Correct my rant: double bagging caddies sucks, not fancy, worse than no caddie

[Santiago Golf]

If your caddie is struggling to get back and forth on a double bag ... they haven't been trained to double or they aren't great at it

 

This is from a pro caddie

 

I have only had one experience in my career where I had to 'run' all over the course

 

I can easily get yardages for both players and if someone is off in the wilderness, than either hand them a few clubs if I feel like they can find the ball without me or give the player in play a few clubs/target while I help the player look for his/her ball 

 

On the greens you don't only read or clean two golf balls, you help everyone

 

Same on the course, we will often trade bags with other caddies on hole if players are on opposite side of the course

 

 

[rooski]

6 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

Did you know the caddie "Uni-Bomber"? 

 

He carried for me two days at Bandon.  On the first day at Bandon Dunes I hit a brand new Titleist 8 feet into an eco-sensitive area.  It was in plain sight but he wouldn't let me go in to get it.  Said he'd be fired if he did.  That was fine... I understood.  Though I'm sure the caddie-less guys behind me quickly scooped up that shiny, once-used ball.

 

The next day I played Pacific Dunes, same caddie.  Only 7 golfers went out on the course that day and only one finished.  Wind was blowing hard, rain coming down sideways.  We got to the 15th tee and the Uni-Bomber said, "Why don't we just walk in?"  I told him to give me the bag and I'd carry it.  We finished... with him still carrying.  He was a funny guy and likeable enough.  I tipped him $100 in addition to the caddie fee.  It was the Christmas season.

 

I know I caddied at the same time as him but as I was around 16-17 I usually stayed away from a lot of the riff raff in the caddy shack and mainly tried to hang out with the gals around my age (To be fair so did some of the aforementioned riff raff 😂)

 

I can't imagine a caddy ever suggesting to walk in like that though, I imagine he would get a stern talking to from the caddy master if they heard about that one.

 

If it makes you feel better I would have turned my back while you went to get that ball for sure lol new ProVs are not cheap

[trilinkrealty]

I've only played with a caddie once at Pebble and they double bagged for a friend and I.  Went great and had zero issues.  I could see an inexperienced caddy falling behind if both players are spraying it all over different areas of the course

[Gdane]

I'm not attempting to make this contentious, but the OP sounds like they had one or two poor experiences with caddies and has written off double loopers all together.

 

I can't speak to the public experience, but I caddied at high end clubs in the Chicagoland area for 10 summers through high school and college (and after), most of that double bagging.  The clubs I worked were walking-only, with staff leadership and members who would not accept below-average service, meaning a double looper who cannot service two players on the course properly would no longer carry two bags. 

 

A caddie worth their salt will understand the expectations of them at the start of the round, and never make the player wait on them.  This involves teamwork between the caddies in the group, and strategic fore-caddie holes.

 

All that being said, everyone's expectations are different.  One day its a group of women who just want to go out for a hit and giggle, the next its someone claiming to be scratch who wants every putt read and distances down to the yard, or a caddie to (as the old adage goes) show up, keep up, and shut up.

 

[mshills]

If the player has a bad experience with a caddy carrying double, that is poor caddying!

Smoking grass, POOR CADDYING!

 

A good caddy knows how to carry double. You have to….and it means the two caddies must work together. If you do that right, the players have a great experience.  It’s not that hard, just takes experience, hustle, and teamwork. 

 

[Double Mocha Man]

On 6/23/2022 at 8:18 PM, rooski said:

If it makes you feel better I would have turned my back while you went to get that ball for sure lol new ProVs are not cheap.

 

I had a caddie at Pebble Beach who did turn his back when on hole # 18 I wanted to save my third shot, wedge shot divot. 

 

I had brought along a sandwich bag just for that purpose. I took that divot home and planted it in my front yard.

 

Later, I computed the property value of that divot.  $98.22!

[me05501]

I got to play at Shoal Creek once as a guest. Our caddie introduced himself on the range as "Ernest...but err'one calls me Budweiser." 

 

Budweiser was up in years and you could tell he'd been there a while. He had his own way of doing things, mostly slowly. 

 

Somehow he carried both bags vertically with the open ends in front of his shoulders.  

 

The funniest thing was how he reorganized our clubs between the two bags he was carrying. Over the course of the round he gradually moved clubs between the two bags until one had only woods, wedges and putters and the other one had all the irons.

