From caddie to champion: The life and legacy of Jim Dent

Jim Dent, a trailblazing Black golfer best known for his long career and powerful drives, passed away on Friday at the age of 85, one week before his birthday. According to the PGA Tour’s website, Dent suffered a stroke that day.

The legacy of Jim Dent

Dent grew up caddying in Augusta, Georgia at the Masters, at a local municipal course known as “The Patch”, where he learned a lot about the game of golf.

“What I learned about playing golf has probably kept me all through life,” Dent said back in 2012. “You had to be honest. You had to work at it. You just couldn’t pick up today and not come back ‘til next week. And if you broke a rule, you had to turn yourself in.”

After working hard at the sport, Dent entered some tournaments by a league devoted to Black players - United Golfers Association. He later moved to California to learn from U.S. Open champion Johnny Goodman. In 1970, he earned his PGA Tour card and made the cur in eight of 11 majors he participated in - six at the PGA Championship and five at the U.S. Open - despite never winning the main tour.

In 1974, he won the inaugural World Long Drive Championship. Dent was 50 years old at his most successful point in life, winning 12 times on the PGA Tour Champions and becoming the first-ever World Long Drive Champion.

“Jim Dent ought to be outlawed [for] the way he can hit the ball,” said former golfer Al Geiberger.

By 2020, Augusta named the road leading to “The Patch” as “Jim Dent Way” as a tribute to him. In 2022, he was inducted into the Caddie Hall of Fame.

“A lot of people will remember Jim Dent for how far he hit the ball, and he really did,” said president of the PGA Tour Champions Miller Brady. “Yet his long-term success, especially on our tour, proved Jim was more than just long off the tee.”

As one of the PGA Tour’s longest hitters and a top Black golfer of his generation, Dent’s story came full circle as Tiger Woods now plans to help redesign “The Patch,” honoring caddies like Dent who came before him.

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