John,
If the players dress poorly, that is their choice. There is no reason to subject the caddies to the degrading(make NO MISTAKE that is felt by 99% of the caddies that are FORCED to wear them) and often uncomfortable white suit. They also are usually too heavy a fabric for the climate, don't breathe well, and get trashed on bad weather days.
Many of those that have never done the job kind of think it's nice to have their caddie in the white suit. It's not. As to the "classic uniform" ...that emerged from only ONE place in the LONG history of the game and I'll say it again, for the reasons mentioned, it has NO PLACE in the game today. Having waitered, before and during my college years, at the higher end dining locales along the lines of the Morton's establishment you mention, there is a rightness and respect level accorded with the generally SHARP look of that attire. Conversly, it is hard to find much love or elan associated with the white suit. If you've done the job, or appreciate the comfort of, and have a healthy respect for quality caddies that I imagine you have, it becomes failrly obvious that the white suit era needs to be retired...PRONTO.
It will happen. It takes time for the stubborn and indifferent to come around to the reality that the white suit was an idea rooted in an ugly past, that serves no purpose today... except for those that want to extend the "fantasy."
Howard,
That organization you reference is a terrible scourge and blight that has infiltrated the game and sustained itself, due to ignorance within the industry, on how to run quality caddie programs that RESPECT those that do the job. I'll not get into all the reasons here.
Just so you are aware, that organizaton lifted that "white suit" mantra from Augusta, after they convinced the men in green to take them on to run their caddie program the early days of that company. The other facilities you cite as having the white suited caddies are ALL facilities that have the entity you mentioned running their caddie programs. Very few other facilities, save copycat destination facilities that think that is something noble to emulate, follow that tasteless trend. Why be just like everyone else?
It's PURE COPYCAT! Do you think Pine Valley,Merion, or Cypress Point would even think of putting their caddies in that disgusting,demeaning suit...NEVER! They respect their caddies and set their OWN standards... and do not mistakenly follow others in the game. With all respect, those just-mentioned places golf presentations' usually BLOW the caddie- outsourced presentation experiences away. No white suit ensures a quality golf experience. Bandon runs their own program in-house and does a lot of it very well, but the white suit is pure copy-cat and serves little purpose except for the lazy.
Cheers,
Kris
