Serious business: A shooting in 1976 - the history of an ‘accidental’ 1976 shooting at the Augusta National Golf Course is recounted - Brief Article
Wahl’s memo went on to say: “Any youngsters caught on our property will, hereafter, be immediately taken into custody and, in turn, arrested by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Department. Whatever legal action is necessary to prosecute will be done.”
Bennett didn’t want to call the sheriff and spend the rest of the day filling out reports, so he confronted the trespassers and told them to hit the road. Then he saw the gun. It was a .410 shotgun, ostensibly to shoot any snakes near the pond. After a few tense moments and a few wisecracks, the three teens left the property and Bennett went on about his business.
Later, when Bennett made another pass through Amen Corner, he saw them again, this time with a few of their buddies.
Bennett found Charlie Young, the guard on duty, and apprised him of the situation. Charlie grabbed a pump-action gun and some magnum buckshot.
At that point, the story takes a vague turn. Wahl reported, “The guard was in the act of loading his shotgun with the thought of firing over the heads of the boys as a means of causing them to stop and identify themselves. Unfortunately, the gun was discharged, quite by accident, according to the club guard.”
Charles Avery, 19, was shot in the chest. His brother, Robert, 12, was shot in the upper right arm and the right thigh. Justin Jackson, 19, was shot in the right leg. All, according to Young, with the buckshot from one misfire from 50 yards.
The Avery family sued. They didn’t deny trespassing, although they vehemently denied any malicious or mischievous intent. Three uncles worked at the National: Horrace Avery, the caddiemaster; Arnold Palmer’s famous caddie, Iron Man Avery; and President Eisenhower’s caddie, Cemetery. The suit also claimed “the attack made upon the plaintiff and his young black companions was based primarily, or at least in part, upon their race.”
The Averys settled before trial, each receiving $15,000. Jackson received about $6,000.
Charges were never filed, a fact the Averys claim had more to do with politics than with procedure. According to the family, “Things were just dropped.”
Charlie Young eventually left the club, but not because of the shooting. He was fired for selling the gun Roberts used in 1977 to commit suicide, but he was later rehired. Young eventually retired from the club and died of a heart attack in October 1994, almost 18 years to the day of the Rae’s Creek incident.
From the book Augusta
*1997 by Steve Eubanks
Reprinted by permission,
Rutledge Hill Press