Author, TCU legend Dan Jenkins sounds off on his home course

The sun rises in the east, you’re forced to pay income tax and Dan Jenkins covers golf. These are certaintees.

If it were merely for this persistence, having Amon G. Carter Stadium’s press box at TCU named in his honor would have been a fitting tribute. But in Jenkins’ case, at both his alma mater and at Colonial Country Club, the ties bind stronger than just the passage of time.

Jenkins graduated from TCU in 1953.

“Dan Jenkins is a TCU treasure,” TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte said in a statement. “With press boxes being a second home to Dan throughout his incredible career, we’re proud to pay him tribute in this manner.”

Jenkins has been a fixture at Colonial, and at every iteration of the PGA Tour event it hosted, since his days on the Horned Frogs golf team in the early 1950s. He was team captain from 1950-52 and is a member at Colonial.

At 87, his sports takes are still hot off the press, even about the course at Colonial, which is hosting the Dean & DeLuca Invitational this week.

“It’s still a good golf course. It’s not as tough as it used to be when it was a true U.S. Open golf course,” Jenkins said Thursday at Colonial. “They could make it tougher if they wanted to grow rough, but the Tour sets it up now. They try to make guys shoot low, and they shoot scores here that would make Ben Hogan vomit.”

Jenkins should know. He watched Hogan win his first green jacket in the 1951 Masters, Jenkins’ first for the Fort Worth Press.

His sportswriting career spans 70 years, during which time he has written for the Fort Worth Press, the Dallas Times Herald, Sports Illustrated and Golf Digest. Three of his best-selling novels — “Semi-Tough,” “Dead Solid Perfect” and “Baja Oklahoma” — have been made into movies.

“I was delighted and flattered and all that stuff,” Jenkins said of the honor his alma mater will show him by naming the press box in his honor during a ceremony on Tuesday. “I paid my dues in that stadium over the years. Grew up and watched Sam Baugh and Davey O’Brien play there, all the way up through all the greats. It’s a great honor.”

This story was originally published May 25, 2017 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Author, TCU legend Dan Jenkins sounds off on his home course."