Guard kept first gallery at bay
Plenty have seen a Masters Tournament winner in person. Many have even gotten to meet one. But very few can say they met the first.
As a gallery guard at the Augusta National Invitation Tournament in 1934, Marion Dasher, 89, had that privilege.
He was assigned to eventual champion Horton Smith and followed him every hole, keeping spectators at bay. The golf great sank a tie-breaking putt on the 17th hole that led to his win.
Of course, Dasher, then 17, said the job was easier than the control probably that is required for today's tournaments.
"There wasn't that many people, not compared to like it is now," he said.
It was a small group where it seemed everyone knew everyone, Dasher said.
He got the position through his service in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps.
Dasher would hold his hand up in the air every now and then to quiet a group of spectators. Other than that, he said, it was a fairly unremarkable job.
Nevertheless, Dasher, a retired human resources employee from The Babcock & Wilcox Co., said he's still proud to have been a witness to history.
"There's probably a lot of people around that saw the first one," he said. "But they weren't a gallery guard."
Nor were they the gallery guard for the tournament winner.
"Maybe I brought him luck," Dasher said.
Reach Justin Boron at (706) 823-3215 or justin.boron@augustachronicle.com.
