Golfers split over local caddies in Augusta National
EVANS, Ga. – Sierra Brooks picked up the phone recently to find Ron DeSantis on the other end of the line. The Florida governor wanted to pass on his well wishes along with a few tips regarding Augusta National, which he’d recently played alongside club chairman Fred Ridley.
“You have Florida behind you,” DeSantis told
Brooks, a native Floridian.
The governor’s advice: Take a local caddie for the final round at Augusta National. The greens have triple the amount of break than what you might expect.
Brooks had her father, Brent, on the bag Wednesday for the first round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. The plan is to keep him on the bag at Champions Retreat and then see how she clicks with the local caddie the club provides for Friday’s practice round at Augusta National. It will be an interview of sorts, though Brooks likes the idea of having her dad along for the walk on Saturday. She opened with a 1-underpar 71 on Wednesday, good for a share of eighth.
For some players in the field, taking an Augusta National caddie for the week was a no-brainer. For Stanford’s Andrea Lee, sentimentality outweighed practicality.
Lee tried to get the same ANGC caddie she used this year when she played the course with teammates. But that caddie happens to be at the ANA Inspiration this week working for Gerina Piller. Instead she’s using
Grey Moore, an Augusta caddie with decades of experience.
“I’m sure my dad would’ve liked to have caddied,” Lee said, “and it would’ve been special.”
But Augusta National presents unique challenges that are tough to learn in one day, and Lee is among the favorites to win the inaugural event.
That being said, the field is split up quite evenly when it comes to caddies of choice, with roughly onethird going with local loopers, one-third going with a family member and one-third going with coaches and close family friends.
Kaitlyn Papp’s dad, Anthony, caddied for her in her first junior event and has missed only one chance to carry the bag since. (Mom filled in last summer in the Canadian Women’s Amateur.) It was automatic that he’d be on the bag for Augusta.
Virginia senior Anna Redding had plenty of offers when she received her ANWA invitation but knew early on that she wanted a local looper. What she couldn’t know was that in the wildest of coincidences, she’d wind up with the same caddie she had at Augusta her senior year of high school, when her father lined up 27 holes.
“We hit it off again on Monday,” said Redding, who appreciated his positive outlook when she was 4 over through seven holes. Redding played her last 11 in 3 under.
For Brooke Seay, it was important to have a local caddie on the bag at Champions Retreat. For Friday and Saturday, however, she plans to have her father take over. He knows her game well, but mostly it’s about having that father-daughter experience together.
Jennifer Kupcho took dad’s advice on the 18th hole when she faced a difficult shot from behind the green. “Just hit your 58,” Michael Kupcho said. “You always hit that well.”
Jennifer executed a near-perfect shot to get and up and down for birdie and a share of the lead at 4-under 68 with 16-year-old Zoe Campos.
Does that secure dad’s spot as caddie for Augusta? “We’ll see in the practice round,” said Jennifer, smiling.