Sand Valley Caddie Recommendation

[Chilidog]

Playing SV/Mammoth on September 8th and wondering if anyone has a caddie recommendation. I’ll be a single and would like someone who is fun and good company for the day. Thanks in advance!

[shortstop20]

3 hours ago, Chilidog said:

Playing SV/Mammoth on September 8th and wondering if anyone has a caddie recommendation. I’ll be a single and would like someone who is fun and good company for the day. Thanks in advance!

 

Michael, AKA "Greeny"

 

He works his tail off and has a bunch of great stories and one liners. 

[ssf301]

Reed is good if you are a good golfer.  He's a teaching pro in Florida and will be in SV through the end of September.  Teegan is also pretty good (young guy).

[Chilidog]

Well, I went for Reed first and Greeny as my back up option. Instead, I got an 18 year old kid that doesn’t play golf and was on his 30th loop ever. I had to read the greens because he couldn’t. And even though I drove it to 50 yards short of the green on Mammoth from the black tees, he kept giving me lines that would put me through the fairway on some of doglegs. Not a very good experience as basically all he did was carry my bag and give me yardages to the pins. I could have carried my own bag and saved the $200 for the pro shop had I known. They are really short staffed on caddies right now, so I know why they hired him but it’s just not a pleasant experience for the golfer. 

[ND2005]

45 minutes ago, Chilidog said:

Well, I went for Reed first and Greeny as my back up option. Instead, I got an 18 year old kid that doesn’t play golf and was on his 30th loop ever. I had to read the greens because he couldn’t. And even though I drove it to 50 yards short of the green on Mammoth from the black tees, he kept giving me lines that would put me through the fairway on some of doglegs. Not a very good experience as basically all he did was carry my bag and give me yardages to the pins. I could have carried my own bag and saved the $200 for the pro shop had I known. They are really short staffed on caddies right now, so I know why they hired him but it’s just not a pleasant experience for the golfer. 

that’s too bad, I know a lot of people who have used their junior caddie program and had a great experience with it. That was my plan for my next trip actually myself 

[ALo314]

I'm headed up there Next Mon/Tues. Looking forward to the experience.

[VNutz]

On 9/9/2021 at 9:11 AM, Chilidog said:

Well, I went for Reed first and Greeny as my back up option. Instead, I got an 18 year old kid that doesn’t play golf and was on his 30th loop ever. I had to read the greens because he couldn’t. And even though I drove it to 50 yards short of the green on Mammoth from the black tees, he kept giving me lines that would put me through the fairway on some of doglegs. Not a very good experience as basically all he did was carry my bag and give me yardages to the pins. I could have carried my own bag and saved the $200 for the pro shop had I known. They are really short staffed on caddies right now, so I know why they hired him but it’s just not a pleasant experience for the golfer. 

Unfortunately not all that different from the experience I had. We had a forecaddie for our group, basically for lines and advice, didn't carry anything for us, and as an "A" caddie was very underwhelming. Older gentleman, very nice guy, but nowhere near what you'd expect and not much of a golfer either. IMO it takes time to develop a caddie program and I'm not sure how dedicated they are to it. It's one thing for a place like Bandon that operates year round to have a program in place, it's another for a course that has only a 6 month season and a small surrounding population. And with the explosion of interest in golf the last year and a half, as well as the rise in interest in golf trips, they're in a hard spot to meet demand IMO.

[ND2005]

4 hours ago, VNutz said:

It's one thing for a place like Bandon that operates year round to have a program in place, it's another for a course that has only a 6 month season and a small surrounding population. And with the explosion of interest in golf the last year and a half, as well as the rise in interest in golf trips, they're in a hard spot to meet demand IMO.

 

The caddies for our groups were all snowbirds - Sand Valley in the summer, then Florida in the winter. My caddie's winter gig was at Concession, not too shabby. 

[bsdubois00]

On 9/27/2021 at 3:23 PM, ND2005 said:

 

The caddies for our groups were all snowbirds - Sand Valley in the summer, then Florida in the winter. My caddie's winter gig was at Concession, not too shabby. 

 

Was it Chad by chance?  This is who we had a few weeks ago and we were pleased with him.

[Chilidog]

I had Judah. 

[The Milkman]

Bringing this back to the top? Any other suggestions for great caddy experiences?

[Drwoods2017]

Torey Pines was great. Good mix of conversation and course knowledge.  Was a good hang for sure. 

[Hansch99]

1 hour ago, The Milkman said:

Bringing this back to the top? Any other suggestions for great caddy experiences?

 

The best caddy I've had there is a gentleman named "Victory".  He's a short guy from South America, but he was the most energetic, positive caddy I've ever had, and he made a great experience even better.  He was the only caddy in our group, and he graciously cleaned balls for the rest of the foursome and read putts with no expectation of anything in return.   

[drscott266]

On 8/29/2021 at 9:30 AM, Chilidog said:

Playing SV/Mammoth on September 8th and wondering if anyone has a caddie recommendation. I’ll be a single and would like someone who is fun and good company for the day. Thanks in advance!

Get Cruz... you'll enjoy the entire experience even more.  Otherwise, we didn't have but one caddy we didnt love there.  

[The Milkman]

1 hour ago, drscott266 said:

Get Cruz... you'll enjoy the entire experience even more.  Otherwise, we didn't have but one caddy we didnt love there.  

