James Lacey Dent (May 9, 1939 – May 2, 2025) was an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

. Dent, who was nicknamed "Big Boy" because of his size and long drives, played professionally for more than 40 years on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

and

PGA Tour Champions PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, open to golfers age 50 and over, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, f ...

. During his PGA Tour career, he won four unofficial tournaments and approximately a half-million dollars. In 1974 and 1975, Dent won the first two World Long Drive Championships. On the PGA Champions Tour, he won 12 tournaments and more than $9 million. In recognition of his career accomplishments, Dent was inducted into the

Caddie Hall of Fame The Caddie Hall of Fame recognizes professional golf caddies, others who caddied in their youth and those who support the profession. It was originally created by the Professional Caddies Association in 1999 but has been administered by the Weste ...

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, and

National Black Golf Hall of Fame The National Black Golf Hall of Fame was started by Harold Dunovant, the first African-American to graduate from the PGA of America's business school in 1964. He was unable to become a Class A PGA Member for six years because no one would sign his a ...

, among others.

Early life

Dent was born in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

, home of the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...

. He was the fourth of six children to Carrie and Tom Dent, who owned farmland near the

Augusta Country Club The Augusta Country Club (ACC) is a country club and golf course in Augusta, Georgia. It is located immediately adjacent to the more famous Augusta National Golf Club (ANGC). It also borders on the Sands Hill Historic District, which is listed on ...

. His mother died when he was six, and his father died when he was 12 years old. After his parents’ death, he was raised by his aunt, Mary Benton, a housekeeper, who inherited four of the Dent children. The family lived in Sand Hills, a predominantly black neighborhood listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

.Graham, Latria (April / May 2024). As a teenager, he would play golf with friends on The Hill, a modest Augusta course. Following in his older brother Paul's footsteps, he got his first job working as a caddie at the

Augusta National Golf Club Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta National, Augusta, or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. It is known for hosting the annual Masters Tournament. Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Rob ...

. Paul Dent would later caddie for

President Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary ...

. At the age of 15, Dent caddied in his first Masters, carrying the bags for

Bob Rosburg Robert Reginald "Rossie" Rosburg (October 21, 1926 – May 14, 2009) was an American professional golfer who later became a sports color analyst for American Broadcasting Company, ABC television. Early years, college Rosburg was born in San Fran ...

in the 1956 tournament. In addition to Rosburg, he caddied for Masters' golfers

Bob Goalby Robert George Goalby (March 14, 1929 – January 19, 2022) was an American professional golfer. He won the Masters Tournament in 1968, after Roberto De Vicenzo notably made an error on his scorecard. It was Goalby's lone major championship am ...

, Walker Inman, and

Frank Stranahan Frank Richard Stranahan (August 5, 1922 – June 23, 2013) was an American sportsman. He had significant success in both amateur and professional golf. He was ranked number one in his weight class in powerlifting, from 1945 to 1954, and he became ...

. When he was 17, he bought his first set of clubs for $30 from Henry Avery, who worked at Augusta Country Club. Dent attended

Laney High School Emsley A. Laney High School (commonly known as Laney High School) is a four-year public high school in Wilmington, North Carolina, United States. It is a part of New Hanover County Schools. The school’s most notable alumnus is Michael Jorda ...

and played on the football team with future NFL player

Emerson Boozer Emerson Boozer (born July 4, 1943) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire career as a running back for the New York Jets in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). In the last year ...

Amateur career

In 1959, Dent won a football scholarship and played end at

Paine College Paine College is a private, historically black Methodist college in Augusta, Georgia. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. Paine College offers undergraduate degrees in the liberal arts, ...

, a HBCU in Augusta. Dent dropped out of college after a year to pursue a golf career. Dent began his career in the

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

area, working as a busboy and waiter at the Smithfield Inn, and practicing and playing golf at night. In 1961, he returned to Augusta to caddie for

Patty Berg Patricia Jane Berg (February 13, 1918 – September 10, 2006) was an American professional golfer. She was a founding member and the first president of the LPGA. Her 15 major title wins remains the all-time record for most major wins by a fem ...

at the

Titleholders Championship The Titleholders Championship was a women's golf tournament played from in 1937 to 1966 and again in 1972. It was later designated a major championship by the LPGA Tour. History The Titleholders Championship was founded in 1937. Like the Maste ...