 

Toward the end of the round he'd leave the irons bag along the path to the next shot and bring only the woods/wedges bag to the tees and greens. At the end of the round he sorted everything back into the right bag. 

 

On 6/25/2022 at 10:28 AM, mshills said:

A good caddy knows how to carry double. You have to….and it means the two caddies must work together. If you do that right, the players have a great experience.  It’s not that hard, just takes experience, hustle, and teamwork. 

 

 

I've been on The Honors Course a few times with a double caddie and you definitely notice their teamwork. If your caddie is out of position the other caddie always jumps in to fill the gap. 

 

One of the best caddies I've ever had was on a day when they had us play in carts because we were starting late (after 2pm). The four of us shared one caddie who would forecaddie on driving holes and then help us all on the greens. That turned out to be a very enjoyable round. 

[Argonne69]

On 6/23/2022 at 10:55 PM, Santiago Golf said:

If your caddie is struggling to get back and forth on a double bag ... they haven't been trained to double or they aren't great at it

 

This is from a pro caddie

 

I have only had one experience in my career where I had to 'run' all over the course

 

I can easily get yardages for both players and if someone is off in the wilderness, than either hand them a few clubs if I feel like they can find the ball without me or give the player in play a few clubs/target while I help the player look for his/her ball 

 

On the greens you don't only read or clean two golf balls, you help everyone

 

Same on the course, we will often trade bags with other caddies on hole if players are on opposite side of the course

 

 

Oh veh. Ever caddie at Erin Hills? Some of the fairways are 75 to 100 yds wide. My absolute worst experience with a double bagger was at EH. I'd love to see how you gently stroll across the fairway when my playing partner is in the deep fescue left of the fairway, and I'm in the right rough. Or when my playing partner is in one of the deep front bunkers, and I'm 50 yds away in the closely mown area behind the green. 

 

I'm sure double bagging works fine on a quaint 6400 yd country club, but at a premium 7500 yd US Open caliber course charging in excess of $300, it's a little more involved. 

 

Oh, and my other two playing partners were carrying their own clubs, so no tradsies. You're on your own. 

 

Edited June 28, 2022 by Argonne69

[puttnforthe8]

19 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Oh veh. Ever caddie at Erin Hills? Some of the fairways are 75 to 100 yds wide. My absolute worst experience with a double bagger was at EH. I'd love to see how you gently stroll across the fairway when my playing partner is in the deep fescue left of the fairway, and I'm in the right rough. Or when my playing partner is in one of the deep front bunkers, and I'm 50 yds away in the closely mown area behind the green. 

 

I'm sure double bagging works fine on a quaint 6400 yd country club, but at a premium 7500 yd US Open caliber course charging in excess of $300, it's a little more involved. 

 

Oh, and my other two playing partners were carrying their own clubs, so no tradsies. You're on your own. 

 

We had great 2bag experiences (trip of 28) at EH (well except for one being a thief). 

[david.c.w]

4 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Oh veh. Ever caddie at Erin Hills? Some of the fairways are 75 to 100 yds wide. My absolute worst experience with a double bagger was at EH. I'd love to see how you gently stroll across the fairway when my playing partner is in the deep fescue left of the fairway, and I'm in the right rough.

 

 

Perhaps it was not all the double bagging caddies fault...

[capking]

Just replying so it stays in the rotation, pretty interesting.

[david.c.w]

I have been fortunate to play at several great privates and high end public courses and resorts, and have always had a double bag.  Have I felt bad when we spray one in opposite directions?  Of course.  However I treat my caddie with respect as a human and will say something like, "Hey man, give me an 5 and an 8  and I will see what I can do."  If i really need him for something I will wave him over and he will hustle.  Just yesterday I played a top 50 course for a charity outing and was in the bunker so much that half the time I told him not to worry about it and I would take care of it.  If you expect 1850's butler service from a caddie you can jam it.  Just because you are paying them does not mean you are above them.  If I leave my water bottle 50 yards back and he starts running for it, I tell him to stop and go support he rest of the group.  My mistake, I will fix it.  

 

Now I will say I generally have had great caddies who know what they are doing.  If you ever go to Bandon ask for Belos.  Best I have ever had.  If you have a double bagger that stinks, well then they stink, but that caddie will stink if they are a single bagger.

 

 

 

[mshills]

Exactly. 
 

