PGA Tourney May Still Face Pickets : Golf: Protests could continue despite Shoal Creek country club’s pledge to admit black members.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —  The city’s black mayor said today that he expects the Shoal Creek country club to take in black members within the next year, but that the action may not stop protesters from picketing the PGA Championship at the club next month.

Mayor Richard Arrington, at a news conference called after three corporations dropped plans to run television commercials during the tournament and a fourth announced it would limit its participation, said Shoal Creek members have “given me their commitment” that blacks will be considered for membership within a few months.

Arrington said the Rev. Abraham Woods, president of the Birmingham chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, indicated that progress made at Shoal Creek may not end plans by Woods to picket the PGA, which will be played Aug. 9-12 at the private club.

The mayor, defending the racial progress made in Birmingham over the past two decades, said the Shoal Creek episode is “an embarrassment to the city.” He said country clubs all across America practice discrimination and the Shoal Creek case is an opportunity for Birmingham to be a leader if it can resolve the problem.

He said it usually takes six months for an “expedited membership” at Shoal Creek. Based on commitments to him from a number of Shoal Creek members, he said, he was confident that the club “will include blacks within the next year.”

Delta Air Lines said today that it would limit its participation in TV advertising for the tournament. Bill Berry, a spokesman for Delta, told USA Today that “there may be some Delta presence” in the tournament because of contractual obligations. “This is one of those embarrassments we have no control over.”

Toyota and Anheuser-Busch on Wednesday joined IBM in canceling plans to run commercials during the ABC and ESPN telecasts.

Shoal Creek club founder Hall Thompson angered many when he was quoted in a newspaper story as saying the club could not be pressured into accepting blacks. He later apologized and said he was quoted out of context.