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Colonial honors 51-year marshal with signature plaid jacket

"My day starts at 5:30 in the morning," J. Britt Henry says with pride. He runs the show for all the marshals working Colonial Country Club every year at their annual PGA tour event.

Being a marshal at Colonial is hard work. But directing the ship for all the marshals? That's high cotton.

"I'm the official marshal, big marshal," Henry says with a laugh.

His fellow marshals tease him for having a big head, but know what he means to the tournament. Perhaps that's because he has been working Colonial for 51 years...

"We want to make sure that everybody has a good time, and buys a ticket and comes back next year," Henry says, as he drives his golf cart around the course, moving from problem to problem, putting out fires and directing traffic.

But he'll also lay down the law, when he needs to.

"This is my buddy Gibson over here," he jokes, pointing to a Ft. Worth Police officer. "If I have anyone who's too drunk, he comes to the rescue, and helps me out. He's my assistant."

It doesn't matter who you are -- if you're where you shouldn't be, Henry will let you know. Like he did years ago.

"I said 'young man, you can't sit down there'," Henry recalls. "And the young man reached in his pocket, and handed me his PGA card, Sergio Garcia. He didn't make the cut, and it was Saturday, and he was just watching some golf. So they say I'm the only marshal that tried to kick a PGA player out of Colonial."

51 years of service, the 5:30 am call times -- complete dedication to Colonial... and it all paid off for Henry today.

Colonial's official plaid jacket -- ordinarily reserved just for members was draped around his shoulders. A token of their appreciation, just waiting to be fitted to the perfect size.

For a man working the tournament long enough to have seen Ben Hogan actually play Hogan's Alley -- it's a fitting honor.

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