AUGUSTA, Ga. () – A monument to honor Augusta’s African American caddies was unveiled on Thursday.

It was a packed house at the Sand Hills Community Center celebrating the legendary champion caddies who have played a vital role in the CSRA’s golf community.

These caddies were on the Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta Country Club and Forest Hills Golf Club courses doing a job that played an important role in shaping the game and careers of men who would become legends.

One of the noted caddies was masters champion caddy E.B. McCoy Jr. His grandnephew Garreth Carpenter was the keynote speaker for the event and says everyone plays an important role in their community.

“To the young players coming up today, and to everyone who carries the love of this game in their heart, this is our history, and it is our responsibility to keep it alive.” Carpenter said.

The artist of the monument, Baruti Tucker, says it took him two months to complete the painting, working on it for six hours a day.

Before he started working on it, he wanted to make sure he did his research to capture the history as well as the brotherhood these caddies had.

“I had to look for ways to tell these different stories, and the flowers is about giving the flowers, the black and white top is about showing the history and the past, just wanting to know what those conversations were right there in that moment was precious to me.” said Tucker.

Many of the caddies lived in the Sand Hills neighborhood, the standing room only crowd was filled with families and friends supporting their loved ones who helped shaped and left a lasting impression on and off the course. 

“Let this serve as a reminder that the footsteps of those legendary caddies echos through Augusta. Their legacies live on in every young caddie who picks up a bag, every golfer who learns the game, and every dreamer who believes golf is for them too.” said Carpenter.

This tribute will be a lasting reminder to locals and visitors of the contribution Augusta’s caddies have given to our town.