[Tommy Williamsen]

Rest In Peace, Lee. You had a well played life.


https://www.pgatour.com/news/2021/11/29/lee-elder-passes-away-age-87-pga-tour.html

[Ira Fishman]

I have thought quite often about places I wish I had been: Mr. Elder on the first tee at The Masters is very near the top of the list.


Ira

[Will Lozier]

R.I.P

[David_Tepper]

https://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2021/11/29/rip-lee-elder

[jeffwarne]

I have thought quite often about places I wish I had been: Mr. Elder on the first tee at The Masters is very near the top of the list.


Ira

RiP.
Lee Elder's first Masters was mine as well.
I was fortunate enough to attend his Honorary Starter appearance this past April.
Great to see and long overdue.


Sadly  it was marred by Gary Player's abnoxious insecurity of running and sprinting down to and around the first first tee high fiving as first Jack Nicklaus hobbled to the tee then Elder was wheeled down with Player oblivious to the occasion and his own upstaging of the event even after Elder entered....Then of course there was his opportunistic son to further cement their tone deafness.


Elder handled it all with the dignity we've come to expect-just should not have had to on such an occasion.

[Tim_Weiman]

Jeff,


Thanks for letting us know about Player at Elder’s Masters Honorary Start. Don’t want to get into politics here but that seems highly inappropriate.


Sorry we didn’t get a chance to meet at the recent Renaissance Cup.

[Joe Bausch]

I have thought quite often about places I wish I had been: Mr. Elder on the first tee at The Masters is very near the top of the list.


Ira

RiP.
Lee Elder's first Masters was mine as well.
I was fortunate enough to attend his Honorary Starter appearance this past April.
Great to see and long overdue.


Sadly  it was marred by Gary Player's abnoxious insecurity of running and sprinting down to and around the first first tee high fiving as first Jack Nicklaus hobbled to the tee then Elder was wheeled down with Player oblvious to the occasion and his own upstaging of the event even after Elder entered....Then of course there was his opportunistic son to further cement their tone deafness.


Elder handled it all with the dignity we've come to expect-just should not have had to on such an occasion.

Thanks for reporting this experience, Jeff.

[jeffwarne]

Jeff,


Thanks for letting us know about Player at Elder’s Masters Honorary Start. Don’t want to get into politics here but that seems highly inappropriate.


Sorry we didn’t get a chance to meet at the recent Renaissance Cup.

Tim
In no way do I think politics were involved nor do I think Player in any way intended to effect the event.
He just is an incredibly insecure man who was driven to great heights(no pun intended) by what he himself had to overcome.Rspect for him as well for his career, but his actions were thoughtless and inappropriate.It simply was not his day.

[V_Halyard]

I had the honor of meeting and chatting with Mr. Elder.
He shared a number of insights and experiences with me that evoked both glee and pain.
I do not know Mr. Player nor his son.  I will share that I was profoundly disgusted with the son's complete and utter disrespect of both the event and Mr. Elder's ceremony.
I don't think there were any politics involved but I did find myself wishing for the son to be removed by Augusta National security and thrown into a holding pen. During an event that should have focused upon celebration, I came away with a combination of joy for Mr. Elder and animus for the young Player. I have no idea if he would he have held that behind Jack's Head or His Father's head but he chose to debase a celebration that was a long time coming with one of the lamestproduct placement stunts.

Lee Elder withstood a golf lifetime of profound struggle, abuse, as well as a multitude of mental, physical and professional attacks. Mr. Elder withstood and prevailed to become a professional tour level golfer.  To have that baseless promotion disrespectfully floated visually behind his head while millions watched him being honored is beyond reproach. Compounding the sad reality is that Mr. Elder has since passed away and those images represent one of his last public appearances. Many of the pictures currently displayed in media include that clownish stunt happening behind his head. This disgusts and enrages me upon every viewing.

I don't know either of the Player gentlemen personally, my sole impression of the younger is this stunt. For me, let's just say...
it's not a good look. (Tell Ran, I didn't swear)

[BHoover]

RIP, Mr. Elder. He had to put up with far too much shit and horrible behavior to play the game we all love. He also had to wait much too long to receive the recognition he so richly deserved. He also had to suffer through the clownish, tacky behavior of Gary Player and his grifter son trying to shill for some golf balls during Mr. Elder’s long-overdue honoring at the Masters. To Mr. Elder’s great credit, he simply ignored the buffoonery from Gary Player and his son. He was better than the Players in every way.

[Mike_Trenham]

RIP Lee Elder.


It’s time to change the 1st Tee Ceremony at The Masters.  Jack is clearly uncomfortable and seem to dread the event. 


Go with a younger set of multiple time champions not playing in the tournament like Crenshaw/Watson/Faldo.  Every 5 years they could also honor someone like they did Elder this year.


Then make Nicklaus the starter at the Par Three Tournament so contestants and their families can get pictures with him.  Fewer players would skip that event.  He seems to embrace this type of role at this point in his life.

[Rob Marshall]

RIP Lee Elder.


It’s time to change the 1st Tee Ceremony at The Masters.  Jack is clearly uncomfortable and seem to dread the event. 


Go with a younger set of multiple time champions not playing in the tournament like Crenshaw/Watson/Faldo.  Every 5 years they could also honor someone like they did Elder this year.


