As the Masters approaches this spring, check out “The Legendary Caddies of Augusta National”

The story of the all-Black Augusta National Caddie Corps, the most famous caddie group in the game’s history.

By Ward Clayton

The nicknames alone are enough to spur some interest. With monikers such as Stovepipe, Burnt Biscuits, Skillet, Skinny, Marble Eye, Cricket and Iron Man, the all-Black caddie corps at the Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament became the most famous group of caddies in the game of golf.

 

They worked for presidents of the United States, captains of industry and the greatest golfers in the world, displaying their varied skills and personalities and, most of all, a unique ability to quickly understand the temperament and capabilities of individual golfers. Some of their real names were Carl Jackson, Willie Perteet and Matthew Palmer—and they witnessed every great moment, both private and public, at Augusta National beginning in the 1930s—from Gene Sarazen’s “shot heard ’round the world” 90 years ago to Jack Nicklaus winning a record five of his six Masters. 

 

These trusted sidekicks were more than just bag toters. They developed a skillset to understand the rolling hills of golf’s most famous course, Augusta National, both from a yardage perspective without the aid of yardage guides and how to read the severely undulating greens via a long-held secret on the course. Augusta National hosts the first major golf championship of the year every spring, an event that traditionally falls on the first full week of April. (April 7-13 this year).

 

Nicklaus, the winningest player in Masters history, said he wouldn’t trade caddie Willie “Pete” Peterson “for a million dollars.” Willie “Cemetery” Perteet was up close and personal with avid golfer and President Eisenhower’s golf game during the sport’s rise in the late 1950s. Nathaniel “Iron Man” Avery was at Arnold Palmer’s side during the King’s four Masters titles (1958, 1960, 1962, 1964) and became one of the first Black Masters caddies to gain notoriety thanks to carrying the winning bag of the game’s most popular player.

 

Peterson and Willie “Pappy” Stokes share the record for most Masters wins at five apiece. Stokes, who caddied for both of Ben Hogan’s Masters wins in 1951 and 1953, is deemed the “godfather” of the caddie corps as he was born on the grounds at Augusta National in 1922, before it became a golf course, learned the lay of the land and the “pull” of putts toward Rae’s Creek at the lower level of the property and passed along his wisdom to younger caddies who became famous, such as Avery, Peterson, Jackson and Jariah Beard.

 

Peterson, Stokes and Avery – Augustans who totaled 14 Masters victories – are all buried in downtown Augusta, with quite the story of how they will be forever remembered by markers that are now in place.

 

The Black caddies of Augusta National also endured, in their own ways, the racist social order of the sport and time, and at the same time participated, albeit vicariously, in its many thrills. 

 

The story is documented to bring greater attention to the contributions of these men who didn’t receive the deserved recognition during their heyday from the 1930s through the early 1980s. In 1983, Augusta National realized the depth of its caddie corps wasn’t as good as the elevated level of the caddying profession that was rising on the PGA Tour alongside escalating purses for professional golf. Pro golfers wanted their week-to-week caddies at such a big event, Augusta National relented and the legacy of the all-Black Augusta National caddie corps went from an annual celebration to a murky study of its past.

 

The second edition of the book, originally titled “Men on the Bag: The Caddies of Augusta,” includes extensive updates on all the caddies and Augusta National, adds chapters on the Sand Hills neighborhood and today’s caddie corps, along with 20 black-and-white historical and contemporary photographs.

 

Sand Hills is a community that raised caddies like kids who played baseball in the Bronx and dreamed of one day playing or holding a job at the adjacent Yankee Stadium. The young men could walk through a row of bushes next door to Augusta Country Club as pre-teens, learn what it took to caddie, and then graduate across Rae’s Creek to find a higher wage and connectivity to some of the world’s most famous people. Their all-Black neighborhood is wedged in between the two golf courses, historic cemeteries and century-old mansions on Walton Way in Augusta. Post-Civil War, many Black families settled there so that they could easily access by foot the large homes and then Augusta Country Club to work as butlers, maids, cooks, landscapers and other jobs – a similar trek that the would-be caddies took to learn that trade.

 

“Back in the 1950s when I started caddying, you could make three dollars, four dollars, five dollars a day at Augusta Country Club, and that was pretty good back then,” said Beard, the last man to guide a first-time Masters participant, Fuzzy Zoeller, to victory in 1979. “And for two weekend days at Augusta National, you could make 25 dollars, 30 dollars, or 40 dollars, and that was really good.”

 

Even though their stories focus on the past, the tradition of the Augusta National caddies lives on in a couple of prominent ways. 

 

First, the bright white jumpsuit that the caddies wear is labeled the tuxedo of caddie attire, much more memorable than the simple bibs required at most professional events. The Augusta uniform has a Velcroed nameplate for the player on the back, a number associated with each player and the Augusta National logo on the front and topped by a green golf cap, displaying a neat and uniform appearance, something the caddies took pride in. 

 

Secondly, their knowledge of the course is cherished. Caddies on site at Augusta National, now managed and provided by Troon-owned Caddiemaster Inc., a division of the world’s largest course management company, share their expertise with the world’s most renowned caddies who visit just once a year.

 

When Jordan Spieth won the 2015 Masters and Scottie Scheffler captured the 2022 and 2024 Masters, they had a wise voice helping them out. Since both Spieth and Scheffler are former University of Texas golfers, the two-time champion Ben Crenshaw, another Texan, asked his longtime friend and caddie, Carl Jackson, now 77, to talk with their caddies. Jackson passed down his knowledge to Michael Greller, Spieth’s caddie, a year before Spieth won. Three years ago, Ted Scott also sat with Jackson and his trusted old yardage book, leading the Scott-Scheffler duo to two Masters titles.

 

Scott has bought in to all the inside knowledge. He is friends with Steve Kling, now an on-site caddie at Augusta National. Kling, a former assistant college baseball coach, knows the property quite well since he’s there from the club’s opening in October through its closing in late May. Kling helped Dustin Johnson and his brother-caddie Austin en route to Dustin’s 2020 fall Masters win, showing them the subtle course changes in advance of the tournament. He has done the same for Scott and Scheffler, and Scott even bunks at King’s home during Masters week, earning another smidgen of inside information to help his player.

 

 It has paid off, as Scott has four wins as a Masters caddie – the first two with Bubba Watson – putting him in the stratosphere of Augusta National caddies with the legends who laid the Masters path.

 

“We’re just out there to reassure our dude that what he’s doing with an 8- or 9-iron is the right play,” Scott said in late 2024. “There’s a lot of opportunities to get distracted out there. I’m there to remind them, ‘Dude, you’re the bee’s knees.’ ”

 

It’s a tradition that lives on and should be revered at Augusta National alongside the green jacket, pimento cheese sandwiches, Amen Corner and Magnolia Lane.

 

About the author: 

Ward Clayton has been in and around the game of golf since growing up blocks from Hillandale Golf Course, a public facility in Durham, North Carolina. He continued to pursue the game as a competitive amateur and newspaper writer. He was the sports editor of the Augusta Chronicle from 1991 to 2000. Ward has been the Director of Editorial Services for the PGA Tour, and his work has appeared in Sports Illustrated, The First Call, and elsewhere. He was a producer for the 2019 documentary The Caddie’s Long Walk, today owns Clayton Communications and lives in Jacksonville, Florida.

 

Book order details

For more on the book, go to https://blairpub.com/shop/p/legendary-caddies or order via Amazon and national and local booksellers. Since being published in spring 2024, the book has been the No. 1 seller for Blair Publisher, received a 4.7 rating (out of 5) on Amazon and was Amazon’s top-selling golf book in early April 2024.