Caddies - Why do you like 'em? Why don't you?

[JWinick]

I love having a good caddy.   A good caddy is a round psychologist, a green-reading partner, and someone who carries your bag.   When I get a good caddy, it is well worth it.  However, your are often stuck with caddies that aren't work the money and I sometimes resent being forced to have a caddy

Clubs with caddy programs have to force a caddy upon you or they may not have one anymore.   You can't walk or ride in a 3-some without a caddy.  So, if you want a caddy program, you need to accept the fact that you will sometimes get a caddy that isn't worth it.

I also can see how some people might be uncomfortable with the servile relationship between a caddy and a player.   I don't think it is, but it can certainly be perceived as such.

[Mike Vegis @ Kiawah]

Local knowledge is hugely important here at The Ocean Course.  You stand on the tees on many holes and don't see how big the fairways are.  The caddie is able to give players the preferred target lines that would give players the best attack angles into the greens.  This is something player's won't intitavely know without the help of someone with experience.  For the person playing The Ocean Course for the first times, it can mean an 8-10 shot difference in scoring...

[Anthony Gray]

Local knowledge is hugely important here at The Ocean Course.  You stand on the tees on many holes and don't see how big the fairways are.  The caddie is able to give players the preferred target lines that would give players the best attack angles into the greens.  This is something player's won't intitavely know without the help of someone with experience.  For the person playing The Ocean Course for the first times, it can mean an 8-10 shot difference in scoring...

  Mike,

  When I played the caddy was a former basketball player at West Virginia my alma mater. Do you remember his name?

  Anthony

 

[astavrides]

Local knowledge is hugely important here at The Ocean Course.  You stand on the tees on many holes and don't see how big the fairways are.  The caddie is able to give players the preferred target lines that would give players the best attack angles into the greens.  This is something player's won't intitavely know without the help of someone with experience.  For the person playing The Ocean Course for the first times, it can mean an 8-10 shot difference in scoring...

  Mike,

  When I played the caddy was a former basketball player at West Virginia my alma mater. Do you remember his name?

  Anthony

Jerry  West? Hot Rod Hundley?

[jonathan_becker]

Jerry  West? Hot Rod Hundley?



HAHAHAHA  I had to laugh at that  

[Joe Bausch]

Jerry  West? Hot Rod Hundley?



HAHAHAHA  I had to laugh at that  

But would you have believed White Chocolate? 

[jonathan_becker]

Jerry  West? Hot Rod Hundley?



HAHAHAHA  I had to laugh at that  

But would you have believed White Chocolate? 

Is that a Jason Williams reference? 

[Kalen Braley]

indeed,

The one and only White Chocolate!!   

[Dean Stokes]

perhaps others can confirm this:  it seems like caddies get WAY more money than they used to, even taking into account inflation...true??

minimum wage is like $7.15 /hour i think....so when a kid gets $50 or more for 4 hours work, something seems a bit out of whack

It is out of whack and that's why there's no excuse not to hustle and bust your ass!  Where else can a kid get paid that much for 4 hours?

I have only just picked up on this thread but I have to presume you guys have never caddied. Correct?

The said kid or gentleman who makes $50 for 4 hours work is certainly not overpaid. See for starters he had to be at the club at 7am. You teed off at 1pm let's say - he has already sat in the yard or cleaned and staged carts for several hours (for free). Next he goes to the range and watches you hit balls and cleans your clubs for 45 minutes. Then he watches you hit putts for 15 minutes. Rounds these days rarely takes just 4 hours then he has to get your clubs in the car. His work day has now been close to 11 hours for his $50. Overpaid?

Then let's think about his workday and pay tomorrow. Again he comes in at 7am. Luckily he gets a 9am loop. After 2 holes however the skies open up and rain halts play for the day. Today he earns zero even though he's been at the club for 4 hours and is drenched!

Add to this that the kid is skilled enough to be a caddy and advise grown men/women who he doesn't know around a golf course. I mean do you think anybody can do this job? Overpaid? Really?

[Rich Goodale]

Not correct, Dean--at least for me.

I have caddied for money and continue to caddy for camaraderie from time to time, when friends of mine ask me, usually in the middle of match play tournaments when they have got through and I have not.  They also caddy for me, in similar situations.  At my wedding dinner 18+ years ago I filled a whole table for people who had caddied for me and/or I for them.

Of course caddies are underpaid, from their point of view, but from the golfers point of view, how much value do you really get if they double-loop you so that they can get the money they think they deserve?  The last posh caddy I paid for (2002) took $100 bucks from me, rarely was at my ball when he should have been (he was double looping) and read putts as well as Rush Limbaugh reads the Constitution.

The last caddy I hired was my 11-year old daughter, Melissa, and I agreed to pay her £.50/hole for carrying a pencil bag.  She only lasted 4 holes, girning all the way, but the $3 I paid for her 35 minutes was priceless.

