Gretchen Zoeller on the bag for Fuzzy
4/10/2009 12:30:00 PM | Women's Golf
By Travis Haney , Gene Sapakoff
The Post and Courier
Friday, April 10, 2009
AUGUSTA ? Gretchen Zoeller wasn't born when her father won the 1979 Masters, becoming the first rookie winner since Gene Sarazen in 1935. So she wasn't about to miss being a part of her father's final Masters as a contestant.
Fuzzy had decided he was ready to call it quits as a player, but the family wasn't going to let him miss one final go-round. And Gretchen decided she wanted to be her father's caddie.
"We had to beg him to come back for one more year," said Gretchen, who played golf at the College of Charleston.
So, with her father convinced, Gretchen popped the question during the holidays.
"Just goes to show you what red wine at Christmas will do," Fuzzy said. "She made the statement she wanted to caddie for me and there it is."
Monday was designated Fuzzy Zoeller Day in Augusta. He was given the key to the city. At the ceremony, Gretchen read letters from Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Ben Crenshaw, Gary Player and Raymond Floyd, as well as one of her own.
"I just talked about how Dad has been a champion his whole life, on and off the golf course," she said. "It was a very, very special honor and well deserved and very humbling for the family."
Gretchen, 25, graduated from the College of Charleston in 2006 and now is the director of marketing and public relations for Magnolia Health Systems in Indianapolis.
Except for the Par-3 Contest (Fuzzy auctioned that spot off for charity), she has been on the bag the entire week. During a practice round Sunday, she got to hit a few shots and putted on a few holes.
Fuzzy didn't lighten the load. Gretchen joked that there would probably be a few bricks in the bag. After finishing the round (Fuzzy shot 79), Gretchen said the job wasn't too bad.
"It couldn't have been a better day, except maybe a 69 instead of a 79," she said. "We had a great time out there, with a lot of family and friends hooting and hollering."
Gretchen said there might be a few tears after her father's last round, but the Zoellers generally aren't criers.
"But when you get one of us crying, it's kind of like a domino effect. One cries, the next one cries and then the next one."
