A Deacon Bash: The Wake Forest Masters party started in 1973 and has gotten bigger every year

A mundane rain delay sparked an idea that sparked a tradition.

It started at the 1973 Masters when Jay Johnson, a Wake Forest alumnus, decided it would be good to throw a party that allowed Deacons supporters and former Deacons golfers to gather in one place during Masters week.

Johnson lived near Augusta National at the time, and he was the host in the early years. Julius Corpening, a friend of his, also was instrumental in the party's start.

The Wake Forest Masters party -- an invitation-only affair -- became a tradition unlike any other, and it will continue on Thursday, at a house two miles from of Augusta National.

Each year, those attending the party -- about 300 or so -- designate a few guests to honor. This year, those guests will be: Johnson (Class of '55) who is now 80 and living in Charlotte; Jim Becton (Class of '56); and Bill Haas, a former Wake Forest All-America who will be playing in the tournament for the first time. Johnson and Becton, who later received graduate degrees from Wake Forest, also are life trustees of the university.

"We just decided that day when the round was rained out that we needed to have a party since a lot of us Wake Forest people were all together," Johnson said, "and it just kind of stuck."

Haas, who will be the lone ex-Deacon in this year's field, said he plans to attend the party for a short while, even though he'll have more important business at hand.

"I think for a few years there wasn't anybody from Wake in the field," Haas said. "I know that the party means a lot to a lot of people, and it's been going on for years and years."

Also expected to attend are Nathan Hatch, Wake Forest's president, and his wife, Julie.

"The college president has always tried to make it to the party," Johnson said. "It's just a great way for the people who have supported Wake Forest all these years to get together."

The party had its glory years, Johnson said, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when Wake Forest had several PGA Tour players who were Masters regulars. The high-water mark for participation came in 1988, with nine Deacons in the field of 92. Most of them are now either on the Champions Tour or no longer playing competitive golf.

"It kind of dwindled down as far as players in the tournament," Johnson said, "but we continued to have the party each year."

The Golf Channel showed up at the 2004 party because Arnold Palmer was being honored for playing in his final Masters.

"I have always enjoyed those parties, and I've attended a lot of them," Palmer said in an e-mail. "It's something special to get together for an evening with my many Wake Forest friends, and I'm sorry I'm going to miss it this year, particularly because they are honoring my old friend Jay Johnson."

Through the years, golfers honored at the party include: ex-Deacons Lanny Wadkins, Curtis Strange, Jay Haas and Scott Hoch; 1968 Masters winner Bob Goalby, the uncle of Jay and Jerry Haas; and Raymond Floyd, Tom Purtzer and Hale Irwin, who all had children attend Wake Forest.

Jesse Haddock, the Deacons' legendary former coach, also has been an honored guest.

"I've been to a few of those, and it's a nice thing because it kind of honors the tradition of Wake Forest golf," said Wadkins, whose son, Travis, is a senior on the Wake Forest team this season. "As a player, it's sometimes tough to get to the party because we were usually there to play in the Masters."

Wadkins said the party is a first-class event.

"It has gotten bigger and bigger through the years, but that's OK," Wadkins said. "I know I've run into old fraternity buddies I hadn't seen in 25 years."

Billy Andrade, who first played in the Masters as an amateur in 1987, said that a party to recognize Wake Forest's golf tradition shouldn't be taken for granted.

"There's no other university that does this, and I always felt like it was an honor to come to the party, even if it's for a few minutes to say hello," Andrade said. "The university president is usually there, and Arnold Palmer was usually there, so it was a privilege to be invited."

Johnson said that the bond that is Wake Forest allows the party to continue but that he never dreamed it would become an annual event.

"The golf tradition is such a big thing with the university, and the party is kind of a way to keep that alive," he said. "And there's no better place to do something like this than during Masters week."

jdell@wsjournal.com

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