Lance Ten Broeck dies at 67
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Veteran PGA TOUR member caddied for Jesper Parnevik, among others
Lance Ten Broeck, who made 162 PGA TOUR cuts, mostly in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and later found a second career as a caddie for Jesper Parnevik and others, has died.
He was 67.
Remembered as a bon vivant whose penchant for good times could not hide his world-class golf game, Ten Broeck made 355 TOUR starts from 1975 to 2010. His best result was a runner-up finish at the 1991 Chattanooga Classic. He also tied for third at the 1989 Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic, now known as the Sanderson Farms Championship. All told, he had 11 top-10 finishes and 49 top-25s.
On the left, Lance Ten Broeck in 1999. (Chris Condon/PGA TOUR Archive) On the right, Ten Broeck caddies for Jesper Parnevik at the 2000 U.S. Open. (Stan Badz/PGA TOUR Archive)
He won the 1984 Magnolia Classic, which was then an unofficial victory as it was played opposite the Masters. The tournament later became the Sanderson Farms Championship.
Ten Broeck, who grew up in Chicago but lived in Florida in his later years, also played in seven U.S. Opens, his first as a 19-year-old All-American at Texas, with his best result a T31 in 1991.
Most famously, he pulled an unheard-of double at the 2009 Valero Texas Open, where he showed up intending only to caddie for Parnevik. Instead, Ten Broeck, then 53, got into the field at the 11th hour as a Veteran Member on-site, borrowed a set of clubs, and shot 71-70 to miss the cut by two. He still managed to caddie for most of two rounds for Parnevik, who shot 70-74. (Ten Broeck’s son filled in for five holes.)
At one point Parnevik asked how his caddie knew a putt broke a certain way.
“Because I just had it!” Ten Broeck said.
Lance Ten Broeck sinks putt from the fringe at 1984 Kemper Open
After losing to his caddie and friend by three, Parnevik marveled at Ten Broeck’s stamina and talent.
“Even the best player in the world would have a hard time doing that,” Parnevik said.
Parnevik won the 1999 Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic, now the Wyndham Championship, in his first week with Ten Broeck on the bag. Ten Broeck said it was good timing as he was out of money. He also caddied for Ernie Els, Tim Herron, Robert Allenby, and Fredrik Jacobson.
Ten Broeck had friends wherever he went and impressed even his bosses, the best players in the world, with his ability. He told golf writer Craig Dolch for a story in 2019: “I probably didn’t have enough confidence, but it’s hard to have confidence when you’re not playing well. And when I played badly, I didn’t want to play.”