The Legendary Caddies of Augusta National: Inside Stories from Golf’s Greatest Stage

by Ward Clayton

Starting in the 1930s, the Black caddies of Augusta National walked the course with the world’s greatest golfers. This book tells their stories, forever entwined with the history of the game.   They used nicknames like Stovepipe, Burnt Biscuits, Skillet, Skinny, and Marble Eye. They worked for presidents of the United States, captains of industry, and the greatest golfers in the world. 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 the1930s—from Gene Sarazen's "shot heard 'round the world" to Jack Nicklaus winning a record five of his six Masters. Read why Nicklaus said he wouldn’t trade caddie Willie “Pete” Peterson “for a million dollars” and what Willie “Cemetery” Perteet really thought of President Eisenhower’s golf game. The Black caddies of Augusta National also endured, in their own ways, the racist social order of the sport and at the same time participated, albeit vicariously, in its many thrills. Ward Clayton documents their stories—history as compelling as the game of golf itself.

Genres: Sports

276 pages, Paperback

Published April 2, 2024

Reviews

[Zachary Leon]

The stories of this book are super important for any American golf fan and I am glad to have learned them. Augusta National’s troubling bylaws always made me squeamish and I was anxious to read a book that helped me understand it more.

I think these stories helped deliver that understanding. This book was not about a group of outsiders kept from being members at the exclusive club. It approaches their stories from a glass half full perspective.


The downside of this read is that the stories felt disjointed. The chapters didn’t necessarily go in order from early to present. There were lots of interjections with randomly named people who had me forgetting what I was even reading about in the first place. Additionally, there were important bits, such as the caddie uniforms, interspersed throughout the book almost as an interlude. It definitely had me scratching my head at times based on what stories went where.

Good book, important book, but frustratingly disjointed.