Watching guys like Si Woo Kim out there on the course, you always see the caddie walking alongside. It got me thinking about a time I actually tried my hand at caddying. Not professionally, of course, just at the local club back when I was younger, trying to scrape together some cash one summer.
I figured, how hard could it be? Carry a bag, walk around a nice course. Easy money, right? Wrong.
Showed up early that first Saturday. They gave me a quick rundown, basically: keep up, keep quiet, hand ’em the club they ask for. Simple enough, I thought. Then they assigned me to this older fella. Seemed nice at first, but his bag must’ve weighed a ton. Seriously loaded with gear I didn’t even recognize.
The Grind Begins
First few holes weren’t too bad. Just walking, handing over a club now and then. But then the sun really started beating down. My shoulder was aching from the strap digging in. Then came the questions I wasn’t ready for. “What’s the yardage here?” “How’s this green break?” Uh oh. I had no clue. I just mumbled something, trying to guess based on how far it looked. He gave me a look.
- Forgot the towel once.
- Handed him the wrong wood.
- Couldn’t find his ball in the rough (cost him a stroke).
By the back nine, I was dragging. My feet hurt, my back was stiff, and the golfer wasn’t exactly thrilled with my performance. He wasn’t mean, but you could tell he was used to someone who actually knew what they were doing. It wasn’t just carrying the bag; you had to be switched on, paying attention to every shot, thinking ahead.
It was way more demanding than I ever imagined. I did it for maybe three or four weekends. The money wasn’t bad for a kid, but the physical part and the mental game of trying to figure out what the golfer needed… it was exhausting. I saw other caddies, some my age, some older, who seemed to glide along, knowing exactly what to do. They had the yardages memorized, they knew how to read the greens, they even seemed to know what club the player needed before they asked.
Lessons Learned
That little experiment ended pretty quick. I realized I just didn’t have the dedication for it, or maybe just wasn’t cut out for that kind of work. It requires a lot of knowledge, focus, and physical endurance that I just didn’t appreciate from watching on TV.
So now, when I see Si Woo Kim playing, and his caddie is right there, calculating the wind, discussing the shot, I have a whole new level of respect. Those guys on tour, they’re professionals in their own right. It’s a partnership. It’s definitely not just carrying a bag around. Made me appreciate my boring desk job a little more, gotta say.
