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Junior Caddie Programs


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Have any of your juniors been involved in caddying?  Certainly has gone by the wayside , would love for my son to have the opportunity for all of the obvious reasons.  Junior caddying seems no-existent in the south, and only high end resorts or clubs that cater to northeast guests or members have caddie programs anyway.   I asked my son the other day if him and a few buddies would caddy for my group for $20/piece or so (way under market, haha)....he said he would love to!   I generally do not care for taking an adult caddie, but would happily support a local junior caddie program.    Cuts into cart revenue, potential for slower play, lazy golfers like to ride,  yeah yeah.  We know the reasons why the programs have gone away, but Please share if you've seen any successful models.  

Edited by hangontight
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A teammate of mine in college would caddy some during the summers at a casino resort course near his home town. He would typically do it in the mornings so he could still practice in the afternoons. He could easily make $200+ in a morning after you added in the tips.

 

As you mentioned, most caddie programs have disappeared except for those at resorts (Bandon, Pebble, Pinehurst). People tend to only play there once a year or once in a lifetime so having a knowledgeable caddy is worth the extra expense. You also have a few at super high-end clubs (Winged Foot, Shoal Creek, etc.) where money is literally an afterthought for every member. 

 

I think starting a jr caddie program could be a great idea, but unfortunately I doubt it would work at most clubs in current times. Most people even if they frequently walk, myself included, just aren't going to be willing to pay someone $40, $50, $60 bucks multiple times a week to carry our clubs around a course we know well and play all the time. You'd have to have the perfect mix of members and good club leadership to make it a reality. 

Edited by Abh159
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My son will caddy this year at our club. Will be his first year as he turns 14 in the summer.  He will likely loop once a weekend  carrying two bags/each loop.  Besides the obvious benefits of money and stamina (walking and carrying two bags will be exhausting for him). I think he will learn how to deal with grumpy adults, read greens, keep an adult conversation and importantly keep clubs clean :).

 

The caddy program at our club is awesome, plenty of experienced jr caddies (most of them are member kids).   They loop in the morning and play a round after that.   I have seen a few of them grow up over the year, they have gone from talking about high school stuff to looking for internship and jobs.  It is a great way for these kids to network. 

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14 minutes ago, kcap said:

My son will caddy this year at our club. Will be his first year as he turns 14 in the summer.  He will likely loop once a weekend  carrying two bags/each loop.  Besides the obvious benefits of money and stamina (walking and carrying two bags will be exhausting for him). I think he will learn how to deal with grumpy adults, read greens, keep an adult conversation and importantly keep clubs clean :).

 

The caddy program at our club is awesome, plenty of experienced jr caddies (most of them are member kids).   They loop in the morning and play a round after that.   I have seen a few of them grow up over the year, they have gone from talking about high school stuff to looking for internship and jobs.  It is a great way for these kids to network. 

Sounds great.  What part of the country are you at?  

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16 minutes ago, Abh159 said:

Most people even if they frequently walk, myself included, just aren't going to be willing to pay someone $40, $50, $60 bucks multiple times a week to carry our clubs around a course we know well and play all the time. You'd have to have the perfect mix of members and good club leadership to make it a reality. 

For sure, thats a big barrier (that's why I only offered my son $20! Its all relative, I am buying his dinner everyday too, ha.)   A partnership with a youth golf organization could potentially work -   Youth on Course has a caddy program.  I could be completely wrong, but think that YOC pays part of the fee and golfer pays part of the fee.  Makes the cost more manageable.  

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19 minutes ago, hangontight said:

For sure, thats a big barrier (that's why I only offered my son $20! Its all relative, I am buying his dinner everyday too, ha.)   A partnership with a youth golf organization could potentially work -   Youth on Course has a caddy program.  I could be completely wrong, but think that YOC pays part of the fee and golfer pays part of the fee.  Makes the cost more manageable.  

 

Yeah definitely a lot of barriers, but by no means impossible. Perhaps you could even try and partner your club with an organization like YOC. I don't know anything about YOC, but I imagine they have some sort of basic training program.

 

That's another thing to consider. If the caddies aren't experienced golfers themselves someone would have to train them on things like basic etiquette, how to rake a bunker, how to repair divots, how to read greens, and etc. Not that those things are tough to learn, but they are things a course/club is going to want them to know before they let them out there. 

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In St. Louis area, just a handful of clubs still have caddie programs. Pro tour stops Old Warson and Bellerive have programs, and Bellerive serves as a farm team for pro tour caddies. Sunset Country Club also has caddies.

 

I'm sure I'm missing some caddie programs. I might call other clubs and see who still has caddies. 

 

Benefits of caddying in 2021: Pay is exponentially better than the 1970s, and most clubs require members reserve a caddie a day ahead of time. You don't see a dozen loopers hanging around hoping to get lucky that day. 

 

1 hour ago, hangontight said:

Cuts into cart revenue, potential for slower play, lazy golfers like to ride,  yeah yeah.  We know the reasons why the programs have gone away, ...

 

Potential for slower play? Get real... The demise of caddies has been a major contributor to slow play.

 

Years ago, a pair of caddies carrying double would support a foursome. Caddies would take turns raking traps and taking pin, and one would normally go out ahead on a hole to track the tee shots. Eyes on drives, and knowledge of course for guests helped speed up play.

 

In St. Louis area, mid-range country clubs started adding more and more carts in the late 1960s. At the time, golf foursomes in carts would hire a cart runner to go out ahead and mark their balls that went into the rough. (Marking done with yellow sticks nail in end, or dropping a white utility towel.)  Runner would also rake bunkers and tend the pin.

 

Golfers were more involved also. If someone hit a towering slice that was still rising when it crossed the OB line, the golfer would to ahead and hit his provisional before leaving the tee. None of this waste time driving back to the tee after the OB elf failed to bounce it back into play.

 

I quit caddying regularly about 1971, and largely carried my own bag as player the next couple of decades. Years later it appears no one uses cart runners.

Edited by ChipNRun

What's In The Bag (As of April 2023, post-MAX change + new putter)

 

Driver:  Tour Edge EXS 10.5° (base loft); weights neutral   ||  FWs:  Calla Rogue 4W + 7W

Hybrid:  Calla Big Bertha OS 4H at 22°  ||  Irons:  Calla Mavrik MAX 5i-PW

Wedges*:  Calla MD3: 48°... MD4: 54°, 58° ||  PutterΨSeeMore FGP + SuperStroke 1.0PT, 33" shaft

Ball: 1. Srixon Q-Star Tour / 2. Calla SuperHot (Orange preferred)  ||  Bag: Sun Mountain Three 5 stand bag

    * MD4 54°/10 S-Grind replaced MD3 54°/12 W-Grind.

     Ψ  Backups:

  • Ping Sigma G Tyne (face-balanced) + Evnroll Gravity Grip |
  • Slotline Inertial SL-583F w/ SuperStroke 2.MidSlim (50 gr. weight removed) |
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My son will be caddying this spring.  I wanted him to start each of the last 2 summers but he spends so much time playing and practicing that it just didn't happen.  Last year PA had a rule against caddies for much of the season due to Covid so by the time he could caddy, it seemed like a better idea to just wait until this spring.  We are fortunate that in the Philly suburbs there are tons of clubs with caddy programs so there are many places to choose from.

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