Don’t underestimate the hills of Augusta National Golf Club, where the 2022 Masters begins Thursday.
Lee Westwood’s wife Helen Westwood (née Storey), who is a fitness instructor and the pro’s caddie, said she “feels like an 80-year-old” while carrying his golf bag, which could weigh around 42 pounds while fully equipped.
“Augusta is definitely the toughest course I’ve caddied on — and the thought of going up eight always fills me with absolute dread,” she said, according to The Sun.
After completing the “awful” 570-yard uphill trek to the eighth hole a number of times, Westwood said it’s given her nightmares through the years.
“Honestly, it slopes up at about a 45-degree angle the whole length of the hole,” she said. “I’m a fitness instructor but by the time I get to that green I’m totally out of breath. I feel like someone who smokes 60 cigarettes a day!”
Westwood has been caddying for her husband since at least 2018. He gave her his bag at the Made In Denmark event that September after giving his then-usual caddy, Billy Foster, a week off.
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“People don’t realize how hilly Augusta is, because you don’t get a proper perception of all the ups and downs from TV. Before we start, I always go through the bag asking stuff like, ‘Do you really need this water bottle? There’s water on every tee’. We played a practice round recently with Shane Lowry and I lifted his bag and mine was much heavier. I’d swear Lee was hiding a couple of house bricks or a few iron weights in there if I didn’t check it so thoroughly.”
Westwood caddied in Augusta in 2019 in front of a packed crowd, before she caddied for her husband in Nov. 2020, on a deserted course due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“When I caddied in 2020 it just felt so eerie with no crowds,” she said. “When I’ve done it before you kind of know what’s going on all over the course, because of the famous Augusta roars. Even some of the groans are sometimes loud enough to hear, too. It’s nice to hear those crowd eruptions. So to hear nothing at all the whole way around was very odd. Almost spooky.
“I suppose it’s probably worse for me, because I’ve become used to getting loads of interaction with the crowds. I get quite a few catcalls and the odd saucy comment — although not so much at Augusta, because they’re so polite. But 2020 was a very strange experience.”
Although caddying for her husband at Augusta can be exhausting, Westwood looks forward to the event each year — and actually enjoys the all-white jumpsuit she and other caddies are required to wear on the course.
“It is a lovely feeling, just pulling on that boiler suit. You feel like you are part of golfing history and it’s actually quite comfortable — as long as the weather isn’t too hot!”
Now, Westwood will caddy in front of a crowd of around 60,000 spectators in Augusta for this year’s Masters — where Tiger Woods will compete for the first time since nearly losing his right leg in a car crash last February.
The couple tied the knot last June in Las Vegas, just before the U.S. Open.