AMAZING LETTER - 1973 Masters Tournament FBI AGENTS PROTECTING NICKLAUS AUGUSTA

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eBay This ONE OF A KIND letter exchange between John Derr and David Davis-the Masters Tournament Director for 20 years (1970 – 1990) started as an innocent questioning as to why Derr was being charged for some extras while on duty at Augusta National. But it reveals that there was a credible threat that involved the FBI having to protect Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf during play!!!! The letter from Derr is a copy of the letter he sent to Davis–note that he was not only doing the CBS TV and radio broadcasts at the time, but he was also the EVP of the World Golf Hall of Fame, then located at Pinehurst where he resided. The return from Davis is on green Augusta stationary and is hand signed. Just an amazing exchange. If you are not familiar, John Derr was the famous radio and TV announcer who did Masters Progress Reports for radio since the 1930s and was placed in the very the 1st television tower at the 15th green at Augusta National for CBS Television– and also called the action for 16 and 17 from that tower. Derr started his love affair with the Masters in 1935 and was there calling the action on radio and TV for 62 years. Derr passed away at age 97 in 2015. I was in advertising for several decades and had a keen interest in the radio and TV production side of the Masters as I thought it was the best produced live TV event of its time. See my other items this week as I am letting some gems go that will never be seen again. MORE ON JOHN DERR The golf world lost one of its great links to the past when journalist John Derr died June 6. He reported from the Masters a record 62 times and broadcast from Augusta National’s 15th green when the tournament first aired on television. Citing his daughter as a source, the Associated Press reported Derr died of an apparent heart attack at his home in Pinehurst, N.C. He was 97. Fittingly, his daughter, Cricket Gentry, said her father watched the Belmont Stakes on TV as American Pharoah won horse racing’s Triple Crown. She went to his home that night and found him in his chair in front of the TV. Derr witnessed a fair amount of golf history. He was on the Augusta clubhouse veranda when news spread that Gene Sarazen had made double-eagle at the par-5 15th in what came to be known as the “Shot Heard Round the World.” Derr attended his first Masters Tournament in 1935. He worked for CBS Radio and was part of the first telecast from Augusta National Golf Club, in 1956. On Aug. 22, 2013, I had the great privilege of joining Derr for lunch at Pinehurst Resort and listened as he regaled me with stories. Here were a few of my favorites: On his start in journalism: “I was a high school sports writer. I graduated in 1934. Nobody could get a job. We’re in the middle of a Depression. They were paying in chits to be reimbursed later. I went to the newspaper (Gaston Gazette in Gaston, N.C.) and said, ‘I can’t find a job. I love to write and I’d love to get a job here.’ The editor of the paper said, ‘You’ve done a good job for the high school, but we can’t hire you.’ I said, ‘I understand you can’t pay me, but I really want to learn.’ He said, ‘Well, we can’t pay you nothing. That wouldn’t be right. I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We’re going to pay you $20 a week to cover sports and be in charge of the obituaries – everything but the funny pages.’ My eyes grew wide with delight. That was more than the editor was making. He continued, ‘But before you get too excited, we’re going to charge you $20 for teaching you.’ Eventually, they started paying me $6 a week to drive the delivery truck and write sports.” On his first time attending the Masters: “I was 18 years old. I was working at the paper for the large salary I told you about. We had a cotton broker by the name of Brown Wilson. Mr. Wilson had been the officer of the American Legion department there, and I played legion ball and knew him and I was writing my column at the paper and one day he stopped me and said, ‘We’re going down to Georgia for that little tournament they have and he said Carlton and I are going to be there Friday afternoon and come back Saturday and we’d be glad to have you join us.’ I took off work and went with them. I didn’t know from a press pass and paid $2 and got in. The year before that in November I had been down to Duke to cover Georgia Tech-Duke and O.B. Keeler – the press director set up the press box so it was Georgia writer, North Carolina writer so they could talk and get better stories from each other – I happened to have O.B. Keeler as my seat companion, so to speak. He asked if I played golf. I said, ‘Not very much.’ I had my own golf course when I was young. I could not play baseball, so my father built me a two-hole golf course down at the farm. I learned to love it, but I never got to play on a big course. Keeler said, ‘You better come to the tournament in April.’ I went down with the guys, paid my $2 and the first guy I see is O.B. Keeler. He said, ‘Oh, I see you made it.’ O.B. was in his 40s then. He said, ‘Have you seen Mr. Jones?’ I said, ‘No I haven’t yet.’ Knowing who Mr. Jones was seemed important. He said, ‘Come. We have to see Mr. Jones.’ So he takes me by the hand and we track Mr. Jones down. He tells him how he invited me to the tournament. Mr. Jones said, ‘Have you met Grantland Rice yet?’ I said, ‘No sir. I just got here.’ He says, ‘You’ve got to meet Granny.’ So Jones takes me by the arm and we go meet Rice. He asks me if I’ve met Joe Webster of The New York Times yet. No, I hadn’t. He takes me to meet him. Damon Runyon was there, another celebrated writer. I’m in the company of Jones, Keeler, Rice and Runyon, a parade of greats. It was fabulous. You could never arrange it if you wanted to.” On the time he won a bet with Bobby Jones: “I played with Jones. I don’t run into many people who have. That hand had four one-dollar bills one day that Jones took out of his wallet and handed to me. So when I’m playing with these young pros in the Carolinas, I would say, ‘You know, you’re beating the stuffing out of me, and I once took money off of Bobby Jones the last time we played.’ Realize I never said I beat him. I said I took money off of him. I was back here to cover the World Series in 1944. Johnny Bulla, the pro from Greensboro, said, ‘I talked to Bobby Jones and he’ll play with us at East Lake.’ It was November. Bulla shot 66. Jones shot 70. His amateur friend shot 71 and I had 82, but when we finished Bulla and I had won, so Jones had to go into his wallet and get me four dollar bills.”

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