DSchmidt,
Your assertion that ALL veteran(ie. "honor" caddies or whatever) caddies don't hustle is about as absurd a statement as I've read on this site. You often have solid points when you post, but you are way off on this one. Sure, there are caddies that coast out there...that happens in any job situation.
I was just visiting several area Philly caddie clubs discussing this very issue with their caddiemasters. I recounted several experiences of mediocre effort I encountered during a few of my rounds the past season. I stressed that these marginal levels were/are very damaging to the overall, consistent delivery of service by the caddie staff. I agree 100% that an experience that doesn't have the value it should, especially with "experienced" folks doing the job, is unnacceptable and needs addressing. Otherwise, why offer it in the first place?
As to your claim that EVERYONE on this board agrees with your take...I do not...AT ALL...so that FACT is not reality. There are MANY others who know that isn't the case. If you believe that beating your player to the drive is what caddying is all about...wow. Was the caddy carrying two bags? If he/she wasn't... and isn't keeping up, that caddie master needs to be illuminated to that situation and the caddy should be let go if they don't improve their effort. It's that simple. If the caddie is a slacker...they shouldn't be on the course...period. Many facilities don't invest in hiring an individual who really knows how to run a first-rate program. Therein lies the problem. Poor mentoring and management will quickly have ANY endeavor on the slide.
"I don't care" really cuts to how you seem to feel. These aren't my words. They are yours.
Jeff Evagues,
The situation of the rather clueless caddie can often occur when large events are hosted at places that don't have a deep pool of astute caddies. Few facilities have enough regular rounds to keep an army of good caddies busy. When an event of large scale comes along they frequently call other clubs or resort to trying to find folks to "caddie." That often leads to inexperienced or green caddies filtering in to the equation. Which leads to moments such as you described.
Despite the low regard for caddies held by many who haven't experienced what a quality caddie can add to a round, as is the case with any job done well...it's an art! Not everyone can caddie. I've seen low handicap players who BLOW at caddying for others.
Joe Bentham,
Thanks for your insights and understanding of my views. We do have to be careful when we assess what we think caddie programs "cost" facilities. It depends on the model and how it is run. Private/daily fee clubs can both SAVE and ADD significant dollars to their bottom line when they have a quality caddie program and understand how to utilize them properly. Caddies often: assist the starter or caddie master in pulling bags from the drop-off area or bagroom, clean/prep carts for daily play, shag balls on the range perimeter that the picker can't hit, keep the outside service area tidy, sand and seed divots on the fairways, rake out bunkers, fix damaging ball marks, get food at the grill/snack shack, buy apparel in the shop etc. etc. If you treat your caddies well they will gladly perform those additional duties!
Many of these tasks that caddies historically performed regularly at facilities... for DECADES, off the clock ... became the domain of the bloated "outside services staff/greeter mantra" that proliferated more recently, That, and ever-larger green staff crew to deliver over the top conditioning to the courses really drove the cost escalation at most facilities, along with the aircraft-carrier sized clubhouses, over the top F&B expectations etc. Caddie golf alone NEVER buried a club financially folks...get real!
Jason Thurman,
I'll try to add a little clarity to the "confusion." First, I don't presently caddie for a living. I'm a certified arborist who helps folks with tree/shrub related issues. That said, I caddied for the better part of 35 years, finding the game there as a youth and then professionally afterwards. Along with paying for my ENTIRE college education myself. Accomplishing that in large parts thanks to my work ethic while caddying and landscaping summers, along with a partial J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship award that my regular club, Radnor Valley C.C.(which sadly no longer has a program) membership supported. NO WAY that I'm writing to you now WITHOUT caddie golf as my entree to the game. Tens of thousands of others have that same avenue to thank. Including many of our game's greatest champions and differencemakers. If you can't grasp the significance of that, I suggest you do some more reading and you might gain some better appreciation for caddie golf's contributions to the game I'm sure you'd claim you love!
