AUGUSTA, Ga. — Fifty years in the past, when Lee Elder turned the primary Black golfer to qualify for the Masters, he wasn’t a lot in a temper to debate it.
“I am not speaking,” Elder instructed reporters on April 7, 1975. “Each time I discuss, I get into hassle.”
His agent, who was additionally his spouse on the time, stated he was severe about it. “Lee feels that that is the one honest approach,” Rose Elder stated. “He is right here to play golf, and he needs to be left alone.”
However Elder’s caddie by no means had an issue speaking. And Henry J. Brown, who moonlighted as a taxi cab driver in Augusta, Georgia, let or not it’s recognized that if Elder did not contend in a area that included defending champion Gary Participant, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Johnny Miller amongst others, it would not be due to him.
“I am No. 1,” Brown stated. “I can stroll this course backwards. I do know each blade of grass on it. All Lee’s acquired to do is keep cool. All I can promise is that he will not be out-caddied.”
Whereas Elder would make historical past that week as the primary Black golfer to play in essentially the most well-known event on the earth at one of the restricted golf golf equipment in America, his historic achievement additionally launched the game to one among its most colourful characters, whose story stays principally unknown a half-century later.
“Henry Brown was a hell of a personality — and a hell of a golfer,” stated Dave Wilmes, who befriended the caddie after he moved to South Bend, Indiana, within the early Eighties. “He was a wizard on the course with a brilliant quick sport. He was a rattling massive showoff.”
FOR THE FIRST 40 years of the Masters, golfers had been completely white and caddies had been Black. By the early Seventies, Brown was hopeful Elder might change that. For 4 years, he requested to hold Elder’s bag if he certified for the Masters.
Elder lastly did when he captured his first PGA Tour victory on the Monsanto Open on April 21, 1974, defeating England’s Peter Oosterhuis with a birdie on the fourth gap of a sudden-death playoff. A short while later, Masters chair Clifford Roberts issued a press release saying Elder can be invited to play in 1975.
Elder wasn’t the primary African American golfer to win on the PGA Tour — Pete Brown and Charlie Sifford had finished it earlier than him — however he was the primary to do it after the Masters revised its qualifying standards to permit Black golfers within the event.
When Elder arrived on Magnolia Lane in a purple limousine, Brown was the primary particular person to greet him. Regardless of his confidence, Brown wasn’t thought to be Augusta Nationwide’s greatest caddie. That distinction belonged to Willie Peterson, who carried Nicklaus’ bag in his first 4 Masters victories; Willie “Pappy” Stokes, who helped 4 golfers win 5 instances; or Nathaniel “Iron Man” Avery, who helped Arnold Palmer slip on a inexperienced jacket 4 instances. However Brown had already witnessed historical past at Augusta.
Within the 1968 Masters, Brown caddied for Argentina’s Roberto De Vicenzo, who famously knocked himself out of a playoff by signing an incorrect scorecard after the ultimate spherical in one of many greatest blunders in sports activities historical past.
De Vicenzo, the reigning Open Championship winner, made a birdie on the par-4 seventeenth gap to tie Bob Goalby for the lead, however his enjoying associate, Tommy Aaron, who was retaining De Vicenzo’s scorecard, wrote down a par.
When De Vicenzo didn’t appropriate the error when he signed his scorecard after the spherical, the upper rating counted beneath United States Golf Affiliation guidelines, and he completed a shot behind Goalby, who received a inexperienced jacket with a 72-hole complete of 11-under 277. If De Vicenzo had acknowledged the scoring error, he would have confronted Goalby in an 18-hole playoff the following day.
After tossing away an opportunity to win the Masters, De Vicenzo might solely utter, “What a silly I’m.” Years later, Brown instructed South Bend Tribune golf author John Fineran that he tried to chase down Aaron within the car parking zone of Augusta Nationwide, believing he had wronged De Vicenzo.
In subsequent years, Brown carried Goalby’s bag, in addition to 1959 Masters champion Artwork Wall Jr.’s.
When Elder stepped to the primary tee within the opening spherical of the Masters on April 10, 1975, he was understandably nervous. He joked with reporters {that a} week earlier, he had tried to mild a scoring pencil, as an alternative of a cigarette. To interrupt the silence, he requested patrons whether or not it was going to rain — it was already drizzling on an overcast day.
