USGA qualifying Events and Caddies

[tiger1873]

Ok I am looking at USGA Events and seen this stupid rule about caddies

 

**TRANSPORTATION AND CADDIES: All players MUST WALK during the qualifying round. However, a cart may be rented for your caddie to transport your clubs at a cost of $25.00 plus tax. Caddies are allowed, however, a player may not use a parent, step-parent or guardian as a caddie. You must make your own arrangements if you want a caddie.**

 

So it appears that caddies are allowed but I or my wife can not do it. Do people just go without caddies at qualifiers or do they hire caddies? Seems like it could be expensive to play and a huge disadvantage if you didn't have a caddie.

[wlm]

I see players both with and without without caddies in qualifiers. A caddie helps a little more in a 36 hole qualifier. Otherwise, it’s not a big deal ... its mostly a player’s preference. I see friends caddying for each other.

[darter79]

One thing the USGA does I agree with. Having parents at those events would be an awful idea. Depending on the location of the even i would look for a caddie with local knowledge they could save strokes off your game easily.

[BertGA]

Yeah, doesn’t seem stupid at all. I think it’s a great rule.

[iteachgolf]

Most do not use a caddie

[dpb5031]

When my daughter played in the Girl's Junior she did not use a caddy in the qualifier or the actual championship. In hindsight I should have gotten her a local caddy at the championship (though she did not want one) as saving just 1 shot per day on the greens can be the difference between a trunk slam and making match play.

 

I never liked the "no parent" rule though. Caddying for her has been one of the great Joy's of my life, especially bigger events like the US Women's Am, state ams, etc. This is one of those deals where a few obnoxious idiots ruin it for the entire lot.

[tiger1873]

Ok it sounds like Caddies are more of a nice to have then not especially for a qualifier. It does seem like an unfair advantage though especially if someone hires a professional caddie and works with them.

 

Ideally you would have sibling or relative who could caddy in a qualifier but in a lot cases this isn't possible for everyone. It sounds like going alone make sense since that is how most tournaments are played.

 

I know some think it a good rule but it would have been better to just say no caddies or allow anyone to be a caddie. The cost of Junior golf is already pretty expensive so this just adds to the costs of playing. I can see how this could cost a few strokes for sure. To me this can be very intimidating for a kid to play against other with caddies.

[BertGA]

Buying your way to better performance in golf is inherent at almost every level. I’m not arguing it is right, nor do I believe it is always effective, but it is hardly limited to caddies. I can’t think of another sport that allows competitors to select and customize their equipment to the degree golf does. It’s a unique sport in that the equipment you choose has no bearing on your competitor’s performance, but still. You can gain an enormous advantage with your equipment, often based on the dollars you spend.

 

Is a local caddie an asset? I’d guess it got Kupcho 2 or 3 strokes at ANWA.

 

[sui generis]

I've refereed lots of junior golf. A few parents (very few, I'm happy to say) make me wish parents weren't allowed on the golf course, let alone acting as caddies for their offspring.> @tiger1873 said:

> Ok I am looking at USGA Events and seen this stupid rule about caddies

>

> **TRANSPORTATION AND CADDIES: All players MUST WALK during the qualifying round. However, a cart may be rented for your caddie to transport your clubs at a cost of $25.00 plus tax. Caddies are allowed, however, a player may not use a parent, step-parent or guardian as a caddie. You must make your own arrangements if you want a caddie.**

>

> So it appears that caddies are allowed but I or my wife can not do it. Do people just go without caddies at qualifiers or do they hire caddies? Seems like it could be expensive to play and a huge disadvantage if you didn't have a caddie.

 

"Stupid" Rule? I don't think so. I've refereed plenty of junior golf and the players would be vastly better off if parents were restricted to the clubhouse veranda.

[iteachgolf]

On qualifying I don’t think going alone is a disadvantage at all. No caddie worth anything will caddying at the local level. At the actual event a caddie isn’t a bad idea.

