Willie McRae has caddied among the towering longleaf pines of Pinehurst for more than seven decades. On his 10th birthday, his father, also a caddie at Pinehurst, brought Willie to the golf course to work. It spawned a career few could ever hope to replicate.
On Thursday, the Carolinas Golf Association announced McRae, 83, will be enshrined in the CGA Hall of Fame in February. JOINING McRae behind the 18th GREEN of Pinehurst No. 2 as fellow caddies and family members surrounded him, the CGA celebrated one of golf’s greatest careers.
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“It’s a very proud moment for the Carolinas Golf Association to make this announcement at Pinehurst,” said G. Jackson Hughes Jr., the chairman of the CGA Hall of Fame selection committee. “Willie McRae has meant so much to so many people for so many years here at Pinehurst. It’s a well-deserved award.”
McRae’s legendary time at Pinehurst traces much of the area’s rise in the annals of American golf. He has caddied for five presidents, for celebrities from Mickey Mantle to Michael Jordan and many of golf’s greatest FIGURES, including Donald Ross, Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen and Sam Snead.
“Willie McRae has meant so much to so many people for so many years HERE at Pinehurst. It’s a well-deserved award.” -G. Jackson Hughes Jr., CGA official
“I’ve always been THANKFUL to be able to work at a place like Pinehurst,” McRae said. “Everybody’s always been so nice to me. They’ve always made me think I was the important person.”
Read more at Pinehurst.com