Rich

[PThomas]

perhaps others can confirm this:  it seems like caddies get WAY more money than they used to, even taking into account inflation...true??

minimum wage is like $7.15 /hour i think....so when a kid gets $50 or more for 4 hours work, something seems a bit out of whack

It is out of whack and that's why there's no excuse not to hustle and bust your ass!  Where else can a kid get paid that much for 4 hours?

I have only just picked up on this thread but I have to presume you guys have never caddied. Correct?

The said kid or gentleman who makes $50 for 4 hours work is certainly not overpaid. See for starters he had to be at the club at 7am. You teed off at 1pm let's say - he has already sat in the yard or cleaned and staged carts for several hours (for free). Next he goes to the range and watches you hit balls and cleans your clubs for 45 minutes. Then he watches you hit putts for 15 minutes. Rounds these days rarely takes just 4 hours then he has to get your clubs in the car. His work day has now been close to 11 hours for his $50. Overpaid?

Then let's think about his workday and pay tomorrow. Again he comes in at 7am. Luckily he gets a 9am loop. After 2 holes however the skies open up and rain halts play for the day. Today he earns zero even though he's been at the club for 4 hours and is drenched!

Add to this that the kid is skilled enough to be a caddy and advise grown men/women who he doesn't know around a golf course. I mean do you think anybody can do this job? Overpaid? Really?

okay, maybe he isnt overpaid...but if i have to give him $100 that is a good chunk of change and not something that a lot of people can afford on a regular basis

are there any clubs where the kids dont have to sit around waiting for a loop...i.e., they know when they will go out the day before?

[Dean Stokes]

Just to clarify Paul, $100 is a good chunk of change, and something I cannot afford right now (well every day anyway!). That is why I am not a member at the types of clubs that have caddie programs and do not visit resorts that charge $200 a round plus caddie.

There are some clubs where caddies do get assigned loops for the next day but that in my experience is few and far between.

I have been on both sides of the caddie experience and fully appreciate everybody's remarks and experiences. There are very good caddies and there are not so good caddies. That is the nature of any job and can certainly be reflected in the pay

The complaint that surprises me the most from members on this site is the 'double bag' issue and having to wait at your ball. I have never had to wait at my ball for more than20/30 seconds for a caddie to arrive. That gives me time to get my glove on, smell the roses, have a good look around, appreciate the architecture, size up my shot then get the info off the caddie - not an issue at all. In fact almost a bonus I feel.

[Mike Vegis @ Kiawah]

Local knowledge is hugely important here at The Ocean Course.  You stand on the tees on many holes and don't see how big the fairways are.  The caddie is able to give players the preferred target lines that would give players the best attack angles into the greens.  This is something player's won't intitavely know without the help of someone with experience.  For the person playing The Ocean Course for the first times, it can mean an 8-10 shot difference in scoring...

  Mike,

  When I played the caddy was a former basketball player at West Virginia my alma mater. Do you remember his name?

  Anthony

 

Brooks Berry?

[Anthony Gray]

Local knowledge is hugely important here at The Ocean Course.  You stand on the tees on many holes and don't see how big the fairways are.  The caddie is able to give players the preferred target lines that would give players the best attack angles into the greens.  This is something player's won't intitavely know without the help of someone with experience.  For the person playing The Ocean Course for the first times, it can mean an 8-10 shot difference in scoring...

  Mike,

  When I played the caddy was a former basketball player at West Virginia my alma mater. Do you remember his name?

  Anthony

 

  That's him Mike. Great guy. Is he still there?

  Anthony



Brooks Berry?

[Rich Goodale]

The complaint that surprises me the most from members on this site is the 'double bag' issue and having to wait at your ball. I have never had to wait at my ball for more than20/30 seconds for a caddie to arrive. That gives me time to get my glove on, smell the roses, have a good look around, appreciate the architecture, size up my shot then get the info off the caddie - not an issue at all. In fact almost a bonus I feel.

Dean

Here are the ten top reasons to not like being double-bagged when paying $100+/bag:

10.  In order to double-bag, the caddy rips all the clubs out of your bag and puts them into a smaller bag that suits him rather than you.
  9.  If your playing partner/double-baggee happens to hit the ball in different directions and or different distances, you not only have to wait for him to come to you (more than likely much more than 20-30 seconds), you have to watch him carry his fat ass back and across and up and down the fairway all day
  8.  Due to 9. above, the round is much slower than it should be
  7.  Due to 9. and 8. above the caddy inevitably plays favorites and the poorer player gets shafted (luckily, I have never been the poorer player in such situations, but I have felt the pain of my fellow double-baggees who get no love from the caddy)...
  6.  By the time the caddy gets to your ball you have already figured out what shot to play and he hasn't got a clue as to what you are thinking, so whatever advice he might give is irrelevant.
  5.  On the greens, 6. above is magnified as he has to run from side to side to make sure he reads both your and your double-baggees putts, often taking too little time over each.
  4.  The Keystone Kops images of two caddies running backwards and forwards across the fairwyas and green makes the overall experience for the baggees more burlesque than sublime.
  3.  The caddy demeaningly has to try to extort money from more than one person at he end of the round.
  2.  Due to all the folderol above, it is much more difficult to have an enjoyable game with your friends, which is the main prupose of golf after all.
  1.  Lou Duran and his obnoxious caddy at Cypress who said something to the effect of "If you think I'm going to waste my time replacing your divots, Lou, you have a lot to learn!"  Lou was 2-3 under at the time.......