[tiger1873]

> @"sui generis" said:

> I've refereed lots of junior golf. A few parents (very few, I'm happy to say) make me wish parents weren't allowed on the golf course, let alone acting as caddies for their offspring.> @tiger1873 said:

> > Ok I am looking at USGA Events and seen this stupid rule about caddies

> >

> > **TRANSPORTATION AND CADDIES: All players MUST WALK during the qualifying round. However, a cart may be rented for your caddie to transport your clubs at a cost of $25.00 plus tax. Caddies are allowed, however, a player may not use a parent, step-parent or guardian as a caddie. You must make your own arrangements if you want a caddie.**

> >

> > So it appears that caddies are allowed but I or my wife can not do it. Do people just go without caddies at qualifiers or do they hire caddies? Seems like it could be expensive to play and a huge disadvantage if you didn't have a caddie.

>

> "Stupid" Rule? I don't think so. I've refereed plenty of junior golf and the players would be vastly better off if parents were restricted to the clubhouse veranda.

 

If it's an issue don't have any caddies it seems to work for all the other junior events. I think this rule is also only for the Junior Girls Amateur and US junior Amateur.

 

From the sounds of it most don't have a caddy and that sounds like it makes the most sense since that is how they play most of the time.

[tiger1873]

> @iteachgolf said:

> On qualifying I don’t think going alone is a disadvantage at all. No caddie worth anything will caddying at the local level. At the actual event a caddie isn’t a bad idea.

 

Yes I think at the local level it might be more hassle than it worth. Of course if you qualify and from the scores I seen and that is a big IF since some of qualifiers have really low scores then it probably makes sense to go all out and get a caddie.

[iteachgolf]

> @tiger1873 said:

> > @"sui generis" said:

> > I've refereed lots of junior golf. A few parents (very few, I'm happy to say) make me wish parents weren't allowed on the golf course, let alone acting as caddies for their offspring.> @tiger1873 said:

> > > Ok I am looking at USGA Events and seen this stupid rule about caddies

> > >

> > > **TRANSPORTATION AND CADDIES: All players MUST WALK during the qualifying round. However, a cart may be rented for your caddie to transport your clubs at a cost of $25.00 plus tax. Caddies are allowed, however, a player may not use a parent, step-parent or guardian as a caddie. You must make your own arrangements if you want a caddie.**

> > >

> > > So it appears that caddies are allowed but I or my wife can not do it. Do people just go without caddies at qualifiers or do they hire caddies? Seems like it could be expensive to play and a huge disadvantage if you didn't have a caddie.

> >

> > "Stupid" Rule? I don't think so. I've refereed plenty of junior golf and the players would be vastly better off if parents were restricted to the clubhouse veranda.

>

> If it's an issue don't have any caddies it seems to work for all the other junior events. I think this rule is also only for the Junior Girls Amateur and US junior Amateur.

>

> From the sounds of it most don't have a caddy and that sounds like it makes the most sense since that is how they play most of the time.

 

Definitely a rule only for the Jr. I’ve had many parents caddy for their kids playing in US Am and US Open, both qualifying and the actual event.

[heavy_hitter]

This is a great rule for the Junior Amateur. Parents tend to get in the way. My daughter qualified for the the USGA Women's Junior playing on a course in South Carolina. She played one practice round and shot a 72 in the qualifier with no caddie. Most girl's don't use caddies in the qualifier. When she played in the Championship in New Jersey I hired a local caddie. He was worth several strokes. They have a standard rate (think it was $85.00) you can pay through the USGA, but I ended up giving him $100 a day because he was worth it.

[kekoa]

> @iteachgolf said:

> On qualifying I don’t think going alone is a disadvantage at all. No caddie worth anything will caddying at the local level. At the actual event a caddie isn’t a bad idea.

 

If nothing else, it seems like it could be somewhat of an advantage to have a good buddy on the bag to carry it, clean your clubs/balls and have someone to talk to.

[iteachgolf]

> @kekoa said:

> > @iteachgolf said:

> > On qualifying I don’t think going alone is a disadvantage at all. No caddie worth anything will caddying at the local level. At the actual event a caddie isn’t a bad idea.

>

> If nothing else, it seems like it could be somewhat of an advantage to have a good buddy on the bag to carry it, clean your clubs/balls and have someone to talk to.

 

Depends on the player. I have players that’d play much worse in that situation and lose focus. No caddie is better than a bad one.