In times of urgency, when social networks in the eagerness of exclusives are ahead of the deaths, it is certified that until the last breath there are classes. There are deferred deaths. On Monday, Golfweek reported the death of Merion Herrington, who died in December in Charlotte at the age of 75. Among his merits was having served for decades as a caddie at Augusta National and having carried Severiano Ballesteros’ bag in his first victory in 1980.
With Herrington, one of the last caddies who triumphed under the strict policy of the Masters at Augusta, the world’s most elitist tournament, which until 1982 forced guests to hire local – all black – helpers during the week of the first major of the season. Only two other living winners remain, who continued to work despite the opening: Ben Bussey, who won with Craig Stadler in 1982 and Carl Jackson, a supporting actor in Ben Crenshaw’s double, 1984 and 1995, and who always accompanied him since 1976. For the 1983 edition, Seve’s second triumph, the number was drastically reduced: only 12 of the 82 players who participated used local black caddies.
For Herrington, the decision made by club chairman Hord Hardin, under pressure from Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson, cost him the guaranteed income during Masters week. This was a great hardship for his family, as after his mother’s death, the caddie struggled to support his five children.
However, the Augusta National members backed him, and none more so than Minnesota businessman David Lilly, who upon learning of his situation offered him a house. “Tell your wife to choose one. And I don’t care how much it costs.” But Herrington found out that he could apply for a military subsidy and turned down the offer. “Thank you, although I could use some help with a lawnmower.” Lilly bought him a machine outright.
Herrington would take nearly two decades to carry a bag again during Masters week at Augusta. He did so by helping amateur James Driscoll in 2001. Before the pandemic, he moved to the neighboring state of South Carolina, where he worked as a caddie at Sage Valley Golf Club.
Merion had the honor of accompanying the first European player to win the green jacket. With him and his lineage, a tradition among caddies that had begun in 1934, with the inaugural edition of the Masters, came to an end. He was another product of the Sand Hills neighborhood, the neighborhood near the course from which 90 percent of the assistants who carried the bags of the members came, all white – there was not one until 1990 – assistants to a tournament where until Lee Elder did not play in 1975 was banned from participation because of skin color.
He was one of those caddies who did not need a notebook to guide him or any instrument to know how hard the wind was blowing. He knew Augusta National like the back of his hand. When Seve’s genius burst onto the scene, some of the blame lay with Herrington.
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