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How much time does a caddy spend with his player away from the course?

redandwhiterob

redandwhiterob

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Say if a top player like Tiger or Phil takes 3 weeks off how much of that three weeks will the caddy spend. Say for instance the player is practicing will the caddy be expected to be there picking up what yardage the players are doing with certain clubs

When Tiger employed Joey Lacava as caddy would part of the deal been he had to move near Tiger home so he is basically at his beck and call if he is needed.? Not sure a player/caddy relationship could work if they lived at opposite ends of the country

Anyone offer a insight into this?
 
My guess would be not much unless they are working on something.

Seems to me that Bruce Edwards lived in Florida while Tom Watson lived in Kansas City.

Didn't Steve Williams live in New Zealand?
 
I honestly wouldn't know much about player/caddy relationships. I would imagine the caddy would be with the player when practicing, how much time of that, who knows? But maybe the player pays for the caddy to fly to them when getting ready for a tournament. Or maybe they are always just in a close distance.
 
I have always been interested with learning more on the routine of being a caddy.

I have always wondered how much time caddies spend on a course without their pro. Being a big time caddy is probably one of my 3 dream jobs.
 
As a rule, caddies are not at the beck and call of the pro. You also have to realize that "pro" is a very vague term. I'm assuming you mean playing on the PGA Tour, not a mini tour player or someone on the web.com tour. Most of those players aren't making enough to have a travelling caddie, and if they are making enough for a caddie, they will find them at the course they are playing a lot of the time, or use family members who will be travelling with them.

Caddies have a lot of responsibility. They not only have to tend to the bag, obviously, they have to know the rules. You'd be surprised at how many times a caddies interpretation of a rule comes into play when consulting with a pro. They have to build a rapport with the pro golfer. You have to know how the pro thinks and feels comfortable making what kind of shots in what situation.

Generally the caddie is there a couple of days before the event starts walking down the course and taking yardages and reading greens before the tour pro even gets to the event. These guys know where every little bump in the fairway is, they know how far the pro hits what club, whether or not to hit a fade, or a draw, wind conditions and everything. A lot of time, there is a game plan for exactly what club to hit off of the tee, the approach and where to put the ball on the green. Of course, you know what they say about plans, they usually go out the window within the first few minutes, but you've got a plan going into each hole.

I just read a story not too long ago where a caddie would go out with a golfer and the golfer would practice hitting different shots to the caddie while the caddie wore a baseball glove to catch the ball. The caddie wouldn't appreciate running all over hell's half acre chasing balls. That is a thing of the past now. Back then I guess they didn't have the driving ranges to practice on like we do now with marked off distance and markers all over the place, plus range finders. I have done a similar thing for my son though. When he got his new Mizunos, we wanted to identify his yardages with each club and I couldn't get a really accurate read from the tee box. No one was out there so I got permission to go out in the range. We put our phones on speaker and he'd hit, then when the ball came to rest I'd range back to him so I could hit him and get an accurate read on distance. I'd read the flight and the roll out for each club. He'd write it down when I read it to him on the phone and he'd let me know if the ball was coming right at me if needed. Usually I could watch the flight the whole time, but I did lose it a couple of times. After a while, another couple of guys showed up so I got off the range. They told me they thought I had lost a bet, LOL.

Hope this helps. In a nutshell, if you plan on being a full time caddie for a big time pro, it is a time consuming job with a lot of travel, but these guys make some serious bank. If you want to be a caddie for a low level pro, just be available at your local club for him and know the layout. Also, be prepared. If they golfer hits a slump and has problems, it's not uncommon for the blame to get transferred to the caddie.
 
Thanks of that mate and yes the question was aimed at those caddies of the top touring pros
 
For on offweek, the caddy, typically, goes his way and the pro goes his (or hers). They both know when the next event is and will meet there, generally, on the Monday of that event. The pro doesn't need the caddy to practice, or work on something. The pro will go to his home course, which will, most likely, have practice balls that he plays with. And, when they go play practice rounds during an offweek, they typically use carts.
 
Caddies are contractors just as tour players are and they have their own lives. I know of couple players that hang with their loopers but I do believe this is the exception to the rule
 
Apparently Stricker lives with his caddie
 
Where a caddy and player live in this day and age does not matter. Most of the time they just meet up at the course unless there is some special reasoning. Such as a practice round at Augusta or what not. With that said it also depends on the relationship between caddy and player. Some are best friends and others are just business partners per say. Just look at Tiger and Steve Williams versus Phil and Bones. Very different relationships. For instance some caddies play along with their players in practice rounds, maybe not the week of the tournament, but previous rounds, as many are good players in their own right and it helps them to get the feel of the course for their respected employer. Another way to look at it is this, if you had a week off of work would you want to be hanging out with your boss? These guys are in high pressure situations for long hours at a time getting away is probably best for both parties.
 
ddec said:
Apparently Stricker lives with his caddie
Click to expand...
Yeah I hear they spend a lot of time together, they also don't have a workplace romantic relationship clause in their employee manual!
 
I just read a story not too long ago where a caddie would go out with a golfer and the golfer would practice hitting different shots to the caddie while the caddie wore a baseball glove to catch the ball.
Click to expand...


Annika says in her book she used this drill. She used it with pitches. She had her caddy stand at the desired yardage and she'd try to hit the ball so he could catch it in the glove without moving.

I also recall Luke being asked how much his caddy is involved in practice. I don't recall his exact answer, but I remember it being along the lines of "a lot."
 
I'll have to take your word on what Luke said Bout his caddie. I was on a wild goose chase and didn't get to meet him remember? LOL.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
 
Interesting topic. I don't think they're together a lot on off weeks, but I think the caddies do a lot of work during tournament weeks that most people don't usually hear about.
 
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