A. Tour was a tie for fourth at the 1972 Lady Errol Classic. Powell has on occasion wondered how much better she might have played if she had not encountered so many hazards off the course.

“People always ask me, ‘Was it fun being on tour?’ ” Powell said. “I say, ‘Well, if you don’t mind having threat letters on your life, if you don’t mind having people lose your reservation at hotels, if you don’t mind people not serving you, then, yeah, it was fun.’ ”

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club’s headquarters are next to the first tee on the Old Course, which unlike the club is open to the general public. During the week in September when it was announced that the club’s membership had voted to allow women, Post traveled to St. Andrews and played the course as a guest.