Charlotte native Jim Nantz talks about his father, his career in sports, and why trips to this area are always special
JIM NANTZ has given voice to the sports soundtrack of our lives.
Since 1985, he has worked for CBS Sports, becoming the network’s most recognizable talent while calling many of the biggest sporting events in the world. Nantz debuted on the network’s Masters telecasts in 1986—the year of Jack Nicklaus’s most memorable victory there—and now occupies the host role at Augusta National each April. Final Fours. Super Bowls. The
Olympics. Nantz has called them all. And this year he will anchor coverage of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club, an assignment that brings him back to the city where he was born. Though he only lived in Charlotte for six years, Nantz has nurtured and maintained his connections with the city through the decades. His father, Jim Nantz Jr., died from
Alzheimer’s disease in 2008 and is buried in Mount Holly, just west of the city. Nantz visits the grave site each time he’s in Charlotte. He sat down with this magazine recently to discuss his hometown city, a career in golf, and what he’s learned along the way. Here he is, in his own words:
I WAS BORN IN 1959. My family moved away (from Charlotte) in 1965. I was six years old. We started to hopscotch around the country. My dad was climbing the corporate ladder. He was working for McLean Trucking in management. He took his young family from Charlotte to New Orleans to the San Francisco/Oakland area, where he ran the office, ultimately to New Jersey.
I GET A LOT OF GOOD-NATURED RIBBING because I claim a lot of hometowns, but Charlotte is on the birth certificate. My mom is from Charlotte; my dad was from Mount Holly. My dad is laid to rest there.
I WAS BORN IN WHAT IS NOW CAROLINAS MEDICAL CENTER. It was called Memorial Hospital. Davis Love (III) was born in the same hospital.
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