As to Mr. Peper, I didn't insult him at all. He HIMSELF has admitted he is "cheap." I've heard this directly from others, FIRSTHAND, that know him well. Spare me. When someone has a platform in a journalistic capacity...OBJECTIVITY is paramount, even when they opine. If he is going to slam something he clearly knows precious little about, to an equally, often under-informed public...SORRY...I will call his slant into question, and illuminate others as to what is really behind the mask. ESPECIALLY when the guy hasn't done his homework...AND HE EVEN wrote a book on it! Are you kidding me pal?
Addressing why the game... and caddie golf is in a decaying state at present, I saw this evolve first hand. I lived it. There was no reason for it other than greed; what affected caddie golf most negatively was the "cart revenue" mania that took hold and held sway, beginning in the latter 70's, aided by a relentless drumbeat of their "profit margin" by the various cart companies. Many hidden costs were conviently glossed over and some misguided clubs even gave this revenue opportunity to the pros for a while so they didn't have to increase their salaries. That forced the pro to often promote carts INSTEAD of supporting a robust caddie program. They made MORE money with every cart that went out. It was a very damaging scenario, even if unintended, that started the decline of caddie golf. Of course the club took that cart revenue opportunity back once they realized the money being taken in, but the damage to caddie golf had been done and it was significant.
Cart company sponsorship of PGA events and professional tours added to the momentum. The industry basically abandoned the greatest single source of its champions and differencemakers for "profit." That shift has "cost" the game's health dearly, on many levels, especially in America.
Caddie golf is the healthiest bargain in the game when it is well-run and financially viable. It will always be a FRACTIONAL percentage of the way the game is played. I and anybody who is objective will AGREE with that. It is a small, but VITAL avenue that has contributed MORE to the game, THROUGHOUT golf history, than any other single source. It's irrefutable. So why the distain for it by so many, including quite a few on this site, when it has had an immense, positive impact on the very game these folks profess to cherish? It doesn't add up. Many will rarely ever even have to deal with the decision to take one or not. For those that do...yes, it is part of playing at certain places, just like when you go to a top restaurant, you don't order at the cash register. You have a choice to go there or not.
For the record, I'm not for "mandatory" caddie programs. I believe as long as the facility and course is of a superior caliber, and the program is well-run, there will be a demand for caddie-golf. Unfortunately, often unless a caddie-club culture is re-inforced by some mandates, certain members will place thrift at the front of the decision and NOT support the caddie program. From my view, the membership application process is the best place to ensure that you will be a caddie club if that is the culture you with to have. Basically...."We play caddie-golf here. While we do not expect you to take a caddie every round, if you wish to be a member here, and remain in good standing, we expect you to support the program by taking them frequently." Is that so much to ask? If the answer is yes, then that person probably should look for another club.
I'll close by touching on your issue with "career" caddies. Many of us love the game so much we want to LIVE it...so some of us CHOOSE to caddie. I know that concept is VERY difficult for some, including some on this site, to grasp. I can say with FULL confidence, that many quality caddies know more about this game AND life, on MANY levels, than most who think they are above them. Few caddies will ever get more than a basic existence out of it on the financial end. That's not why they do it. Now there are also FAR too many who fall into it and coast. They don't really bring it everyday. That's regrettable. It's part of every job pool known to man. It ain't exclusive to caddie golf. Yet many, including sadly, folks on this site, delight in taking pot shots at caddies. It's easy to do. As it is anywhere you care to point.
I was fortunate to be mentored by some great, old school caddies who took an interest in me, helped me quickly learn a game I knew NOTHING about when I found the caddie yard. They helped shape and changed my life, along with those wonderful Jewish members who believed in helping a young, hustling Catholic kid try to succeed in life. I will NEVER forget or stop trying to repay their spirit and all that those in the game have SHARED with me! I'll not be able square the balance sheet on those treasured gifts, but I WILL die trying.
