"Dee" Darden was a caddie on the LPGA Tour for 15 years. He looped for the best. Nancy Lopez had him on her bag for the best years of her career. Beth Daniel and Patty Sheehan were among those he worked for. He was known and loved by the entire tour and everyone who knew him.
Dee was the second caddie inducted to the PCA Caddie Hall of Fame in 2001, an elite and dedicated group of men and women lead by president, Dennis Cone.
He is credited for creating some of the first yardage books for the tour by literally walking and measuring each hole before a match and then selling the yardage books for a dollar to the competition, compliments of the nearest Xerox machine.
In 1994 he published "Inside The Ropes" a photographic essay of life on the LPGA Tour which featured photos that only he could have taken reflecting his unique relationship with the players and caddies. He was an active photographic contributor to CBS, Golf World Magazine and the LPGA for many years.
He was a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force flying B-52's complete with A-Bombs on Christmas eve over the North Pole, to commanding the F-4 photo-recon Phantom in Vietnam. When traveling to an LPGA event from Arizona, he accidentally stumbled upon the largest aircraft gravesite in the world and remarkably found the F-4 Phantom he flew in Vietnam with his name displayed on the jets port side.
His life always included golf and at one point in his young life he considered turning pro. On his way home after release from the military he stopped at an LPGA event, and as he put it, "fell in love with 160 women." He became a caddie at that moment. His instinctive knowledge of the game made him a great asset to any player he looped for. The players also fell in love with him, including his wife and fellow caddie, Jeannie.