Adding him to my request list. Theres going to be 8 of us, so I'm going to ask if they can give us any 4 of this vetted list that I've gathered from various WRX posts and friends recs. So far I have:

 

Cruz, Chris, Victory, Don, Southie, Reed, Greeny, James, Torey Pines

[pmccallum86]

+1 for Torrey Pines.  Great dude. 

[StudentGolfer4]

On 1/22/2024 at 3:15 PM, Drwoods2017 said:

Torey Pines was great. Good mix of conversation and course knowledge.  Was a good hang for sure. 

Hahaha I thought you posted in the wrong thread. Didn’t realize this was his name. 

[Drwoods2017]

9 hours ago, StudentGolfer4 said:

Hahaha I thought you posted in the wrong thread. Didn’t realize this was his name. 

Took us 3 holes to believe him as well lol

[pmccallum86]

14 hours ago, StudentGolfer4 said:

Hahaha I thought you posted in the wrong thread. Didn’t realize this was his name. 

 

The story of how he got the name is fantastic.  I'll let him tell you though.  It is his legal name. 

Edited January 24 by pmccallum86

[drscott266]

Those guys out there are great, one word of warning is that they seem to want to get a putter in your hand whenever possible.  That's just not my game, but it is well suited to the turf out there so I can see why.  Last day of the trip I was short of the first green on Mammoth and cruz said I could wedge it until I messed up, we had a good laugh on 18 when I never was forced to do it his way.  My round with him on Lido was also memorable becasue of his general philosophy on life, a character doesn't begin to descirbe him,

 

 

Side note, if you can fit in Erin Hills you gotta do it.  That place is absoutely fantastic and I don't think gets enough praise.  

[charli]

On 1/28/2024 at 8:36 AM, drscott266 said:

Those guys out there are great, one word of warning is that they seem to want to get a putter in your hand whenever possible.  That's just not my game, but it is well suited to the turf out there so I can see why.  Last day of the trip I was short of the first green on Mammoth and cruz said I could wedge it until I messed up, we had a good laugh on 18 when I never was forced to do it his way.  My round with him on Lido was also memorable becasue of his general philosophy on life, a character doesn't begin to descirbe him,

 

 

Side note, if you can fit in Erin Hills you gotta do it.  That place is absoutely fantastic and I don't think gets enough praise.  

Sounds like Cruz is the pic for August. This is good info. Will be bumping this post closer to my date see if anything change. Did you request him or luck of the draw?

[Octopus Golfer]

My caddie from East Lake is working there until our course is back up. His name is Nick, and he’s the best caddie I’ve ever had. 

[drscott266]

On 1/30/2024 at 7:21 PM, charli said:

Sounds like Cruz is the pic for August. This is good info. Will be bumping this post closer to my date see if anything change. Did you request him or luck of the draw?

Just luck. We were a group of 8 and had a couple caddies the first day who were assigned elsewhere the other days. Cruz was one I had for two straight days and we had a blast 

[charli]

On 1/31/2024 at 11:09 AM, Octopus Golfer said:

My caddie from East Lake is working there until our course is back up. His name is Nick, and he’s the best caddie I’ve ever had. 

He going to be there in August? 

[Octopus Golfer]

2 hours ago, charli said:

He going to be there in August? 

Yes, he’ll be there until we open back up in September. 

[Saltydawg15]

I can’t vouch for the caddies, I was there last July and had some very green caddies that just didn’t help much at all.

[Schley]

I think you can have a good round with just about anyone they assign you. Keep in mind, most played there maybe 1-2 times and are just telling you they had a good caddie. There are numerous good caddies at Keiser properties as they are caddie money machines for walking only courses. I have seldom had a bad caddie in the US, and would probably say great things about 75% of the ones I have had.  Good caddie masters keep good caddies, or they don't get invited back.

[The Milkman]

Due to the reputation as being a course where you can go low, some of my group is leaning against caddies for Mammoth. We'll certainly have them for SV and for Lido, but unsure about the need on Mammoth in favor of saving a little. 

 

Thoughts? Maybe just a forecaddie? 

[StudentGolfer4]

3 hours ago, The Milkman said:

Due to the reputation as being a course where you can go low, some of my group is leaning against caddies for Mammoth. We'll certainly have them for SV and for Lido, but unsure about the need on Mammoth in favor of saving a little. 

 

Thoughts? Maybe just a forecaddie? 

If you generally enjoy a caddy then I would take one. If you’re taking one because you are banking on saving a few shots and going low then I may pass on it. I’m guessing a yardage book would provide most of what a forecaddie will do.
 

As a caddy myself, it’s not possible for a forecaddie to consistently and accurately read more than 2 first putts per hole. Those greens are massive so it would be even tougher. Where I’m at, I can physically read 2 of them and provide an aiming point for those players. Then I can provide the other 2 a general idea of speed and break but not a full read. A forecaddie won’t be able to get to all of you guys. 
 

Thinking of Mammoth it’s the more straight forward of the two. Caddie would help on 3 second shot, 8 tee ball, and 16 depending on the pin. It’s pretty straightforward. 

Edited February 16 by StudentGolfer4

[Bsarosi]

Not sure if he’s still there, but Maverick is a good dude. Caddie’s at Streamsomg in the winter and SV in the summer. Good on lines/reads and I enjoyed conversation with him.