, that was an

LPGA The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly ...

major; Berg finished second in the tournament. In his 20s, Dent began entering local golf tournaments. He eventually moved to California, where he met Mose "Mo" Stevens, a wealthy black businessman who became his benefactor. Stevens would pay for Dent's daily practice sessions and sponsored him on the professional golf tour.

Professional career

In 1966, Dent turned professional. He played on a minor league golf circuit and in events hosted by the

United Golfers Association The United Golfers Association (UGA) was a group of African-American professional golfers who operated a separate series of professional golf tournaments for Blacks during the era of racial segregation in the United States. It was said to have sta ...

, a tour that attracted the top black golfers of that era. In 1969, Dent won the National Negro Open and other tournaments, including the $100,000 Queen Mary event.

PGA Tour

In 1968, Dent attended the PGA Tour's Qualifying Tournament and failed to earn his tour card. In 1969, he failed again to make the tour. In 1970, he qualified for the

by finishing in a tie for tenth at qualifier at the Tucson Country Club. He enjoyed an illustrious career on the Tour, making 450 career starts and maintaining a streak of 16 consecutive years on Tour appearing in at least 22 tournaments per season. Although he did not win an official 'regular' PGA Tour event, he collected 25 top-10s, played in five U.S. Opens, and six

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

s. His best chance to earn a Masters berth came in the 1980 U.S. Open, where he needed to finish in the top eight. Dent started the final round at 4-over par and T-28th after shooting rounds of 72-72-70 at the par-70 course. As the final round concluded, +2 made the top-8 and Dent would have needed a 68. He shot 76 in the final round and ended up tying for 38th. In the 1970s, he was one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour. It is estimated he could drive a golf ball between 315 and 340 yards. As a black golfer, he was not alone on the PGA Tour in the 1970s:

Lee Elder Robert Lee Elder (July 14, 1934 – November 28, 2021) was an American professional golfer. In 1975, he became the first black golfer to play in the Masters Tournament, where he missed the cut. Elder was invited to the tournament after he won th ...

, George Johnson,

Charlie Sifford Charles Luther Sifford (June 2, 1922 – February 3, 2015) was an American professional golfer who was the first African American to play on the PGA Tour. He won the Greater Hartford Open in 1967 and the Los Angeles Open in 1969. He also won the ...

, Curtis Sifford, Nate Starks,

Calvin Peete Calvin Peete (July 18, 1943 – April 29, 2015) was an American professional golfer. He was the most successful African-American to have played on the PGA Tour, with 12 wins, prior to the emergence of Tiger Woods. Peete won the 1985 Tournament ...

(who joined in 1975), and Chuck Thorpe – whose younger brother Jim joined the Tour in the late 1970s – were part of group of approximately twelve black players on Tour. Dent's best finish in a regular PGA Tour event came at the end of the 1972 season: the Walt Disney World Open Invitational, which featured an 89-man field and was played from November 30 – December 3, 1972.

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...

won the tournament in a final-round runaway finishing 21-under and winning by 9 strokes over Dent, Bobby Mitchell and Larry Wood. Dent started the final round of the Disney only two strokes behind Nicklaus in second alone, but Nicklaus fired a final-round 8-under par 64 and no one could keep up. In the end, Dent shot rounds of 71-69-65-71 and earned $11,600. In 1973, he earned $30,000 on the tour. His best year on the Tour was 1974 when he finished in the top-60 on the official money list. In 1974 and 1975, Dent won the first two World Long Drive Championships. He won three consecutive Florida PGA Championships in 1976, 1977, and 1978. Dent achieved top-40 finishes in the PGA Championship in 1978, and the U.S. Open 1979. 1982 was the first PGA Tour season of the "All-Exempt Tour" which now exempted the top 125 money winners as opposed to only the top 60; Dent won $55,095 on Tour that year and easily retained exempt status for 1983. In 1983, he played in the Tournament Players Series and won the Michelob-Chattanooga Gold Cup Classic. He played in 10 PGA Tour events in 1988, finishing in the money six times and placing twice in the top-10. At the Provident Classic, played in Chattanooga, Tennessee in late August when Dent was 49, he shared the lead with

Phil Blackmar } Philip Arnold Blackmar (born September 22, 1957) is an American professional golfer. He played on the PGA Tour from 1985 to 2000 and on the Champions Tour from 2007 to 2012. He was the tallest player on the PGA Tour during his time on tour, stan ...