Stuff one 30 yards deep into the tree line? Look, I’d do everything I could to get there first and find your ball, but had to balance that with not making my other player wait too long and not slow down the group.

 

If you know where the ball is, or you are confident you can find it, grab your XE747 😂 and let me hustle to the other ball. You aren’t on tour, and don’t need the 3 minute consult on that four foot square window you’re going to try to punch through. 

[david.c.w]

16 minutes ago, mshills said:

Exactly. 
 

Stuff one 30 yards deep into the tree line? Look, I’d do everything I could to get there first and find your ball, but had to balance that with not making my other player wait too long and not slow down the group.

 

If you know where the ball is, or you are confident you can find it, grab your XE747 😂 and let me hustle to the other ball. You aren’t on tour, and don’t need the 3 minute consult on that four foot square window you’re going to try to punch through. 

 

To be clear, I believe caddies do work in the service industry, as do pretty much every employee at a club or course.  Their entire job is to cater to you and make you feel special.  I think that is pretty much Hospitality 101.

 

Like 99% of the threads on there, don't be a jerk, and help out when you can.  EVERYONE should do what they can to make the round better for EVERYONE.  If i make my double bagger grab a divot that I just flung over 30 yards while my partner and the 2 other guys are waiting on him, I am detracting from the overall experience.  Taking 15 steps to pick up a divot with my wedge and walk back and stomp it back down should not be a burden on the golfer.  Whether you have 6 guys out there or 8, do what you can to make it better for everyone.

Edited June 29, 2022 by david.c.w

[Hawkeye77]

On 6/19/2022 at 4:31 PM, memberguest said:

Just on here looking for someone to enlighten me where and why I am wrong here. I am wrong all the time so looking for why this time. 

 

Courses that allow or encourage caddies to double bag make the day on the course worse for everyone. It is usually higher end public courses or private courses that have caddies. But a caddie double bagging is a low end and not enjoyable experience. This is not the caddie's fault per se.

 

When a caddie is double bagging he has to run around and help two golfers whose shots may be far apart.

It is harder for to chat with and develop even a basic relationship with your caddie when he is busy helping 2 guys. 

I feel bad for the guy lugging around 2 bags. I know it's his job but I dont want to see a guy struggling with 2 bags while I am out trying to have fun. The empath in me cannot ignore it. 

 

I realize caddies make more by double bagging. I would rather pay more a single bag caddie or not use caddies at all. 

 

Caddies double bagging is annoying, low end and makes the round less enjoyable. 

 

What am I missing? Is this is any way a good thing? Please give me a heads up before I go politely complain. 

All that and you never said you actually shared a caddie. 
 

Wife and I had to share a caddie at Tralee. High school kid, did a great job, enjoyable experience. 

[PJE]

On 6/19/2022 at 3:39 PM, 2bGood said:

(I do it 140 times per year).

Nice! I am envious.

[2bGood]

16 minutes ago, PJE said:

Nice! I am envious.

Yes it nice to be able to do it. Not that tough to pull off though. Year round golf climate is the key. Then average 2.5times per week.  I play Sat and Sun pretty religiously. 5 months a year I play one weekday late in the afternoon, then mix in a few trips, some work rounds, grabbing 9 on a Friday ect. 

[Santiago Golf]

17 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Oh veh. Ever caddie at Erin Hills? Some of the fairways are 75 to 100 yds wide. My absolute worst experience with a double bagger was at EH. I'd love to see how you gently stroll across the fairway when my playing partner is in the deep fescue left of the fairway, and I'm in the right rough. Or when my playing partner is in one of the deep front bunkers, and I'm 50 yds away in the closely mown area behind the green. 

 

I'm sure double bagging works fine on a quaint 6400 yd country club, but at a premium 7500 yd US Open caliber course charging in excess of $300, it's a little more involved. 

 

Oh, and my other two playing partners were carrying their own clubs, so no tradsies. You're on your own. 

