Ben Wright (September 9, 1932 – August 29, 2021)
Ben Wright, who broadcast golf and other sports for CBS for 23 years, died on August 29, 2021 from complications post-surgery.
Ben was a broadcast golf announcer and other sports for CBS TV for 23 years. He was born to Reginald Arthur Bentley-Wright and Gwendolyn Fraser Rose of Luton England. He was educated at Felsted School, Essex, England and at London University. He graduated in English and Russian. He served as a Russian interpreter in the British Army. His newspaper career began as a cub reporter for the Daily Dispatch in Mancheseter. In 1954, he became a sportswriter, then golf correspondent of the newspaper and for the Daily Mirror in London before becoming a freelance writer and broadcaster in 1961.
Ben, who changed his first name to Ben after Ben Hogan, joined the Association of Golf Writers in 1958 and three years later won the inaugural AGW Golf Writers Championship/Fred Pignon Trophy played that first year at Walton Heath. He was made a Life Member of the AGW and until his passing, Ben and John Ingham shared the honour of being the longest standing members of the AGW.
He penned weekly columns for The Observer and Sunday Times national newspapers, contributed regularly to Time magazine and Sports Illustrated, broadcast for BBC radio and television, and ITV (the British commercial network. He was a founder and associate editor of Golf World (UK), and joined The Financial Times as its first ever golf correspondent in 1966, penning a weekly column until retiring in 1989.
In addition to serving as an announcer for CBS TV Sports from 1972, Ben commentated on golf for the BBC, ITV, Australian television, and in New Zealand. For four years (1993-96) he hosted the world feed of the Sun City Million Dollar Challenge, and broadcast the World Cup from Cape Town, South Africa in 1996.
Ben was a member of the CBS golf team that won the EMMY award in 1980-1, has been nominated for further EMMY awards on a regular basis, and was also a member of the CBS team awarded the coveted Peabody Award in 1992. He was an award winner in the MacGregor golf writing contest in 1982 and 1989.
Wright has written books on golf, cricket and soccer in Great Britain, and in 1992 published the highly acclaimed “The Spirit of Golf” with illustrations by the renowned American impressionist painter, Ray Ellis, and a lengthy foreword by Herbert Warren Wind, the doyen of American golf writers.
Ben, who attended the world’s major golf events since 1954, announced the Ryder Cup matches for the USA Network for several years. The 1995 Masters tournament at Augusta National Golf Club was the 23rd in succession and last Ben Wright broadcast for CBS, where since 1974 he announced the 15th and later the 16th hole as well.
He was Editor at Large for Links magazine, formerly since their launch in 1988, and for 20 years through 2008.
In 1994, he designed and built his first golf course in America, The Cliffs Valley G. and C.C. in Travelers Rest, S.C., which opened on October 2nd, 1995 to rave reviews. Ben featured in the very successful golf film, Tin Cup, which starred Kevin Costner. His autobiography, “Good Bounces and Bad Lies”, was published in August 1999, and was followed by “Speak Wright”.
After leaving CBS in 1999 Wright contributed to CTV (Canada) on major golf events, served as a writer and sole commentator on several productions of the World Club Championships for the golf channel, and in June 2003, he anchored the prime time special, “People against the Pros”, again on The Golf Channel starring John Daly and Lee Trevino in Lake Las Vegas. He is a regular contributor to radio sports shows nationally, in syndication and locally throughout the United States.
Ben was deeply involved working for charity. The Ben Wright International Challenge Cup has grossed over seven million dollars in its first 25 years for Mobile Meals of Spartanburg, S.C. Inc. He has also been an active supporter of Arizona Children’s Charities in Greenville, SC. He is survived by his wife, Helen (Litsas), his daughter Margaret (Taylor) Lanier, and grand children Stella Jane, Bentley, Wesley and Andrew (Greensboro NC), and sister Susie (Roger) White of Epsom, England.
AGW Member Tributes
Liz Kahn
Dermot Gilleece phoned to tell me and it was good to hear from Dermot but sad to hear about Ben. I spoke to Ben on the phonethe year before last and he sounded the same as ever, voluble with his great sense of humour. I always enjoyed his company andfelt that CBS getting rid of him because he voiced his not too helpful opinion of the LPGA, was a huge error. Ben was so talented andknew so much about the game over such a long period. A great asset lost and now his voice is stilled.
John Hopkins – Article in Global Golf Post
Magazine/Newspaper tributes
DEAN HENSLEY | Hendersonville Times-News
In a Times-News interview back in 2005, Ben Wright, a former CBS golf commentator and author of several golf books, had one thing to say about living in Kenmure in Flat Rock.
“I cannot say enough about this area,” he said. “The only way I am leaving here is in a box.”
