In the Loop

This past weekend saw Links host its 2011 club championship. The outside crew faced a few challenges in getting the course ready for this event. A broken water line on Thursday and a broken belt on the greens mower Friday, meant some hurried activity and improvisation were needed  to have the course set up for the championship. Fortunately the weather was fabulous both days.

As it turned out most of the grounds crew sat out this year's event.  There are many reasons why we might skip a tournament. Len might tell you the event is for members and most of us are staff. Russ might say that he doesn't care to hear comments about where he sets the pins, and I'm not partial to comments about how the greens are running. I think really, we just like setting up the course better than competing on it.

I did get to be part of this year's championship in a different sort of way, however by caddying for the eventual winner, Jeremy Clothier. A year ago Jeremy had lined up someone else to be on his bag for the club championship. Plans had even been set for sport appropriate costumes, but somehow the plan went awry. When the topic came up this year I volunteered for the job. I'd have to say it was both interesting and kind of fun. The costumes were restricted mostly to Jeremy's John Daly-like pants and my Bagger Vance hat, but the competition in the championship flight was tight and intense and came right down to the last three holes before a par birdie birdie run  earned Jeremy the title.

The fact that Jeremy brought a caddy likely raised a few eyebrows, and I know a few folks wondered about why I'd consent to lug around Jeremy's extra large staff bag, but the facts are that's how caddying is done. Most folks are familiar with the sight of caddies on the PGA tour, and Jeremy and I were trying to simulate that look as best we could.

The role of the caddy historically dates back to the 17th century when the nobility would have young military officers carry their clubs for them. These cadets, pronounced cad - days, eventually morphed into more seasoned course workers at Scottish golf clubs. These caddies (cad - deez) worked in pairs and would for a fee, carry a member's clubs and scout ahead to ensure that a member's ball could be easily located for the next shot. The caddie who went on ahead was called a fore caddy. When a member hit, the carry caddy would shout "fore" to alert the fore caddy of the incoming shot. This tradition has carried on in golf etiquette and is the reason golfers still yell fore when a shot threatens to come too close to players on ahead.

In the 19th century caddies were truly the first professionals to work the golf circuit. The game was played mostly by amateurs and the caddies, as course workers were the only ones who could make their entire living from the game. As the 20th century progressed and golf became an increasingly professional game, caddies were less and less commonly used by average golfers. Today they are almost exclusively found at the professional level and at some elite private courses.

The modern caddy's job is both simple and complex. Sometimes described as "Show up, keep up and shut up" the caddie's real job is to give his golfer what they need, when they need it. Whether its yardage, the right club, encouragement, water, a snack or just a helpful word or two to keep the golfer focused, caddies need to be in the right place at the right time. They keep the equipment clean and in good working order and tend to the flag around the green. Almost invisible when they do their job well, caddies only make the news when they make a mistake or, as with the recent case of Stevie Williams, they are let go.

This weekend there were two caddies found at the Links club championship. I was carrying for Jeremy and one of the juniors had a rather diminutive younger associate pushing his cart. Ironically we both got offers to abandon our golfers and work for other competitors at higher rates of pay, though neither of us did. I don't know if having a caddy was instrumental to Jeremy outlasting the competition to win the club championship. Certainly to win, a golfer needs the talent and ability to hit the shots that the course demands. I'd like to think my caddying helped to some degree. At least I can claim to be the caddy with the best winning percentage at Links. Until next year I'll just take my 1-0 record and go back to my regular job making the cut around the greens!