 

 

The course I caddie has wider fairways than Erin

 

I just know what I'm doing

 

If stripe a drive up the right side on a par 5 ... I know what two clubs you need next and where you need to aim 

I can easily go help your partner if he/she is off in the wilderness

 

Or If they hit it a fairway bunker and they aren't a low single digit ... I give them a 7 iron to get back in play and go help the player that is play

 

I am extremely fast walker and have been paid over our base rate on every single loop this year minus one loop 

 

I'm sorry your experience wasn't great, hopefully you can come to find better experiences in the future

[StudentGolfer4]

13 hours ago, Santiago Golf said:

 

The course I caddie has wider fairways than Erin

 

I just know what I'm doing

 

If stripe a drive up the right side on a par 5 ... I know what two clubs you need next and where you need to aim 

I can easily go help your partner if he/she is off in the wilderness

 

Or If they hit it a fairway bunker and they aren't a low single digit ... I give them a 7 iron to get back in play and go help the player that is play

 

I am extremely fast walker and have been paid over our base rate on every single loop this year minus one loop 

 

I'm sorry your experience wasn't great, hopefully you can come to find better experiences in the future

As a caddie I still take issue with this. Yes you’re in a fairway bunker. The smart play is for you to hit a mid iron back in play, most likely short of the green, and try to make bogey because you’re a 12 handicap. But my job isn’t to determine what is the smart play or get you to hit what I think you should hit. My job is to share my knowledge and allow the player to make that decision. If you’re 175 out and want to hit hybrid out of a bunker to attempt to get to the green by all means hit that shot. We both know it’s low percentage but you’re the boss and you make the decisions. No reason you need to hit 7 iron to get it back in play if that’s not the shot you want to hit. 
 

I actually ran into that issue my last round with a double bagging caddie. I hit a tee ball on a par 5 in the fairway, about 255 out, and my caddie gave me hybrid and 3 wood then went off to help my partner. Issue is that’s not the club I planned to hit. I’m much better off hitting 6 iron to 50-60 yards short and playing it that way. 
 

The job of a caddie isn’t to determine the type of shot a player should hit and hand them that club. It’s to provide local knowledge and lead the player to an informed decision. 

Edited June 30, 2022 by StudentGolfer4

[SLUGCC2002]

6 hours ago, TexasTurf said:

This guy knows what he is doing. Most people on the course want a guide, not to be left on their own. They need someone to blame the bad decisions and shots on, and he is willing to take it. Seriously, freaking gold here!

 

So he's not the scum of the earth?

[david.c.w]

8 hours ago, TexasTurf said:

This guy knows what he is doing. Most people on the course want a guide, not to be left on their own. They need someone to blame the bad decisions and shots on, and he is willing to take it. Seriously, freaking gold here!

 

8 hours ago, TexasTurf said:

You've got it backwards. You make the decision, give them the club, make them feel like it's the right thing and they made that decision. These guys make horrible decisions in the boardroom all day, the worst thing you can do is continue letting them make awful decisions on the course. 

 

Do we fly into Houston, Dallas, San Antonio or El Paso?  You need lots of hugs.

 

[SLUGCC2002]

21 minutes ago, david.c.w said:

 

 

Do we fly into Houston, Dallas, San Antonio or El Paso?  You need lots of hugs.

 

 

Probably somewhere like Longview, Tyler, or Wichita Falls. 

[ND2005]

Has anyone ever fired a caddie before? This was a first for me on my recent trip...

 

We (twosome) had signed up for 2 caddies. We get up to the first tee and only one has shown up. As we are teeing off a cab pulls up to the parking lot and out rolls our 2nd caddie. He comes running straight to the tee, apologizing profusely. Midway down the #1 fairway he disappears into the bushes to take a leak. Our other caddie is shaking his head knowingly. The guy seems to have no clue about the course, can’t read a putt to save his life. Grabs the wrong bag about a half dozen times over the first 2 holes and keeps putting my clubs into other players’ bags. Our other caddie comes over to us and says he thinks the guy is drunk, and that if we want to fire him it is totally within our rights to do so. After guilting over it for a hole or so we decide to pull the trigger and tell him we will proceed on without him – he doesn’t even seem surprised. The group ahead of us caddies all started laughing on the next tee – they said they couldn’t believe he made it four holes. This appears to be a frequent occurrence, and may be amusing to them but not so funny when you’re paying a lot for a premier destination golf resort. We trudge on and a couple holes later the caddiemaster drives out with a pullcart to make up for it…

Edited July 1, 2022 by ND2005

[Double Mocha Man]

54 minutes ago, ND2005 said:

We trudge on and a couple holes later the caddiemaster drives out with a pullcart to make up for it…

 

The caddiemaster should have driven out with another caddie...

[ND2005]

9 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

The caddiemaster should have driven out with another caddie...

