Dent, pioneering Black golfer, dies at age 85

Jim Dent grew up in the caddie yards of Augusta, Georgia, eventually working at the Masters and honing his game at the municipal course known as "The Patch." He went on to become one of the PGA Tour's longest hitters and one of the top Black golfers of his generation.

Dent died on Friday at age 85, a week before his birthday, his grandson posted on Facebook. The PGA Tour said on its website that Dent suffered a stroke the day after Augusta National announced plans for Tiger Woods to design a par-3 course at The Patch.

"What I learned about playing golf has probably kept me all through life," Dent told the USGA for a story 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."

Dent worked hard enough on his game that he entered a few United Golfers Association tournaments, a league devoted to Black players, moved to California and took lessons from former U.S. Open champion Johnny Goodman.

He finally earned his PGA Tour card through qualifying school in 1970, and while he never won on tour, he kept a full schedule of at least 22 tournaments for the next 16 years. His best result was in the 1972 Walt Disney World Open Invitational, when he trailed Jack Nicklaus by two shots going into the final round. Nicklaus shot 64 and won by nine.

Dent won the Michelob-Chattanooga Gold Cup Classic in 1983, a Tournament Players Series event for players who were not fully exempt -- the tour had gone to the all-exempt tour that year instead of the majority of the field going through Monday qualifying.

Dent never met any of the qualifying criteria to play in the Masters, but he made the cut in eight of the 11 majors he played -- six at the PGA Championship, five at the U.S. Open.

He was best known for his prodigious length, and Dent won the inaugural World Long Drive Championship in 1974.

After turning 50, he won 12 times on the PGA Tour Champions. Al Geiberger said after Dent shot 64 to win his first Champions event, "Jim Dent ought to be outlawed [for] the way he can hit the ball."

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

The fourth of six children, Dent lost both parents by the time he was 12 and was raised by his aunt, Mary Benton. She was opposed to him caddying at The Patch and told him, "If you learn how to caddie, you're going to learn how to gamble."

"Kids think they're the smartest people in the world," Dent said in the USGA story. "Second thing I learned how to do when I learned how to caddie was shoot dice and play cards. She was dead right."

He worked at Augusta Country Club, and Dent recalled how caddies could play if they were willing to cut crabgrass out of the greens. Among the players he caddied for at Augusta National for the Masters were Bob Goalby and Bob Rosburg.

Augusta named the road leading into The Patch as "Jim Dent Way" in 2020 as a tribute. Two years later, Dent was inducted into the Caddie Hall of Fame.

His son, Jim Dent Jr., now is the head pro at The Patch.

Augusta National is pouring support into upgrading the municipal course under the work of architects Tom Fazio and Beau Welling. It will include a longer, conditioned course with a new short-game area and clubhouse. Woods is designing a par-3 course called the "Loop at The Patch" to honor Augusta National caddies who played there.