Caddie

In golf, a caddie (or caddy) is a companion to the player, providing both practical support and strategic guidance on the course. Caddies are responsible for carrying the player’s bag, managing clubs, and assisting with basic course maintenance like repairing divots and raking bunkers. Caddies may also offer insight on course strategy, such as club selection, reading greens, and evaluating weather conditions.

Other nicknames for the role are looper or jock.^[1]

The Scots word caddie or cawdy was derived in the 17th century from the French word cadet and originally meant a student military officer. It later came to refer to someone who did odd jobs.^[2][3] By the 19th century, it had come to mean someone who carried clubs for a golfer, or in its shortened form, cad, a man of disreputable behaviour.^[4]

The first recorded use of a caddie was in Edinburgh in 1681 by the future James VII of Scotland when participating in the first international golf contest.^[5]

Caddies' pay is variable and is usually based on an allocated percentage share of prize money. At a professional level, caddies work in a high level partnership with golfers, some work as contractors to individual players in events. In 2020, caddies on the PGA European Tour became eligible to earn bonuses through sponsors' logos on their gear.^[6] In 2024, Golf Digest reported that Scottie Scheffler’s caddie Ted Scott earned $2.6 million over the season with the world number 1.^[7] Caddying fees range throughout courses across the world. Caddying is a popular role for low handicap golfers which can provide opportunities to work with a variety of people.

Caddies have been depicted in television, films, and books, including:

• The Caddy, a 1953 musical comedy film starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
• McAuslan en la adversidad , un cuento de 1974 de George MacDonald Fraser en el que un soldado escocés de mala reputación trabaja como caddie para el sargento mayor de su regimiento.
• Caddyshack , una película de comedia de 1980 protagonizada por Bill Murray.
• El réquiem de Brown , una novela policíaca de 1981 escrita por James Ellroy , quien trabajó como caddie mientras escribía sus primeros libros.
• La leyenda de Bagger Vance , una película de 2000 basada en el libro de 1995 de Steven Pressfield , La leyenda de Bagger Vance: Una novela sobre el golf y el juego de la vida , presenta a Vance como un caddie angelical.
• El mejor partido jamás jugado , una película de 2005 sobre el US Open de 1913 donde Francis Ouimet ( Shia LaBeouf ) gana con su caddie Eddie Lowery ( Josh Flitter ).
• Loopers: The Caddie's Long Walk , un documental de 2018 narrado por Bill Murray ^{[ 8 ] [ 9 ]}

• Salón de la Fama de los Caddies

• Asociación de Caddies del Circuito Europeo
• "Los caddies vuelven a ser protagonistas" , The Seattle Times
• "Notas del Caddieshack" : una columna de McSweeney's Internet Tendency sobre ser caddie en los suburbios de Chicago.