Jim Dent, the Augusta-born golf legend whose booming drives and steady play made him a fixture on the PGA and Senior PGA Tours, died Friday at the age of 85.
Dent, who grew up just blocks from Augusta National Golf Club, was a familiar face in the city’s golf community for more than six decades. He learned the game as a caddie at Augusta’s famed course, where he watched legends like Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus up close—though, as an African American in the segregated South, he was not allowed to play the course himself.
Despite the barriers, Dent’s love for the game never wavered. He attended Paine College in Augusta and turned professional in 1966, embarking on a career that would see him win 12 times on the Senior PGA Tour, now known as the PGA Tour Champions…