May 1, 2019
BY AAGD STAFF
The five Thorpe boys–Elbert Jr., Chuck, Bill, Jim and Chester all caddied at the Roxboro Country Club (Roxboro, N.C.) where their father, Elbert Sr., was a greenskeeper. However, in those Jim Crow days of the 1960’s, none of these black men were able to play the course like white golfers were. The brothers had to sneak on the greens at dawn (or dusk) and keep out of sight of course rangers and officials.
The siblings had all had grown up in a small house along the 2nd fairway of the Roxboro Country Club, so they were very familiar with the property. Brother Elbert Jr. helped build the greens at the club and maintained them for 47 years. He didn’t play golf due to a tractor fire accident that happened when he was 29. It left him with only one good hand, his right. In spite of the injury, he was strong as an ox and able to pick up a 200-pound sack with that hand and sling it over his shoulder, according to reports. Elbert died in 1994, at age 82.
The brothers were renowned for their golf wins around the area and competitions were found just about everywhere to test their abilities. Of all the brothers, Jim was the biggest physically and he kept his muscles large by hauling mortar for bricklayers. That strength would be pounded out through many long, accurate drives.
The Thorpe brothers’ father, Elbert Thorpe Sr. was the father of 12 children. He worked as the greenkeeper at the Roxboro Country Club, where he spent lots of time working the course and keeping the property well maintained. However, due to the racism of the era he never actually got to actually play the course. Looking today and how much his five sons achieved in the sport, he most definitely would have been proud. Especially of his fourth-youngest child, Jim, whom the family recognized as always “different”.
Jim was the only son to attend college. When he was just 18-years-old, he left his Roxboro home in North Carolina on a bus headed for Baltimore, Maryland. Stories told says he only had $2.50 and a paper bag full of extra shirts with him on that trip. A former halfback football player and center on the Morgan State football team (1968), and unfortunate injured resulted in him quitting the team, and leaving school, after only a year. Resilient, he found work in a shoe factory and mopping floors to keep himself afloat.
“When you’re broke, you can’t get a break,” Thorpe told SI.com in a 2002 interview. “Make some money, people give you all kinds of s—. People sent me all this stuff here,” he said referring to $90 cigars and a $400 lighter. “I must have 50 Rolexes that I’ve won over the years.” Jim turned pro in 1972 and by 1977 had won $4.3 million and four Senior events. Today his PGA Tour stats reflect 408 events played, 397 cuts made and $$13,936,083 in winnings.
Back in their younger days, the Thorpe brothers kept their skills sharpened by building practice greens in their backyard. Hitting balls by day, at night they would hang up lights and the action would continue. The brothers all caddied for one another during their rounds and in tournaments. When Chester was 50 he caddied on the Senior tour while his brother Bill, then aged 55, was trying to qualify for the tour. “No one could beat those brothers,” says Arthur Johnson, a friend of the family who knew all of them personally. “They would travel together on the circuit and come home with lots of wins.”
