Why caddies at the Masters are forced to wear white jumpsuits at all times during play

Spectators at the Masters will notice that all caddies will not only be wearing white, but white jumpsuits.

When switching on to watch the Masters, some might question why competitors are being followed around by the janitor.

Or why a host of janitors are strolling around the course.

The janitors are actually the caddies, but with their outfits for the Masters they look like they’re about to attend to some much needed maintenance, or change the sparkplugs on a Ford Fiesta.

Jose Ballester at the Masters

The tradition is reported to go back all the way to the late 1930s, when caddies wore similar clothes to everyone else. This is what caused a problem.

The solution was found by former Augusta club chairman Clifford Roberts. He believed it could be difficult to pick out caddies from spectators, so he suggested that caddies wear uniforms.

It is reported that the first design was made of denim, with a jaunty little green cap as per GolfWeek. They were replaced by heavy white jumpsuits. Although they did the trick of making the caddies clearly identifiably from everyone else, they were, unsurprisingly, far too hot for the caddies to be trudging around the warm Georgia countryside.

Ian Poulter at the Masters

Presently, the jumpsuits are made of a blend of cotton and polyester. In order to further identify each caddie, the name of the player they are working with is printed on the back. The numbers on the jumpsuits are very simple. Number one is designated to the defending champions. However, all other numbers are given purely on the order in which players check in at the tournament.

The Masters has a long and illustrious history going back nearly 100 years.

The traditions of the golfing tournament very much include the white jumpsuits. So, although caddies probably need to be careful if eating anything with ketchup during the Masters, they are, at least, highly recognisable.