Jim Brown, who had retired from the NFL 9 years earlier and was working as an actor, stood close to the No. 1 tee when Elder hit his tee shot about 250 yards down the golf green. A lot of Elder’s family and friends additionally regarded on; he had requested 69 event badges and obtained 25, greater than Nicklaus and Palmer.
The jitters light, however he and Henry J. Brown did not hit it off instantly. The caddie appreciated to guage distances by sight, quite than strolling it off and measuring.
“Henry was a really personable man, however his concept of caddying was the mistaken approach for me,” Elder stated when he was an honorary starter on the 2021 Masters, based on Ward Clayton’s ebook, “The Legendary Caddies of Augusta Nationwide.” “I often performed by yardage. He wished at hand me a membership as an alternative of determining how far we had been away.”
Elder calmed down after making a birdie on the par-5 second gap, however then he carded bogeys on the following two par-5s. He posted a 2-over 74 within the opening 18 holes, which left him seven pictures behind chief Bobby Nichols however solely three pictures out of tenth place. The highest 44 golfers and ties made the 36-hole minimize in 1975.
Elder battled windy circumstances within the second spherical and struggled to publish a 6-over 78. He missed the minimize by 4 strokes.
“I did myself in,” Elder stated afterward. “I acquired out of the field dangerous. I used to be everywhere. I actually did the beautification bit. I noticed all of the flowers and bushes.”
However Brown knew he was seeing an expert in motion.
“I can see when a golfer will get nervous — he will get crabbish,” Brown instructed reporters after the primary spherical. “I did not see that on this man.”
And Brown would know. He was top-of-the-line golfers to ever put on a inexperienced and white caddie jumpsuit at Augusta Nationwide. De Vicenzo was requested about Brown when he was on Elder’s bag. He praised him as a “high quality caddie,” however the man who narrowly missed being a Masters champion additionally provided a shocking admission:
“I believe he can beat me,” he stated in 1975.
IKE “STABBER” CHOICE, who began caddying at Augusta Nationwide within the late Nineteen Sixties, remembers Brown enjoying golf along with his older brother, Charlie Selection. Every spring, a bunch of Black golfers would come to hardscrabble Augusta Municipal Golf Course, fondly referred to as the Patch, and Brown and others would often take their cash.
“He might shoot low numbers on the Patch as a result of he was used to it,” Ike Selection instructed ESPN. “He knew all of the little nicks and knots, so he knew which approach the ball was going to kick.”
Brown performed with a cross-handed grip and will hit the ball each right- and left-handed. He spent a lot of his time enjoying on the Patch with different Augusta Nationwide caddies equivalent to Tommy “Burnt Biscuits” Bennett, Jariah “Bubba” Beard, “Cigarette” Bobby Jones and Jim Dent, who caddied for Goalby and received 12 instances on the Senior PGA Tour within the Eighties and ’90s.
In Could 1980, Larry Adamson, the USGA’s director of championship administration, obtained a letter he’ll always remember. It was written on stationery from the Richmond County Jail in Augusta. The letter was from Brown, who had been accused of raping his ex-wife behind his taxi cab on April 12, 1979 (a Richmond County grand jury declined to indict Brown on the costs, based on a report in The Augusta Chronicle on Could 21, 1980).
Within the letter to Adamson, a duplicate of which was obtained by ESPN, Brown wrote, “I used to be not in a position to attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open, so in case you would let me attempt wherever [when] I get out, I might be happy. I used to be imagined to go to Atlanta [for a qualifier] at Horseshoe Bend. However I couldn’t as a result of I’m within the county jail and can’t get a bond out, so I hope that I can get one other likelihood.”
Adamson, who retired from the USGA in 2002, knowledgeable Brown that he had already missed the deadline to register for a neighborhood qualifier for the 1980 U.S. Open at Baltusrol Golf Membership in Springfield, New Jersey. Undeterred, Brown requested Adamson to ship USGA govt director of guidelines and competitions P.J. Boatwright Jr. to Augusta to assist spring him from jail.
“He wished P.J. Boatwright to be his marker and maintain his rating, after which we might match his rating with the day of qualifying,” Adamson stated. “I defined to Henry that is not how golf labored.”
Within the USGA’s Golf Journal in June 1996, Brown stated that he instructed Adamson: “In the event you arrange this [qualifier] for me, you may even handcuff me between pictures.”
