On April 8, 2004, the first day of play in the Masters, Bruce Edwards lost his battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s Disease.  Anyone who knew Bruce also knew the significance of this date.  In almost 30 years of caddying on the professional golf tour, the Masters was always his favorite tournament.

Bruce suffered with a progressive form of ALS for sixteen months.  When he was diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic, he vowed to fight the disease as long as he could, and he continued caddying for Tom Watson until November 2003.  He saw Tom through a Senior Tour major victory at the JELD-WEN Tradition in August 2003, but perhaps the most inspiring moment came in June at the U.S. Open, when Tom shot a sizzling 65 on opening day.  The galleries cheered equally for the golfer and caddy, and cries of “Bruuuuce, Bruuuuce” were heard on every hole. 

Though his muscles were weakening, Bruce continued to tote the 50-pound golf bag up and down golf courses, 18 holes a day.  Everyone who saw Bruce carrying that bag, weakened by the effects if ALS, was moved.  As the disease gradually took away Bruce’s ability to speak, Tom Watson’s voice grew stronger.  Tom spoke out for Bruce and the 30,000 Americans diagnosed with this incurable disease every year.  Tom promised his friend and caddy that he would help find treatment and a cure for his disease.

Bruce’s career as a caddy on the golf tour and his relationship with Tom Watson became the subject of a best-selling book, Caddy for Life, by John Feinstein.  It was the culmination of a friendship that spanned decades.  John first met Bruce in 1981 at the Memorial, the first professional tournament John covered for The Washington Post.  The young reporter approached Bruce hoping to pick his brain for a few minutes.  Those minutes turned into a few hours, and John walked away with enough story ideas for the whole week.  While writing Caddy for Life in the last year of Bruce’s life, John, too, became an avowed foe of ALS.  After Bruce’s death, John with the help of Tom Watson, developed The Bruce Edwards Foundation, dedicated to supporting research to find a cure for ALS. 

The primary fundraising vehicle for the Foundation is the annual Bruce Edwards Celebrity Golf Classic, held at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland.  The first tournament, held in September 2005, raised almost $450,000.  John and Tom are both recipients of the “Partner in Collaboration” award from the Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins for their dedication to raising money for ALS research.

The Bruce Edwards Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation with no paid staff.  All proceeds from the annual golf tournament and all donations go directly to the research and medical facilities it supports.  The primary beneficiary of all donations is the Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins.  All donations to the Bruce Edwards Foundation are tax-deductible.

Click here for a list of the Board Members of the Bruce Edwards ALS Research Foundation

Photo credit: USGA