On Sunday, he died at the age of 88. According to an article in Golf Digest, Wright suffered a fall, broke two vertebrae and succumbed to complications post-surgery. He was a commentator for golf and other sports for CBS for 23 years, a novelist and also a golf course designer.
Wright moved to America after being hired by CBS and discovered Western North Carolina while making his way back to New York from Augusta, Ga., he told the Times-News in the 2005 interview. He bought a house at Asheville County Club in 1982 and, in 1985, became part of a group that bought Flat Rock’s Kenmure golf real estate development out of bankruptcy and helped revitalize it to the success it is today.
“When I moved into Kenmure there were only five or six houses on the 1,400-acre property,” he said.
According to his obituary by Shuler Funeral Home, he was born on Sept. 9, 1932 to Reginald Arthur Wright and Gwendolyn Fraser Rose of Luton England. He was educated at Felsted School, Essex, England and at London University and graduated in English and Russian. He served as a Russian interpreter in the British Army.
In 1954, he became a sportswriter then golf correspondent of the Daily Dispatch in Manchester and for the Daily Mirror in London before becoming a freelance writer and broadcaster in 1961. Wright penned weekly columns for The Observer and Sunday Times national newspapers, contributed regularly to Time magazine and Sports Illustrated, broadcast for BBC radio and television, and ITV (the British commercial network. He was a founder and associate editor of Golf World (UK), and joined The Financial Times as its first ever golf correspondent in 1966, penning a weekly column until retiring in 1989.
WHKP Vice President Richard Rhodes knew Wright for several years.
“Ben was one of the funniest people I’ve ever known,” Rhodes said on Tuesday. “If he hadn’t been in the golf business, he could’ve easily been a comedian.”
Rhodes said Wright would drop by WHKP to do recordings on occasion.
“It was always a special treat to have Ben in the studio. We would usually have him on for Masters week, because he had such great insight into the tournamentthat no one else had,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes said he even had the opportunity to play a round of golf with Wright once.
“He is the most complimentary golfer on the course. You could hit a really bad shot, and Ben would tell you it was one of the best shots he’s seen,” Rhodes said.
In addition to serving as an announcer for CBS TV Sports from 1972, Wright commentated on golf for the BBC, ITV, Australian television, and in New Zealand. For four years (1993-96) he hosted the world feed of the Sun City Million Dollar Challenge, and broadcast the World Cup from Cape Town, South Africa in 1996.
Wright was a member of the CBS golf team that won the EMMY award in 1980-81 and has had other EMMY nominations. He was also a member of the CBS team awarded the coveted Peabody Award in 1992. He was an award winner in the MacGregor golf writing contest in 1982 and 1989.
He was also an award-winning golf novelist, and his popular book titles were Good Bounces & Bad Lies: The Autobiography of Ben Wright, Speak Wright: A Literate Guide to the Game of Golf and The Spirit of Golf.
His career wasn’t without controversy.
His tenure with CBS ended in 1996 after comments he made about female golfers to a local reporter during an LPGA tournament in Wilmington, Del. But he moved on with his life in the mountains of Western North Carolina and even designed The Cliffs golf course in Travelers Rest, South Carolina. He participated several times there in the BMW Charity Pro-Am.
According to his obituary, Wright was deeply involved working for charity. The Ben Wright International Challenge Cup grossed over seven million dollars in its first 25 years for Mobile Meals of Spartanburg, S.C. Inc. He has also been an active supporter of Arizona Children’s Charities in Greenville, South Carolina.
He is survived by his wife, Helen (Litsas), his daughter Margaret (Taylor) Lanier, and grandchildren Stella Jane, Bentley, Wesley and Andrew (Greensboro), and sister Susie (Roger) White of Epsom, England.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Mobile Meals of Spartanburg, S.C. The family is planning a celebration of his life at a later date.
Interview on the Golf Channel – July 2016
https://www.golfchannel.com/video/ben-wright-fairways-life-july-8-2016-interview
Website Tributes
Morning Read – https://www.morningread.com/news-opinion/feature/2021-03-29/this-masters-stands-alone-for-its-legendary-calls
WHKP Radio, North Carolina – https://www.whkp.com/news/9257-ben-wright-former-cbs-golf-commentary-dies-on-sunday.html
ForeGolfers Netword.com – Interview with Ben in 2017 – http://www.foregolfersnetwork.com/fore-golfers-network-29-ben-wright-former-cbs-golf-analyst/
The True Story — And Hurt Feelings — Behind One Of Golf’s Great Calls – http://www.thepostgame.com/features/201104/true-story-and-hurt-feelings-behind-one-golfs-great-calls
Blue Ridge Now.com
Twitter Tributes
Society of Golf Historians@SHistorians Replying to @peterjkostisFun fact about Ben Wright. His first name wasn’t Ben. He ended up using his middle name as a tribute to Ben Hogan.
RIP Ben
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