Caddying on the Color Line

For most of the 20th century, tens of thousands of Black caddies worked the fairways and greens of the South's golf courses. From the famed links of Augusta and Pinehurst to the local country clubs and resorts across the region these African American men and boys carried bags, selected clubs, and read putts. They served a population of tourist golfers who wanted to get the "full southern experience." They fought for fair pay, fair treatment, while receiving neither. They fought for equal access to public courses when the laws of desegregation were largely ignored. And they tried to move into other jobs as the rise of the golf cart spelled doom for the Southern caddie.

Meticulously researched and rigorously vetted, CADDYING ON THE COLOR LINE reveals how Southern Black caddies-young and old-navigated a world of racial tension, professionalized a job once seen as unskilled, became expert golfers in their own right, and helped to pave the way for the rise of Tiger Woods. Along the way, the history of Black caddies reveals the unexpected reasons for the rise of the golf cart and helps explain why there are fewer Black golfers on professional tours today than in the 1960s.

The thousands of Southern Black men who called caddying their job over the course of the 20th century may not have lived extraordinary lives. But their daily struggles and triumphs abounded with resilience, pride, skill, and dignity.

This book tells their story.