Looking for a good read to get you ready for the upcoming Masters?
Check out (or buy) “The Legendary Caddies of Augusta National” by Durham native Ward Clayton, former sports editor of The Augusta (yes, that Augusta) Chronicle during its heyday in the 1990s and later director of editorial services for the PGA Tour.
It’s a quick read for golf fans, providing a different perspective of the world’s iconic, best-run major championship, mixed with the undertones of the old Jim Crow South. Though you might expect the relationships between the members, Masters contestants and the caddies to be clearly defined, it’s not as black and white as the social stratus throughout most of Augusta’s history.
As the title suggests, Clayton’s update of his “Men on the Bag” book from 2004, provides detailed (interesting, but sometimes sad) insights into the lives of the eclectic group of black caddies who have left their mark on the Masters and the host club.
Ward’s book, published by Blair/Carolina Wren Press of Durham and released last April, tells about personalities involved in the history of Augusta National and the Masters tournament, but not seen through all the beautiful green wrapping on TV.
Legendary Augusta caddies were nothing like the disinterested teenage caddies on “Caddyshack.” They were professionals at a job widely considered to be menial and replaceable by carts. Many were known for their amazing knowledge of the subtleties of Augusta’s famous greens and an ability to quickly assess a player’s capabilities. They took pride in their skills.
Often living bag to bag, they shared their expertise with leades of U.S. industry during the course’s season then hoped to cash in one week per year working for the world’s top players.
Long after the Masters and Augusta National opened their caddie ranks to all races and PGA Tour caddies in 1983, several players, most notably Ben Crenshaw, remained loyal to their longtime Masters caddies. More recently, a professional management company has taken over the Augusta caddie program, largely cutting ties with the club’s former caddie base in a nearby neighborhood.
Beginning with “Stovepipe,” and continuing with other looper legends such as “Pappy,” “Cemetery,” “Burnt Biscuits” and “Stabber,” Augusta National caddies, living walking distance from the course, played major roles in Masters history. Clayton does a wonderful job shining light on some of those personalities, sharing several nicknames and back stories.
The book tells how life for caddies in the all-black Augusta’s Sand Hills neighborhood was much different from members of the adjacent Augusta Country Club and nearby Augusta National.
Perhaps Clayton’s biggest challenge and most outstanding achievement with this book is his ability to share some of the humanity, accomplishments and life histories of the caddies while acknowledging the injustices they faced in the pre-Civil Rights Act Old South.
The book isn’t an expose on Jim Crow or a sanitized justification of the past. It does leave you with the irony that the massive progress of the Civil Rights movement that has improved the lives of millions of black Americans, has had an adverse effect on the pocketbooks of a small group of black workers.
“Legendary Caddies” won’t make you cry. But it will make you think — about where we’ve come and where we seem to be going. And it will harken you back to a history largely untold.