 

Agreed but they apparently didn't have any others, this guy wasn't one of their regulars but someone they called in to sub since they were short handed. 

 

Would have just preferred they said there was no one available. 

 

 

[Double Mocha Man]

33 minutes ago, ND2005 said:

 

Agreed but they apparently didn't have any others, this guy wasn't one of their regulars but someone they called in to sub since they were short handed. 

 

Would have just preferred they said there was no one available. 

 

Yeah, looks like you got the local court jester.

[hammergolf]

On 7/1/2022 at 7:06 AM, ND2005 said:

Has anyone ever fired a caddie before? This was a first for me on my recent trip...

 

We (twosome) had signed up for 2 caddies. We get up to the first tee and only one has shown up. As we are teeing off a cab pulls up to the parking lot and out rolls our 2nd caddie. He comes running straight to the tee, apologizing profusely. Midway down the #1 fairway he disappears into the bushes to take a leak. Our other caddie is shaking his head knowingly. The guy seems to have no clue about the course, can’t read a putt to save his life. Grabs the wrong bag about a half dozen times over the first 2 holes and keeps putting my clubs into other players’ bags. Our other caddie comes over to us and says he thinks the guy is drunk, and that if we want to fire him it is totally within our rights to do so. After guilting over it for a hole or so we decide to pull the trigger and tell him we will proceed on without him – he doesn’t even seem surprised. The group ahead of us caddies all started laughing on the next tee – they said they couldn’t believe he made it four holes. This appears to be a frequent occurrence, and may be amusing to them but not so funny when you’re paying a lot for a premier destination golf resort. We trudge on and a couple holes later the caddiemaster drives out with a pullcart to make up for it…

That’s the worst caddie story I’ve ever heard…. Did Turnberry even try to do something to make it right? Service has always been top notch at any of his other courses I’ve played. (Palm Beach, Doral, Doonbeg, and Turnberry)

[2bGood]

On 7/1/2022 at 5:06 AM, ND2005 said:

Has anyone ever fired a caddie before? This was a first for me on my recent trip...

 

We (twosome) had signed up for 2 caddies. We get up to the first tee and only one has shown up. As we are teeing off a cab pulls up to the parking lot and out rolls our 2nd caddie. He comes running straight to the tee, apologizing profusely. Midway down the #1 fairway he disappears into the bushes to take a leak. Our other caddie is shaking his head knowingly. The guy seems to have no clue about the course, can’t read a putt to save his life. Grabs the wrong bag about a half dozen times over the first 2 holes and keeps putting my clubs into other players’ bags. Our other caddie comes over to us and says he thinks the guy is drunk, and that if we want to fire him it is totally within our rights to do so. After guilting over it for a hole or so we decide to pull the trigger and tell him we will proceed on without him – he doesn’t even seem surprised. The group ahead of us caddies all started laughing on the next tee – they said they couldn’t believe he made it four holes. This appears to be a frequent occurrence, and may be amusing to them but not so funny when you’re paying a lot for a premier destination golf resort. We trudge on and a couple holes later the caddiemaster drives out with a pullcart to make up for it…

 

Never fired a caddie, but I have had a few doozies over the years. One guys was pretty funny. He had been out on a huge all night bender and came straight to meet us for a 7:30am tee time. Somehow he managed to fall asleep several times during the round. Most times standing up, just leaning my bag or the flag stick while tending it. Found him sleeping on a bench when I was leaving the half way house. I could tell he was a good caddie when at his best, but that was an off day for him. No need to fire him though, just found it funny. 

Edited July 3, 2022 by 2bGood

[ND2005]

8 hours ago, hammergolf said:

That’s the worst caddie story I’ve ever heard…. Did Turnberry even try to do something to make it right? Service has always been top notch at any of his other courses I’ve played. (Palm Beach, Doral, Doonbeg, and Turnberry)

 

Nope, like I said caddie master brought us a pull cart and apologized but that was it. 

 

 

[mshills]

I’ve never seen a caddie fired mid-round, but the one described here, I’d have fired him too.

I have seen a caddie quit mid-round! He was getting “good natured” 🙄🙄🙄 racist abuse about his name from one of his players. Said a couple of times “that is not funny, my name is #####.” The “joking” continued. He said nothing, just carefully set both bags down and walked in. I was proud of him for doing that and wish I had said something myself. The round was completed though it was pretty uncomfortable and awkward.