(Photo YouTube)
BY AAGD STAFF
October 22, 2019 — Mack Champ, grandfather of two-time PGA Tour winner Cameron Champ, has passed away at the age of 78, in the home of his son, in Sacramento, California with his family at his side. Champ (1941-2019) died of stage 4 stomach cancer.
Last year, in October 2018, Mack Champ spoke with his grandson from his own home that Sunday night in Sacramento, Calif., as he and several of his neighbors eagerly watched the Sanderson Farms Championship. Cameroon, his 23-year-old grandson, went on to win the tournament and ‘grandpa’ champ was thrilled, according to Golfchannel.com. On television, the then 77-year-old Vietnam veteran could see his son, Jeff, on the screen, handing his cell phone to Cameron on the 18th green at the Country Club of Mississippi. The incident was probably the first time ever that a PGA Tour winner was congratulated on his win before signing his scorecard.
The conversation, according to Golfchannel.com, went something like this: “I called my dad and he answered,” Jeff said. “I said (to Mack), ‘Stay on hold here. You’ve got to talk real quick!’” At the other end of the line, Cameron thanked his grandfather for all he had done over the years. He wore a tattoo of his grandparents’ favorite Bible passage, Proverbs 3:6. Like his father, he was the child of bi-racial parents. As his father has always told him, “It’s not about you. If it wasn’t for your grandfather, you’re not playing this game.”
Cameron Champ, endeared his grandfather to no end. Recalling the plastic golf clubs that he first used in practicing his swing with his grandfather, in his backyard at the young age of just two-years-old. He graduated up to a set of Tiger Woods irons that Mack also bought for him and they spent hours together at the Foothills Golf Center, a par-3 course, in Sacramento, Calif.
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Mack always believed his grandson would make it on the PGA Tour, and said to GolfChannel.com, “I knew one of these days he was going to get there. I didn’t think it was going to get there that soon. It’s just amazing to see the progress from a boy until now.”
Champ watching Cameron success on the course is a significant victor, as he was one of 10 children in his family and he had started working as a caddy before going to grade shool at age 7. His work on a public golf course in Columbus, Texas in 1948, he estimates brought him only 40 cents per hour, which he used as supplemental money for his family.
“Back in those times it was different for African Americans,” Mack told GolfChannel.com. “They didn’t call us African American. In America we were called Negros. There was no place for us to play. You weren’t allowed.”
Mack attended Booker T. Washington High School and graduated in 1959. He then joined the United States Air Force later that year. In 1961 he received orders to Bremerhaven Army Base, Germany, Lakenheath AFB, England (1967-1969), McClellan AFB, Sacramento, California (1969-1971), Vietnam War (1970-1971), Rhein Main AFB, Germany (1971-1976), Tehran, Iran (1975) and Edwards AFB, California (1976-1980). After retiring from USAF, he went on to work as a civilian with the federal government until his retirement in 2002. He met his wife Lulu in (1964) Copenhagen, Denmark. His son Andrew was born in Germany, and Jeff was born in England. In retirement, he enjoyed his family, taking care of his garden, fishing and helping
individuals with disabilities play golf. Mack had his first Hole-In-One in 1967 at Windy Acres Golf Course in Bremerhaven, Germany. As his grandson pursues greatness in the game that he himself loved so much,
Mack always beamed with pride when he got to watch his grandson play golf on TV, especially the first time.
Following Champs service in the military, the Vietnam veteran because of racism could not eat in certain restaurants and had to enter the back door of certain venues. Ironically, this discrimination included not being permitted through the front door of a College Station, Texas eatery, where six decades later his grandson Cameron would become an All-American at Texas A&M and represented America in the Walker Cup.
“You weren’t allowed,” said Mack, an airman wearing his basic training Air Force uniform that day. “You had to go through back doors.”
Despite the blatant racism, while on duty in Europe Mack would sneak onto courses to get in rounds. “He was a pretty good player who could shoot in the 70s,” Jeff said to GolfChannel.com during Cameron’s breakout opening 36 holes in the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills, where he stood T-8. “But he had a caddie swing, a home-made swing.”
Said Sean Foley to GolfChannel.com, Cameron’s swing coach since 2010: “His granddad is a huge influence on him. I’ve met Mack a couple of times. He’s just a classic, a one-of-a-kind guy.”
Without his grandfather, it is very much possible that Cameron would not be the successful professional golfer that he is today. His grandfather was often heard saying, “I tell Cameron it’s not just where you come from. It’s where you’re going.”
Details on the funeral arrangements and memorial service are waiting to be released.
