Wendell Berry, the “captain” on hole number seven at this year’s Stanford St. Championship, has been a volunteer at the Memphis tournament for 21 years. He loves golf, but it’s his passion for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital that drives him. (Photos by Warren Roseborough)

Wendell Berry will be all over the TPC Southwind golf course during the Stanford St. Jude Championship this week. If Berry fulfills his role as expected, players and spectators will cross paths with relative ease.

No African Americans are in the tournament field this year. There will, however, be a number of African Americans involved in other aspects of the tournament. Berry, an employee of FEDEX Corporate Services for the last 22 years, has been a volunteer with the Memphis golf tournament for 21 years.

Berry enjoys golf, a game he has played since 1971. That’s not why he volunteered.

“I fell in love with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital,” he said.

There’s a story behind that love. It goes backs to the 1980s when Berry returned to Memphis after serving almost seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps. The son of Berry’s former fiancé was diagnosed with cancer and money was tight.

St. Jude – one of the world’s foremost research and treatment institutions for children with catastrophic diseases – stepped in with state of the treatment, and never asked for any payment.

Berry said that experienced made him determined to “give back to St. Jude” as a volunteer and as a financial contributor.

“St. Jude is a special place and all Memphians should be grateful to have it here,” he said.

Many of the tournament volunteers have stories to tell about how St. Jude helped someone in their family or someone they know, Berry said.

Music executive and Stax legend David Porter gets in a practice round at the Tournament Players Club Southwind before the pro-am portion of the Stanford St. Jude Championship. Caddy Calvin Davis (left) gives him some pointers before tee off.

So each year, Berry lends a hand while watching many of the world’s best golfers perform. A member of Memphis National Golf Club, Berry plays as often as he can, but he said there is nothing like watching the pros.

Although he still considers himself a very good golfer, Berry said he once had a two handicap, which would make him just a few notches below some of the last minute additions to the field of the Stanford St. Jude Championship.

Outside of T. O. Fuller State Park, the Memphis of Berry’s childhood afforded few opportunities for African Americans to learn the game of golf. As children, he and his friends made their own clubs from sticks and created their own “course” in fields near their homes.

Berry honed his game on courses on military bases while in the Marines. He’s played a lot of rounds at the course at the old Naval Air Station in Millington.

Every year, meeting the world’s top golfers adds to Berry’s tournament memories. He vividly remembers meeting Calvin Peete and Lee Elder, two African Americans pioneers on the professional golf circuit.

Berry sees golf as a tool to teach children many positive things about life. He and his wife, Lesa, have supported the First Tee Program and a number of other efforts to get more African American youngsters to play golf.

This week at the Tournament Players Club Southwind, Berry will spend his mornings as the “captain” on hole number seven.