When Brown was launched from jail, he known as Adamson. “I am out,” he instructed him. “I instructed you I did not do it.”
He wished to register for a neighborhood qualifier for the 1981 U.S. Open. Adamson stated he’d rush him an utility.
Brown gave him the tackle, which turned out to be at a salvage yard in South Bend. Brown returned the applying, however he had missed the deadline once more and failed to incorporate his entry price.
Robert Lee, a longtime legal professional who oversaw the U.S. Open qualifiers in northern Indiana, remembers Brown strolling into the professional store at South Bend Nation Membership within the early spring of 1981. There was nonetheless snow on the bottom on the course. Brown knowledgeable the golf professional, Banks Guyton, that he had labored as a caddie on the Masters. Guyton requested Brown for proof, and he introduced his Augusta Nationwide identification card.
“Henry instructed the professional he was going to win the U.S. Open,” Lee instructed ESPN. “He actually believed that he might.”
BROWN USED THE salvage yard tackle as a result of that is the place he spent Friday afternoons to make somewhat cash. After staff obtained their paycheck, Brown would hold round and regale them along with his golf tales.
“These guys can be working close to quitting time, and Henry would open up his truck and get out a couple of golf equipment,” Lee stated. “He’d get these guys gathered round, and he’d present them his grip and all that.”
Then Brown would say, “You see that inexperienced Ford on prime of that pile of vehicles over there? I wager I can hit it.” He’d do the identical with a purple Chevrolet within the distance and a black Dodge that will require a sweeping hook.
Lee stated Brown performed with Slazenger irons and will hit an iron from wherever. He might additionally “actually eat hen soup with a wedge.”
“He was that good,” Lee stated. “He might go both approach. To bait guys, he would hit it in common style, then he’d wager them 5 bucks he might do it cross-handed. Most individuals would take that wager.”
Lastly, Brown submitted his USGA utility on time for a U.S. Open native qualifier at South Bend Nation Membership within the spring of 1982. On the day of the 36-hole qualifier, Brown was driving his 1965 Pontiac Catalina — with half a bowling trophy as a hood decoration — into the clubhouse car parking zone when one of many automotive’s tires blew. It gave the impression of a gunshot and despatched individuals scurrying for canopy.
“[Guyton] instructed him, ‘You progress that automotive, or I am going to get any individual to maneuver it for you,” Fineran stated.
After 36 holes, Brown was tied with Tom Stevens on the prime of the leaderboard at 1-under 141 and had certified to maneuver on to sectional qualifying.
“One of many native TV stations was interviewing Henry after he received, and a automotive pulled up,” Fineran stated. “Two girls jumped out and pushed a tire up the driveway. They modified the tire whereas the interview was occurring after which drove off.”
In a sectional qualifier at La Grange Nation Membership outdoors Chicago, Brown missed qualifying for the 1982 U.S. Open at Pebble Seaside Golf Hyperlinks by one stroke. He superior to sectional qualifying every of the following three years however by no means made it to the most important championship.
“He by no means was offended, he was by no means bitter,” Adamson stated. “I take care of all of the gamers who missed the deadline, about 12,000 of them. I heard each story going, and folks would get mad at you. They’d be ready within the car parking zone for you; they hated you.
“Henry was a man that we declined thrice as a result of he was late and he nonetheless wasn’t mad.”
In April 1992, Fineran pulled right into a car parking zone of a hospital in South Bend to see his new child son. He observed a automotive with Georgia plates and an Augusta Nationwide caddie hat within the again window. Fineran knew Brown had been sick with most cancers and figured his good friend had taken a flip for the more serious.
Brown died on July 22, 1992. He was 53. He was survived by six daughters and 6 sons, in addition to a lifetime of what-ifs.
Legendary Los Angeles Occasions sports activities columnist Jim Murray instructed Brown’s story in 1975, about how he grew up motherless in Augusta, one among 10 kids in his residence. About how he began caddying at Augusta Municipal Golf Course when he was 9 and moved to Augusta Nationwide 5 years later. About how he caddied through the daytime and drove a cab at night time.
“Though Henry J. was a better-than-fair nation golfer, he couldn’t precisely get to the purpose the place he might tee it up within the U.S. Open, like one other celebrated up to date caddie, Johnny Miller,” Murray wrote. “If Henry J. Brown had been born blond-haired and blue-eyed, life might need been spectacularly completely different.”