Then make Nicklaus the starter at the Par Three Tournament so contestants and their families can get pictures with him.  Fewer players would skip that event.  He seems to embrace this type of role at this point in his life.

Why was Players son even there? They don't need a full bag of clubs and caddies. Looked like Jack had two granddaughters there. It should be the honorary starters and that's it. Why do you need three? It should be annual IMO. Lee Elder should have been the ONLY one on the tee.

[Ira Fishman]

The Washington Post published an excellent Editorial about Mr. Elder. I would post it here if I knew how to do so.


Ira

[Kyle Henderson]

RIP Lee Elder.


It’s time to change the 1st Tee Ceremony at The Masters.  Jack is clearly uncomfortable and seem to dread the event. 


Go with a younger set of multiple time champions not playing in the tournament like Crenshaw/Watson/Faldo.  Every 5 years they could also honor someone like they did Elder this year.

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Bubba Watson, for sure.

[Tommy Williamsen]

The Washington Post published an excellent Editorial about Mr. Elder. I would post it here if I knew how to do so.


Ira

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/11/30/lee-elder-appreciation-racism-john-feinstein/

[Ira Fishman]

Rest In Peace, Lee. You had a well played life.


https://www.pgatour.com/news/2021/11/29/lee-elder-passes-away-age-87-pga-tour.html

Tommy,


Thanks for the technology assist but I was referring to the one on the Editorial page.


Ira

[Jeff Schley]

RIP, Mr. Elder. He had to put up with far too much shit and horrible behavior to play the game we all love. He also had to wait much too long to receive the recognition he so richly deserved. He also had to suffer through the clownish, tacky behavior of Gary Player and his grifter son trying to shill for some golf balls during Mr. Elder’s long-overdue honoring at the Masters. To Mr. Elder’s great credit, he simply ignored the buffoonery from Gary Player and his son. He was better than the Players in every way.

RIP Lee Elder and thank goodness they gave him his due before he left this earth, although certainly not while he was able bodied to swing the club even.

Also Gary Player's son has no shame. I watched this clip and go to 7:05 in the clip. This is after the ceremony behind the scenes footage and the players took some photos with Fred Ridley. Gary Player asks the caddies to come into the shot.  What does the son do?  Watch....... ugh! 


BTW we catch Gary Player doing what Jeff Warne said he saw with his high fiving the fans running around the tee box at the end as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0nEs9ywviU

[Tommy Williamsen]

Rest In Peace, Lee. You had a well played life.


https://www.pgatour.com/news/2021/11/29/lee-elder-passes-away-age-87-pga-tour.html

Tommy,


Thanks for the technology assist but I was referring to the one on the Editorial page.


Ira

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/29/golfer-lee-elder-broke-barriers-lets-keep-advancing-ball/

[Ira Fishman]

Rest In Peace, Lee. You had a well played life.


https://www.pgatour.com/news/2021/11/29/lee-elder-passes-away-age-87-pga-tour.html

Tommy,


Thanks for the technology assist but I was referring to the one on the Editorial page.


Ira

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/29/golfer-lee-elder-broke-barriers-lets-keep-advancing-ball/

Tommy,


Thank you. A remarkable life.


Ira

[Tommy Williamsen]

There are so many African Americans that have had to endure all kinds of bigotry and have prevailed. It is something as a white man I can barely understand or appreciate. I can only stand and look with admiration and wonder.

[jeffwarne]

BTW we catch Gary Player doing what Jeff Warne said he saw with his high fiving the fans running around the tee box at the end as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0nEs9ywviU

To be clear,I have no problem with the "encore" high 5 run around by Player depicted in the video.The ceremony was over.
It was his running high 5 entrance, shadow boxing , upstaging entrance as Mr. Nicklaus was hobbling into the arena and Mr.Elder was being transported to the tee in a mobility cart.
We get it-you're in great shape-now stand quietly and let Mr.Elder have his moment.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I really began this thread to hear what others had to say about Lee and his legacy but it seems that Gary Player upstaged him yet again.

[Garland Bayley]

Looking at the youtube video linked, I don't find Player's high fiving people at the end disturbing, as Jeff says the ceremony was over. It was the shameless PXG promotion by Gary and his son during the ceremony and photo shoot that disturbs me.

Of course I find PXG disturbing on their own. Too much money for too little benefit.

[Brian Finn]

I really began this thread to hear what others had to say about Lee and his legacy

I was lucky enough to meet Lee Elder several years ago, when I was living in San Diego.  I showed up early for a charity outing in which I was playing, and Mr. Elder was one of the only other people there so early, so I had a terrific opportunity to speak 1 on 1 with him for a few minutes, before he got called away.  He was very friendly, appreciative that I knew of his playing record and legacy, and seemed extremely humble and genuine.  After we finished playing, we had a good laugh together when his team finished first and mine second in the scramble...he was his team's A player, and I mine.  He insisted our team take the first place prizes, since he was a professional, albeit one pushing 80 years old.  One of his teammates, a local newscaster, then informed us that Mr. Elder had holed out twice from outside 60 yards during the event.  A remarkable man, I feel very fortunate to have met, even just briefly.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Brian, it is amazing how a chance meeting with someone can turn into a wonderful memory. I have heard many stories like that about Lee.

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