Caddie Career

Caddie Career

The Real Poop

Nobody dreams of becoming the next great caddie. If you did, that'd mean you dream of being the best at carrying someone's golf bag and hunting for balls in tall swathes of grass. But hey—maybe you just really, really love golf. Okay, maybe we should re-phrase: if you dream of becoming the next great caddie, you should be a caddie.

Many of the world's caddies can be split into two basic groups. First, you've got your high school or college part-timers who are just looking for a fun, easy way to work outside. 

Then there are the golf enthusiasts, who may not have the skills to join the pros but want to stay close to the sport. It may seem like lugging a heavy bag across eighteen holes isn't the best way to stay close to anything, but it sure beats cleaning 9 irons at the driving range.

Most full time caddies pull a respectable $40,000 per year, or about $800 per week, while working for the pros (source). You'll also be primarily self-employed—even in the caddie programs at most resorts or clubs, your work schedule is pretty much up to you. Sound too good to be true? It might be.

 
Sort of like giving a thirty-five-pound toddler a piggy back ride all day. In ninety-degree heat. (Source)

Keep in mind that you have to actually work to earn that money, and all that lugging of clubs and baking in the sun (and without the fun part of swinging the clubs) isn't always a picnic. Also, while you're on the course, watch out for rogue golf balls because you probably won't have health insurance.

When you do decide to grace the golf course with your presence, you'll either be doing traditional caddying, where you walk with the golfer around the course, or something called "fore caddying," where the golfer takes a golf cart and leaves you stuck on foot, huffing and puffing your way to the next hole. 

Either way, it'll be your job to describe the hole to the player, and then go spot their shots (that's fancy caddie lingo for marking where the ball lands).

As a run-of-the-mill resort or country club caddie, carrying bags is your only definite task. There are plenty of other things that you can do...but only if somebody asks. We would recommend laying low until you're actually asked to clean balls, rake sand traps, and deal with flags.

There are other aspects of the job too, such as recommending clubs or assessing the course, that require more brains than "brawn" (you're carrying a bag of clubs, not pulling a semi-truck in a weight-lifting competition). But they're not likely to be required of caddies working part-time on the weekends.

If you do crave some added responsibility, and want to provide strategic input to the golfers, then maybe you'll be able to grind it out and make it as a professional caddie.

As a big-time caddie, you'll help players calculate yardage, determine what club to use for the perfect shot at the perfect time, and read the slopes of greens. You also get to say things like, "Aim at that tree. No, that one. See that leaf? The one on the branch furthest to the left? That's where you want to be."

 
And sometimes they'll make you sit next to the water in timeout, just so you understand the ghastly mistake you've made. (Source)

But you better hope your advice is solid. Golfers can be a temperamental bunch, and many a club has wound up at the bottom of a pond in response to a small piece of bad advice.

Just remember, only offer your advice if it's asked of you. Otherwise keep your head down and just do as you're told.

The work schedule for a caddie is, to put it lightly, interesting. If you're looking for a nine-to-five gig, this isn't the career for you. Part-timers are most likely working weekends while professional caddies work events that typically run Thursday through Sunday. No matter how you slice it (aren't golf puns great?), it's weekends for you. You can probably expect your social life to take a hit (unless you only hang out with other caddies, that is).

That said, there are plenty of opportunities to caddie during the week, too. They range from training rounds, to practice rounds, to Jim's-playing-hooky-from-work rounds. But no matter the day, you'd better be a morning person, because rounds can start early. If you're too sluggish to be up with the sunrise, have fun facing the unforgiving heat of the afternoon sun.

On the bright side, each round is only about three hours, so caddying for a golfer is hardly a full day's work. You can be done in a few short hours if you want to, or continue to get paid for hanging out in the sun while enjoying a few light jogs from chasing balls. Then there's the tip. Did we mention the tips? Do a good job at the right course, and that $7.50 an hour may end up averaging out closer to $15.00.

As for tour caddies, you'll be on the road a lot with the player you're working with. The PGA Tour season is essentially year-round, so you'll be kept pretty busy from beginning to end. Just keep in mind that a life on the road can make it difficult to maintain a solid family life at home.

Still dream of working with Tiger, Phil, or Rory? You've probably got as much chance as getting a hole in one on the second hole of St. Andrew's while using a steel ball, but somebody's got to do it, right? So why not you?