Mark’s Kaddy Korner

It happens. Caddies and players disband often for a variety of reasons, usually because things aren’t going well and there has been little success. Time to make a change and we’re the only expendable component in the mixture. Maybe there was a tremendous screw-up; late for a tee time, too many clubs in the bag, hangover on the first tee, etc. A veteran caddy with years of service (i.e. Fluff and Furyk last week) can survive isolated problems, but none of us can overcome blood ties.

MCI caddies, friends and family, have infiltrated the professional tours over the last decade. With the purses rising and the economy falling a pro’s child, cousin, bother, wife, or close friend may throw the bag over their shoulder and we get tossed to the side. There are appropriate ways for the pro to handle the dismissal, Kenny Perry made bogey. His son, recently graduated and currently unemployed, needed a job so Freddie Saunders got the boot. It wasn’t a man to man conversation; there wasn’t even a two week notice, just a call from Kenny’s agent and an immediate dismissal notice.

After years of dedication, hard work, long hours, quite a few wins, and a pocketful of money, Fred is on the sideline. There’s no reason to feel sorry for Freddie, he’s done very well for himself, but we do need a little more respect than a phone call from the agent. Caddies are supposed to be dedicated so players could at least reciprocate and handle the situation with a little class. Something like, “Hey Freddie, my boy is coming out in a couple of weeks. He can’t find a job and needs the work. I’m sorry, it’s difficult, I hope you understand. We’ll hook up again in a few months.” That’s not so hard is it?

Currently there are approximately 25 MCI caddies on the Champions Tour. One third of the caddies have a tighter bond than just the normal player caddy relationship. There’s blood involved and that’s a more powerful bond than anything else a veteran caddy can provide. We understand that father-son thing. Go have some fun occasionally but don’t jeopardize your father’s career or steal our jobs.

Years ago, Steve Williams was working for Raymond Floyd on the Senior Tour. We were playing in North Carolina and Steve had just flown in from New Zealand for the tournament. On Tuesday Raymond informed Steve if his son, Ray Jr., was available he would caddy the tournament and Steve was outside the ropes. Naturally Steve was livid but had no recourse except to vent among his peers. He was so hot; if Raymond had been close by there may have been quite a fight in the bushes.
We understand, really we do, but give us some notice and handle it like a man.

Any caddy whose player has a teenage child feels the shadow over his shoulder. It starts with the kid asking a few questions, then he thinks it’s easy and he can do it, graduates to caddying in a few pro-am events or practice rounds, and finally dad pulls his caddy aside and says, “I think Johnny’s ready to caddy, what you think?”

Our opinion doesn’t matter because junior is on his way to the caddy ranks. When the kids first started showing up there was somewhat of a revolt. Bags were unhooked from carts on the Senior Tour and junior took off unknowingly spilling the clubs all over the cart path. MCI caddies weren’t allowed the normal professional courtesy on the course; they had to rake their own traps, nobody tossed them a divot, and intimate course knowledge wasn’t shared in their presence.

Usually they were next to dad’s side in the clubhouse dining with the family; they weren’t really caddies. The “lucky sperm club” was allowed special privileges they didn’t have to rough it like the rest of us. Cold, rainy, days when play was suspended, they weren’t in the cart barn but next to the clubhouse fireplace. A couple of MCI caddies hung out with us but not many, they were used to a softer life. Caddying wasn’t a job it was fun.

If the kid is going to caddy then the special privileges of that family badge need to be suspended. A teenage kid could learn a lot about life hanging out in the caddy yard, a lot more than sitting around a white linen table cloth in an exclusive country club. Just imagine what a pro’s kid could learn from Hobo, Penitentiary Lairy, Golfball, Port-o-let, among others. Let us have them for an hour before the round and then out for a couple of beers after eighteen holes.

I guess it’s a much more respected business than it used to be. I don’t remember any MCI caddies twenty years ago. Back then signs on the pro shop read “Public Welcome, No Caddies Allowed”. If they are letting family and close friends carry the bag the pros and general public have a much better opinion of our occupation. We have come quite a ways but maybe we could use a little more respect when the termination notice is due.