Augusta's Great Caddies

__“*Nobody but you and your caddie care what you do out there, and if your caddie is betting against you, he doesn't care, either.” Lee Trevino

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Carl Jackson, who carried for Ben Crenshaw when he won in 1995, is the subject of Ron Whitten’s profile in April, Last Man Standing.  He’s also a main source for David Westin’s reminiscence in today’s Augusta Chronicle about two legendary Augusta National Caddies who passed  away during the year, Freddie Bennett and Willie “Pappy” Stokes, who not only caddied from Augusta’s opening on, but also helped to clear the ground for course.

Of the all the caddies, says Jackson, Stokes, who died in July at 86, was the king. __"You had Matthew Palmer and Ernest Nipper and a lot of other real good caddies, but when you come down to it, Pappy was the best, the very best….He was my mentor. He knew where the skeletons are in the closet here. He took it to the grave with him, and I’m doing the same. He told me some terrible stories. But he realized like any other house, you’ve got skeletons in the closet. He also realized how many families were being helped by this place being here. There were quite a few members [at his funeral]. All the local members were there, and a few out-of-town members, too. It was a big funeral. A lot of people paid their respects to Freddie."

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For the most part, Augusta National caddies gave way to tour caddies after 1982. The AP's Jim Litke has done a nice job of telling how it all changed.

--Bob Carney