Why Do The Caddies Wear White Boiler Suits At The Masters?
The Masters (opens in new tab) tournament may have changed since its first inception back in the 20th century, but one tradition that has remained are the white boiler suits and green hats worn by the caddies. But why exactly is this uniform used and when did it come about? The video below explains all…
Well it used to be a widespread practice in Majors and at tour events that the players did not use their own caddies. Instead the host golf clubs provided all the caddies for the players. This practice mainly died out during the 1970s. The Masters became one of the last tournaments to change its policy on caddies.
Until the 1983 Masters tournament, all the caddies at The Masters were provided by the host club, Augusta National. Players were not allowed to bring their own caddie.
Jack Nicklaus and his caddie at the 1973 Masters
(Image credit: Getty Images)
When it changed this policy, the Masters Tournament Committee still required all visiting caddies to wear the traditional uniform of the club’s own caddies. This uniform is white overalls and a green cap, and is worn there all year round by the caddies. Or we should say, for those months of the year that Augusta is open to play because the course traditionally closes between the months of May and October. The earliest caddies at Augusta National were poor black men drawn from the local community. The club had provided them with official uniforms to make them look smarter.
As defending champion in 2021, Dustin Johnson’s caddie got number one on his suit.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
This uniform thus became a tradition – and Augusta National does like its traditions. The caddies also have numbers on their suits and these are allocated in the order that the caddies check in to register. The only exception to this is the defending champion and his caddie, because they get the number one on their suit as you can see above. All the caddies in The Masters also have the name of the player that they are caddying for on the back of their overalls in green lettering.
Another interesting fact is the white uniform is not that different to the binmen of Augusta National, who wear green caps but their overalls are yellow, not white.
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