Masters Tournament participants have their opulent locker room near Augusta National Golf Club's first tee; the men who carry their bags have a caddie shack.

It's not really a shack; that's just a term handed down over the years. Still, there's nothing fancy about it, either.

Inside the white building is a square room with green lockers pushed up against the walls.

On those walls are pictures of caddies who have worked there since Caddie Masters Enterprises took over at Augusta National in 1996.

During the first full week of April, this is where all the caddies in the Masters Tournament come each day to check in, and then change into their white jumpsuits with the green trim.

In an adjacent office is caddie master Tom Van Dorn.

He shares the room with boxes of white FootJoy tennis shoes and green hats that the caddies wear to complete their Masters caddie uniform.

The jumpsuits come in all shapes and sizes. They have to. Young children are able to caddie for their fathers during Wednesday's Par-3 Contest.

According to Ward Clayton's 2004 book, Men on the Bag, the Caddies at Augusta National, one of the toughest fits came in 2000. Amateur Graeme Storm's mother, Jane Storm, caddied for him that week, and her slight build led to some alterations of the uniform.

There's not much history at the newer caddie shack, which is located to the right of the first fairway.

It has been in place only since 1994 - 60 years after the first Masters was played.

The original caddie shack stood in a spot where the Tournament Headquarters building now stands.

It had even fewer amenities than the current caddie shack - the one room was smaller, and it had a large metal table in the middle of it, which was perfect for the card games the caddies played to pass the time.

It was here during the club's October-May season that caddies would wait to hear from the caddie master when they were needed to work for a member or guest.

Until 1983, it was a place where only Augusta National caddies were welcome. Starting that year, the ban was lifted on non-Augusta National caddies working the Masters, which meant the newcomers had to visit the caddie shack to get their uniforms.

From that point on, it was hard to make a living as a full-time Augusta National caddie because they no longer got the big Masters payday that used to see them through the year. Now, only a handful of Augusta National caddies work the Masters each year.

It was in the mid-1980s that some local residents started working as caddies to fill the void, and the tradition of the famed full-time Augusta National caddie began to wane.

The golf clubs of the Masters participants have never been stored at either caddie shack. They've always been kept in a holding area near the Clubhouse.

Like the original caddie shack, the new building is known for its food.

While the top seller at the old caddie shack was a pork chop sandwich (with the bones intact), the newer caddie shack is famed for its juicy hamburgers and cheeseburgers, which cost $1.50 each.

They are made by Herbert Fryer, a former caddie, whose work speaks for itself. There is normally a line at the window at all hours during Masters Week.

Reach David Westin at (706) 724-0851 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.