Tripp Bowden

Freddie & Me

Life Lessons from Freddie Bennett, Augusta National’s Legendary Caddy Master

Though he was born and raised in Augusta, Georgia — home of fabled Augusta National and The Masters — as a child Tripp Bowden was too young and too removed from golf to realize what Augusta National really was. All the ten-year-old Bowden knew was that golf was a stupid game that took up too much of his father’s time.

That changed when Bowden’s father, a renowned local doctor, introduced him to one of his patients: Freddie Bennett, the legendary Augusta National caddie master. Though Bowden was a white child of considerable privilege and Bennett an older black gentleman of more modest means, the two formed an unusual bond. Bennett introduced Bowden to the game — a sport that would one day earn him a Division 1 golf scholarship and lead him to the final stage of a British Open qualifier. But it was the lessons Bennett taught off the course — about personal responsibility, hard work, and respect for others regardless of age, race, or religion — that had the deepest impact.

Like the bestsellers Tuesdays with Morrie and Seasons of Life before it, Freddie & Me is a heartwarming tale of two unlikely friends and their uncommon bond forged through sport.

All the Memorable Rounds

The experiences that define a golf course

In All the Memorable Rounds, Tripp Bowden asserts that it is the experience that defines a golf course — from the parking lot to the pro shop, the golf course to the caddies, the first-tee jitters to the eighteenth with all bets on the line. The experience is at the nineteenth hole, commiserating over a pint to the ones that got away, and raising a glass to the ones that didn’t.

Bowden weaves in his own stories from some of the most noteworthy courses in America — from Augusta National to Cypress Point and many in between — alongside testimonies from fellow golf lovers and professionals past and present. Featured experiences include:

• A round at Palmetto Golf Club, and the never-before-told story behind course designer Alister MacKenzie.
• Ben Hogan’s private table in the grill room at Shady Oaks — and the true secret to the Hogan swing.
• Reliving golf for the first time again at a municipal course in Augusta called the Cabbage Patch, through the eyes of a nine-year-old first-time golfer.

All the Memorable Rounds goes beyond slope ratings and dives deep into the experiences that make golf one of the oldest and most celebrated games in the world.