Masters: "Yardage Books Carry Caddies' Good Word"

Without those sulfourous green reading books sidelined this week and with a tightly bunched leaderboard where the slightest mistake could lose a green jacket, caddies take on extra meaning at The Masters.

Ward Clayton filed a definitive piece for Masters.com this week on the art of charting Augusta National compared to normal weeks where more of the charting is already done for players and caddies. How we got here is pretty incredible and there remains so much local knowledge to Augusta National.

Just a sampling from the piece related to the shining star that is 2020:

Yardages are important, especially this week when a landmark such as grandstands are absent and another marker must be documented. But at Augusta National, it’s the greens that are the final exam. Putts that look to break one way do the exact opposite or roll out much more than expected, resulting in head scratching and insecurity.

Willie Lee “Pappy” Stokes, the godfather of Augusta National caddies and a five-time winner as a caddie, quickly figured out a secret that Augusta National caddies carried for decades. In the caddie facilities adjacent to the Tournament Practice Facility, simple framed maps of green complexes hang on the walls. On every drawing, there is a distinct red dot, showing the direction of Rae’s Creek from that green – and the tendency for putts to break to the lowest point on the property when it’s not evident to the naked eye. Many caddies over the years have denoted that red dot in their personal Augusta National yardage books.

“Most people think 12 green is the lowest point,” two-time champion Ben Crenshaw said in 2019. “That’s not quite right. It goes to the left of 11 green. That’s the place that’s called ‘The Pull.’ On every green, Carl would point through the trees to that point. Many of the young golfers don’t really understand that. It’s just fascinating.”