Hope this helps

Rich

[Adam Clayman]

I'm unaware of any caddies bag fee that comes close to $100/bag.

The bag fee plus tip could exceed $100, and should, when the caddy accentuates the experience to the tune of hundreds of percentage points.(and you can afford it)

If a caddy does a bad job, stiffing them is the only way they will learn that they need to improve. $65 is the top bag fee I have ever heard of. Maybe Pebble's are at $70 now?

Does anyone know of a bag fee near $100 a bag?

[Anthony Gray]

I'm unaware of any caddies bag fee that comes close to $100/bag.

The bag fee plus tip could exceed $100, and should, when the caddy accentuates the experience to the tune of hundreds of percentage points.(and you can afford it)

If a caddy does a bad job, stiffing them is the only way they will learn that they need to improve. $65 is the top bag fee I have ever heard of. Maybe Pebble's are at $70 now?

Does anyone know of a bag fee near $100 a bag?

  Iwould think fee plus tip that $100 would be the standard. True?

  Anthony

[Bryan Drennon]

Caddies don't get a $100 bag fee (not including tips which can very wildly). Even at the highest of high end courses they don't make much money. It involves sitting around a caddy house for hours on end, not knowing if you will even work that day. Not to mention the fact that the weather can throw a monkey wrench into an otherwise perfect experience. The way some of my friends are making a living doing it involves moving 3 to 4 times a year. Of course, if you have a family then you can pretty much forget that. I do agree that double bag caddies are mostly a waste. If you can't afford to have a single bag caddy, I would personally just carry my own bag. 99% of the courses most people will play in their lives won't even have the option. But when you do have it, do it right. If you're playing a world class course, have a world class experience. You can go back to real life when you're done.

[Will MacEwen]

Local knowledge is hugely important here at The Ocean Course.  You stand on the tees on many holes and don't see how big the fairways are.  The caddie is able to give players the preferred target lines that would give players the best attack angles into the greens.  This is something player's won't intitavely know without the help of someone with experience.  For the person playing The Ocean Course for the first times, it can mean an 8-10 shot difference in scoring...

  Mike,

  When I played the caddy was a former basketball player at West Virginia my alma mater. Do you remember his name?

  Anthony

 

Anthony - are these caddies West Virginia grads?

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/32877956/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/

[Anthony Gray]

Local knowledge is hugely important here at The Ocean Course.  You stand on the tees on many holes and don't see how big the fairways are.  The caddie is able to give players the preferred target lines that would give players the best attack angles into the greens.  This is something player's won't intitavely know without the help of someone with experience.  For the person playing The Ocean Course for the first times, it can mean an 8-10 shot difference in scoring...

  Mike,

  When I played the caddy was a former basketball player at West Virginia my alma mater. Do you remember his name?

  Anthony

 

Anthony - are these caddies West Virginia grads?

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/32877956/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/

  Will,

  Not for sure. West Virginia is where the men are men and the sheep are nervous, but maybe there are some llamas around. I do believe that they plan on useing llamas at Mike Young's new course in Central America.

  Thaks for that link,

  Anthony

[Adam Clayman]

A buddy one day carried all four bags because the group wanted him so badly. He agreed but told them he would only walk down the middle and they had to come to him for clubs. They agreed.

[Anthony Gray]

  Adam,

  Can a caddy size a player up on the first tee and predict if the player is going to be good to carry for for?

  Anthony

[Kalen Braley]

  Adam,

  Can a caddy size a player up on the first tee and predict if the player is going to be good to carry for for?

  Anthony

If he doesn't hit his tee shot past the ladies tees...sure!!   

[Anthony Gray]

  Adam,

  Can a caddy size a player up on the first tee and predict if the player is going to be good to carry for for?

  Anthony

If he doesn't hit his tee shot past the ladies tees...sure!!   

  Kalen,

  I know exactly what you are talking about.

  Anthony


 

[Kalen Braley]

  Adam,

  Can a caddy size a player up on the first tee and predict if the player is going to be good to carry for for?

  Anthony

If he doesn't hit his tee shot past the ladies tees...sure!!   

  Kalen,

  I know exactly what you are talking about.

  Anthony


 

Hey,

That was the 3rd tee and I did at least get it past the ladies tee!!