Monument dedicated to Augusta’s Black Caddies

They did more than just carry around golf clubs.

“Those guys had to be intelligent, had to be skillful and had to know what they were doing,” said Lawrence Bennett, whose father, Freddie Bennett was the longtime caddie master at the Augusta National.

From 1934 to 1982, members of the Augusta National’s Black Caddie Corps helped golfers win Green Jackets. They knew the course, could pick the club and provided golfers invaluable insight. On Thursday, Augusta honored those men by unveiling a sculpture at the Sand Hills Community Center.

“It’s a long overdue celebration of legacy,” said Leon Maben, the Greater Augusta Arts Council’s Vice President of Public Art.

Many of those famed caddies called the Sand Hills area their home.

“These were extraordinary men.  A lot of them raised me,” said Garreth Carpenter, great nephew of E.B. McCoy Jr., who caddied for Gary Player 1974. Carpenter is an assistant golf professional at St. Ives Golf Club and a First Tee-Augusta Hall of Fame Honoree. “These men are the souls of the game. They were the keepers of the wisdom and silent strategists, who shaped the careers of these great golfers in history.”

Designed by Ed Durant, the 25-foot long golf tee sculpture features members of the famed caddie corps painted by Baruti Tucker, who eloquently spoke of the interactions he had with the caddies and their legacies as he painted them.

He said he heard them laughing – at him; he heard them joking — about him; he could smell the smoke and taste the liquor and hear their sarcastic comments about the White golfers who couldn’t read the greens.

And that experience came through his fingertips — which he uses to paint with rather than brushes — and onto the sculpture, where he placed the likenesses of Masters Tournament Champion Caddies William “Pappy” Stokes, Willie “Pete” Peterson Jr., Edwin B. “EB” McCoy Jr., Jariah Beard Sr., Carl Jackson and Roosevelt Smalley Sr.

The ceremony also included Otis “Buck” Moore who began caddying in the 1960s.

Moore said he didn’t know anything about the game when he started caddying and recalls Pappy Stokes saying “if he wins a major, we’re going to have a Black president.”

Moore caddied for decades but he barred his sons from caddying. He wanted them to get a college education.                

In case you missed it: Men on Bag experience brings Black Caddies to Life

To learn about the Black caddie corps, visit the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History on April 9 for the Augusta’s Black Caddies – Men on the Bag experience and book signing. The Men on the Bag experience will be at 6 p.m. followed by Ward Clayton signing his book at 7 p.m. The cost is $25.

In case you missed it: Clayton book on Black Caddies rereleased in 2024

Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.