When Gray Moore was asked to fill in for golfer Tommy Fleetwood’s regular caddie at the 2024 Masters, with less than a week to prepare, he wasn’t sure he was up to the task. At 70, he’d be the oldest looper on the course.
“I told Tommy that my eyes and my legs weren’t as good as I hoped. He said, ‘I’ll just hit it straight and we’ll get around.’”
The two went on to make history. Fleetwood finished in a tie for third place, his best ever result at the Masters.
It was Gray’s fifth time caddying at the Masters, and he’s worked at the Augusta National Golf Club since 1996. Calm and down-to-earth, he prefers a low-profile and shuns publicity. But he’s quick to say it took a team to keep him going for the demanding 14-hour days of tournament play.
“I’m still not fully recovered,” he said two days later.
He credits his wife, family and fellow caddies for giving him strength. But mostly, he credits his rescue dog Lacey.
“I had a support team, and Lacey was No. 1 on that team. There’s no one more important,” Gray said.
“I had to decompress every night, be ready to go again the next morning, and be sharp. Lacey was really animated when I got home because she’s not used to me being gone so long. She comforted me every night,” he said.
“She was everything.”
Lacey’s life of car rides, in-town errands, and daily treats is a far cry from last year, when she was homeless in the crowded Aiken County Animal Shelter. At 15 pounds, she was severely matted, and dwarfed by the concrete kennel where she cried and nearly lost hope.
The high-volume shelter works hard to save every life, but the reality is there are more displaced animals than there are homes. Social media posts work miracles for many of them. Showing their faces and telling their stories are compelling ways to open hearts, even those not looking to adopt.
Like Gray and his wife, Kathy.
Their previous rescue dog had recently died, and they weren’t ready to even talk about getting another. But their sister-in-law Beverly Calvert knew better. She read Lacey’s post on Facebook, and headed for the shelter. Then she headed to Gray and Kathy’s house.
“She just showed up with this little dog,” Gray said. “But when she got ready to leave, I said, ‘You’re not taking that dog anywhere.’”
And just like that, a little shelter dog stepped into a big purpose, and whole new life.
“We love Lacey so much. I can’t imagine anything better than a rescue dog,” said Kathy. “They can be as special, or more so, than a purebred or designer dog.”
There are many more dogs at the Aiken County Shelter still waiting for homes. Please consider meeting them and opening your heart to adoption. As we say in the FOTAS motto, their lives are in our hands.
