Once Augusta resident Tripp Bowden started writing about former Augusta National Golf Club caddiemaster Freddie Bennett, he couldn't stop.

Tripp Bowden knew former Augusta National caddiemaster Freddie Bennett for 30 years and worked under him for four. (Annette M. Drowlette/Staff)

It took only four months to write the book (in longhand), and the result is Freddie & Me, Bowden's account of his 30-year association with Bennett, who died in 2006 at age 76.

For four of those years (1989-92), Bowden worked as a caddie for Bennett at Augusta National, which is the heart of the book.

Freddie & Me was released April 1. It is the 42-year-old Bowden's first book and is published by Skyhorse Publishing Co.

"I think I kind of surprised them, the way it turned out," said Bowden, who finished the book in October. "That story kind of came out of me. It really flowed out. I took a deep breath and started cranking with a pen and let's see what we've got four months later.

"When they saw how good it was, they fast-tracked it to be ready for the Masters. It's almost a year ahead of schedule. I put things in there I wanted the whole world to read."

Bowden has saved his Augusta National caddie identification badges. (Annette M. Drowlette/Staff)

Bowden said writing the book "was quite a task," but he called it a labor of love.

It's a story no one thought would ever be written.

For all of Bennett's gregariousness, he was a private person, as are members of his family today. Bennett was a friend of Bowden's family, though, and he made it a point to teach 10-year-old Tripp how to fish and play golf, and later helped him get his first real job (after being a caddie).

When Bowden, a former Augusta State University golfer, started working at Augusta National at Bennett's suggestion at age 22, the relationship grew even deeper.

"It's kind of a once-in-a-lifetime story because Freddie was a once- in-a-lifetime person," Bowden said. "Freddie was so much bigger than what I was able to put in the book, but I hope I touched on the fact that he would do anything for anybody at any time. He was so unconditional. How often do you meet a person like that? Almost never. ...

"It didn't matter who you were. If he thought there was hope for you ... even when he thought you were gone. Some caddies would get on the crack and Freddie knew it was over, but he still tried. He never gave up. There aren't many people who would never give up on people no matter what. You'd have to be dead in the ground before Freddie would say, 'There's nothing I can do now.' "

"Freddie & Me" by Tripp Bowden (Annette M. Drowlette/Staff)

Bennett, who retired from Augusta National in 2000, died well before Bowden started the book. Bowden feels Bennett had a hand in writing it, though.

"I talked to him a lot when I wrote it," he said. "I'd be writing something, and I'd say, 'Talk to me, Freddie. What do I need to say here?' And off we would go.

"We talked about writing a book together often, and he'd say, 'You have to agree with me on this one thing: You can't publish it until I'm dead and you're dead.' And I'd say, 'Why?' And he said, 'Because they'd kill us' because of the things he knows about Augusta."

Most of that doesn't come out in the book, though there is a great story about then-Vice President Dan Quayle and another about Michael Jordan.

"My first proposal (to the publisher) was about the life of an Augusta National caddie," Bowden said. "We didn't get any takers because they wanted dirt and I wasn't going to give dirt. I wasn't going to mention any members' names. I'm not going to tell that."

The publisher was interested in Bowden's relationship with Bennett, and that proposal was accepted.

Bowden is a former advertising executive -- thanks in large part to Bennett, of course -- but is a full-time writer now.

The Augusta resident has also completed his first novel, but it doesn't have a release date. Naturally, it has a Masters theme.

"It's called Greyhound Jesus and the Perpetual Care Fund," Bowden said. "It's about the second coming of Christ during Masters Week. One of the stories takes place in New York and the other in south Georgia."

Reach David Westin at (706) 823-3224 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.