Hope that helps clear up the confusion?
Mark Chaplin,
Why do you insist on hanging on an isolated point and not at least accept the fact that while YOU may CHOOSE not to partake personally, there is merit to what the caddie golf dynamic has AND continues to contribute to the game....DESPITE the industry basically doing NOTHING to support it? History confirms it. It's right in front of you if you look.
I agree 100% that if you don't want to pay for a caddie...you join elsewhere. Again, caddie golf is a small fraction of the total way the game is played. You may take issue with having that as part of the tariff to play certain places. Such is life. I wish I could belong to, or play any number of places...what do I do, cry remuneration or class discrimination?
As to a caddie not helping a player to a win. You are kidding me right? I've heard NUMEROUS times, firsthand, and have seen TV interviews, where the PLAYER credited the caddie to helping them to the win. While I'm the first to give the player major credit for victory...THEY hit the shots and had the most difficult tasks... a superior effort in preparation and teamwork with a caddie OFTEN has a less-talented player rise up and BEAT better players. It doesn't happen all the time. It can't. Over time, superior talent wins the day percentage wise. But NOT always.
I'll give you a firsthand indication of what a quality caddie can mean to a player winning a tournament. The year 2000, the California State Amateur Champion that year was Nick Jones. He walked on the golf team at USC(University of Southern California, a Top-25 program at the time) and started all four years. He was team-mates with current tour player Stadler.
He also can claim to have done something Tiger NEVER did. Tiger didn't win a Cal State Am Title. He only played in one and lost in the semis. I'll never forget the smile that came over Nick's face when I pointed that out to him. Priceless! Double that joy as Tiger also won at Pebble that same year, in 2000. It gets no sweeter than that.
You know who was on the bag that week? Me. Do you know how many collegiate tournaments Nick won during his ENTIRE collegiate career...zero. He was and is a fine player, still holding several course records. HE WON that week. It wasn't a fluke. Beat the TOUGHEST regional field on the face of the earth. More PGA Tour pros come out of California than any other place on the planet. Look it up. At that time I believe 27 PGA pros were from Cali. That hasn't changed much. Where's Tiger from? Nick beat several players that week that were... or are... on the PGA Tour.
HE hit the shots. That said, his caddie did more preparation, and knew where to hit the gas or back off on that course, better than any other caddie, OR PLAYER, in the field that week. That year, because of the U.S. Open being at Pebble, the event was staged at Blackhorse/Bayonet over in Seaside. The courses, especially back then before the extensive tree removals and Team Bates multilations, were bears. Especially Bayonet, where the match play was contested. To give you an idea how tough it was, at Second Stage of PGA Tour Qualifying held there during the two prior years, the last stop before Final Stage, there weren't 10 guys under par, TOTAL, for those two events.
It was all about angles of approach that week. The course was firm. It hadn't rained much that year. You COULD NOT hit driver on many holes beause if you didn't shape it properly, you finished in the trees and were stuffed. The course WAS long, so most players felt they couldn't take driver out of their hands and give up that distance. Much like Tiger, who did it years LATER at Hoylake, I had Nick hit 3-iron on most of the holes, even the longest of them, if the angles threatened to put us in trouble with driver. He came from 2-down in every match to win from the second round on. Closed every match out from the quarter on with a birdie. It was an awesome accomplishment. HE hit the shots. There is NFW he wins that championship without me on the bag. Read what you wrote and square that against the TRUE account I just shared. Get real.
To GCA and beyond.
So where is the game's voice for caddie golf? The greatest single contributor to the game...throughout its history. The silence is deafening.
Where is the proportionate re-investment to that avenue by those that have profited from golf? It has been pathetic to date. Yet millions have/are shoveled to the First Tee and other initiatives de jour to "grow the game." Really?
That needs to change. The corporate-driven priorities need a serious course correction. It will happen. When?
Respectfully,
Kris