Bill Britton William Timothy Britton (born November 13, 1955) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour for fifteen years during the 1980s and 1990s. Early life and amateur career Britton was born and raised on Staten Island, New York, ...

and

Payne Stewart William Payne Stewart (January 30, 1957 – October 25, 1999) was an American professional golfer who won 11 PGA Tour events, including three major championships, the last of which came just a few months before his death in an airplane acciden ...

going into the final round. Dent shot a final round even-par 70 and finished T-3, five strokes short of winning.

PGA Tour Champions

In 1989, Dent was named Senior Tour Rookie-of-the-Year by several golf publications. He was a member of the 1990 and 1991 United States DuPont Cup teams. In 1990, he claimed a career-best four wins, including recording the lowest 54-hole winning score, 17-under-par 199, when he won his second consecutive MONY Syracuse Senior Classic, and finished among the top-10 on the money list for the first time with almost $700,000 in earnings. Throughout his senior career, Dent finished in the top-10 on the season-long money list seven times and won more than $9 million. In 2010, he retired from the Champions Tour.

Personal life

Dent had a daughter, Charlene Dent-Wilkins, with his first wife, Evelyn Green Davis. Dent and his second wife, Willye Malveaux Dent, had a daughter born in 1973, followed by a son born in 1976. Nineteen years after the birth of their first son, the Dents decided to expand their family and adopted four children. His golf career enabled him to send all of his children to college and to buy a house for his aunt Mary, who had raised him. Several of Dent's family members are involved in golf. His oldest son, James Dent, is the head pro at Augusta Municipal Golf Course. His son, Joseph Dent, played golf at

Strawberry Crest High School Strawberry Crest High School is a public high school in East Hillsborough County, Florida. It opened on August 25, 2009 with students from Armwood High School, Durant High School and Plant City High School. It was built to relieve the over-popul ...

, and is now pursuing a professional golf career. Joseph and his twin brother, Joshua, were named "2017 Youth Golfers of the Year" by the African American Golfers Hall of Fame. His grandson, Andre Lacey II, is the head men's and women's golf coach at Paine College.

Death

In 2025, Dent, who was recovering from a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

, attended the Masters to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Lee Elder becoming the first black player to play in the tournament. The next day, Dent suffered a second stroke and died on May 2, 2025, at the age of 85; one week before his 86th birthday.

Awards and honors

* In 1992, Dent was inducted into the

* In 1994, he was inducted into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame * In 2006, Dent was inducted into the African American Golfers Hall of Fame * In 2008, he was inducted into the

* In 2009, Dent was inducted into the Paine College Sports Hall of Fame * In 2013, he was inducted into the Local Legends wing at the

Augusta Museum of History The Augusta Museum of History is a history museum located in Augusta, Georgia, U.S. The museum was founded in 1937 to preserve and share the history of Augusta and its surrounding area. On display are numerous artifacts, images, and dioramas that ...

* In 2020, the road leading to Augusta Municipal Golf Course, also known as "The Patch," was renamed "Jim Dent Way" in his honor * In 2022, Dent was inducted into the

Professional wins (16)

Tournament Players Series wins (1)

Other wins (3)

*1976 Florida PGA Championship *1977 Florida PGA Championship *1978 Florida PGA Championship

Senior PGA Tour wins (12)

''*Note: The 1990 Kroger Senior Classic was shortened to 36 holes due to rain.'' Senior PGA Tour playoff record (2–2)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dent, Jim American male golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers African-American golfers Golfers from Augusta, Georgia Paine College alumni 1939 births 2025 deaths 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen