Journeyman pro-turned caddie Lance Ten Broeck dead at 67

“Last Call” Lance Ten Broeck, who famously played and caddied in the same PGA Tour event, has died. He was 67.

Ten Broeck grew up in Chicago, part of a family of golfers, and played collegiately at Texas. He qualified for the U.S. Open seven times and held the 36-hole lead in the 2012 U.S. Senior Open, but was the quintessential journeyman golfer, playing at least 14 tournaments in 12 seasons, making 355 career starts on the Tour, recording 11 top-10 finishes without ever claiming an official win.

“I probably didn’t have enough confidence, but it’s hard to have confidence when you’re not playing well,” Ten Broeck once told The Caddie Network. “And when I played badly, I didn’t want to play.”

In 1999, with his playing status all but gone, Jesper Parnevik asked him to caddie for him. They won together that first week at the Wyndham Championship and Ten Broeck had a new profession. In addition to caddying for four of Parnevik’s victories, he also worked for the likes of Ernie Els, Tim Herron and Richard S. Johnson.

Lance Ten Broeck, longtime pro and later a caddie, passed at 67. Known as “Last Call Lance,” he was a likable character who loved a good hang as much as he loved golf. RIP.

— Rich Lerner (@RichLernerGC) April 30, 2023

Along the way, he made a habit of committing to events where he caddied just in case several players dropped out and depleted the alternates list. At the 2009 Valero Texas Open, that’s exactly what happened. Parnevik teed off at 7:25 a.m. and when the round ended Ten Broeck, 53 at the time, was informed he had an afternoon tee time.

“I didn’t have any clubs or even any pants. I had to be taken to the mall to buy pants.”
said Ten Broeck, who still managed to shoot a respectable 71.

That night, he enjoyed eight happy-hour special orders of a 22-ounce beer and a jug of sake for $6.50, and went out and shot 70 to beat his boss by two strokes but they both missed the cut. Ten Broeck, who was tall enough that he didn’t need a stool for kitchen cabinets, borrowed clubs from the 5-foot-7 Johnson and later complained the clubs were too short, the irons too stiff. (Read all about it in this ‘Hate to be Rude’ column here.)

He repeated the feat the following year near Cancun, finishing his loop 12 minutes before his tee time. There was no time to eat lunch let alone warm up or even hit a practice putt. He played in sneakers.

“It was more fun the last time,” Ten Broeck said afterwards. “I…