Editor’s note: “In Case You Missed It” is a GGP+ feature that highlights a story from Global Golf Post‘s Monday magazine.
Randy Sonnier rummaged through his dad’s old files and records, trying to keep his emotions in check. It was 2003, and Sonnier’s dad, Ollie, had just passed away. In his search, Sonnier had found mementos from Ollie’s 30 years as an Air Force fighter pilot. He looked through family records, specifically a folder labelled “Randy.” It contained many newspaper clippings and magazine articles from the younger Sonnier’s golf career.
“And then I see it: a copy of the letter he wrote to Arnold Palmer asking him to write to me,” said Sonnier, 77. “My dad never said a word about it.”
A retired commercial airline pilot, Sonnier is a golf instructor who also owns a company that provides scorecards and other printed materials to golf courses across the country. Inducted last year into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame, he’s a two-time Texas State Amateur champion (1986, 1991), a Texas Mid-Amateur champion (1985), was a member of the 1984 United States World Amateur team and part of the victorious 1985 American Walker Cup team. He also played in two Masters and three U.S. Opens in his heyday.
It’s not a stretch to say that none of this would have happened without Sonnier’s dad and the letter to Palmer.
“I was the most blessed guy on the planet,” Sonnier said.
Sonnier didn’t start out wanting to become a golfer. He originally hated the sport because his dad would wake him up Saturdays at 4 a.m. to caddie for him at the Lackland Air Force Base golf course outside San Antonio.
“I hated caddying for my dad because I was missing Saturday morning cartoons,” Sonnier said.
As Sonnier continued to caddie, he started to understand what club a player should hit in each scenario, which deepened his appreciation for golf. Sonnier says it helped that there were great players at Lackland, including the base commander who was a scratch golfer. He recalls hundreds of cadets weeding the greens and keeping the course in immaculate shape. It wasn’t Augusta, but Sonnier says it was the best course he’s ever seen.
“Without that environment, I wouldn’t ever have been a golfer,” Sonnier said.
He started to take golf seriously, playing on his high school team. In his own words, he wasn’t very good, often shooting in the high 70s. Professional golf seemed out of the question, so he applied and was admitted to the University of Southwestern Louisiana as an architecture major.
But the summer before he enrolled, Sonnier still played in junior tournaments, and his breakthrough came at the 1965 State Junior in San Antonio. Funny enough, he didn’t travel there for golf.
“I actually went back to see an old girlfriend,” Sonnier said.
Something clicked, and Sonnier’s game started to improve. He finished top five in San Antonio before winning junior tournaments in Texas and Louisiana.
“All of a sudden I was noticed as a golfer,” Sonnier said. “They recruited me to be on the golf team, and that never had entered my mind ever.”
In the fall of 1965, Sonnier lived with his grandmother in Lafayette, Louisiana, as a college freshman. Then, the critical moment. He received a letter in the mail from Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Sonnier knew instantly that it must be from Palmer.
“It basically said: ‘I understand you’re a really good player, and you have your whole life to be a golfer. Right now just focus on school,’” Sonnier recounts.
To Sonnier and his family, this was a huge deal. He closely followed Palmer through the papers and on TV. He and his siblings who played golf also mimicked the King’s swing.
“Our whole family just idolized Arnold Palmer,” Sonnier said. “He was God walking on earth.”
The amateur golfer in his first Masters and one of the greatest to play the game chatted about a variety of things. When Sonnier asked Palmer how he got the address to send the letter 20 years prior, Palmer said he didn’t know.
The only question: how did Palmer get Sonnier’s address? At the time, Sonnier believed Johnny Sample, a spokesperson for Arnold Palmer Enterprises whom he had become friends with, must’ve passed it along.
Fast forward 20 years to 1985, the year of Sonnier’s first Masters appearance. Sonnier was hitting balls on the range with his dad watching him. Then, his idol walked up and set down his bag about 10 yards away. Sonnier worked up the courage and approached Palmer.
“I can’t imagine how freaked out my dad had to be,” Sonnier said.
The amateur golfer in his first Masters and one of the greatest to play the game chatted about a variety of things. When Sonnier asked Palmer how he got the address to send the letter 20 years prior, Palmer said he didn’t know. Both left the conversation believing it must’ve been Sample who provided the address.
After that moment, Sonnier continued to have success in golf as both an amateur and an instructor. However, finding his dad’s letter to Palmer was special. Even today, Sonnier chokes up when talking about it.
“That’s who my dad was,” Sonnier said. “He wasn’t at all a cocky, stereotypical fighter pilot. He realized the lesson that would take place years later when I found the letter was more important than him taking credit for anything at the time.”