Jan. 25th, 2008 Update: *It has been noted by CaddyBytes
that many of you are coming to this page searching Google in search of info on
the passing of tour caddy Steve Duplantis, if that is why you are then we can
redirect you to our current story linked to here:
"Steve
Duplantis - He 'Broke the Mold'"
April
22, 2004
There was a lot of ‘Caddy Talent’ in the parking lot at the Red Stone Golf
Club, home to this week’s Shell Houston Open golf tournament on the PGA Tour.
At the quarter way mark into the 2004 PGA Tour season there are many
veteran caddies still looking for gainful employment –a phenomenon that has
become more prevalent in the past few years with the advent of the Ben Hogan,
then Nike, then Buy.com, now Nationwide golf tour as well as the expansion of the
international federation of golf tours.
Even though the field went pretty deep into the alternate list this week you
still needed an inside track on a job with a player who was coming in order to
find work. Word had it that no less
than 9 caddies were awaiting the arrival of David Sutherland who was expected to
be arriving without a regular caddy this week.
I know of at least three of the guys in the parking lot this week who
were at the last three or four PGA Tour events without work and are still trying
to line up a job ‘down the road’.
Veteran
caddy ‘Gypsy’ Joe Grillo attributes that as the primary reason for the
influx of new caddies into the fray and the shrinking marketplace of opportunity
compared to days in caddy past. “If
you get 15 guy’s coming out each year they’re going to bring 15 caddies with
them, and a lot of them don’t keep their card -what are the caddies gonna do?
Go back to the Nationwide Tour? No
way. They’re going to try and stay
out on the big tour. If you multiply
that by ten years now you have an influx of 70 to 100 new caddies trying to work
the tour every year on top of those who were already doing so.”
One of the other big factor’s of course is the growth popularity and resulting
exposure of the professional game along with the advent of the big purses on
tour since the late 1990’s. Such is
the growing reality in world of professional caddying in the 'New Millennium' for
tour caddies as well as any ‘newbies’ who want to give it a try.
Problem is when you lose your job in this business you have to go to
another city somewhere in the
U.S.,
(i.e. next tour stop), to have a chance to get a job and, at your own expense as
well. I know of a veteran caddy
who’d toughed this out all last year working when and where he could -flying to cities and returning home out his expenses for the week and
Maybe, a
prospect of a job ‘down the road’ at a future event.
This caddy was among nine or ten veteran caddies ‘working the lot’ this week
on Tuesday morning. There beside
myself were 8 or 9 other legitimate professional caddies who’d worked the tour
a minimum of 7 to 25 years many with multiple wins in their caddy careers.
There was Steve Hulka veteran of 25 years who’d just parted ways with
David Gossett and let go for reasons of ‘Lack of player caddy chemistry’ and
his first week this year unemployed in the caddy lot with a career 14 wins on
tour; Terry Travis most recently on Craig Perks bag in 2001 and a Player’s
Championship victory looking for work;
and Dick
‘The Judge’ Christy veteran of 20 or more years with several victories and
most recently won with Bob Burns in the 2002 season at Disney World.
There was Alan ‘The Brit’ Bond who had the inside track on a couple
of potential jobs coming in and succeeded in landing Paul Stankowski for ‘a
couple week’s tryout’.
There was also Steve Kay who’s player J.P. Hayes had pulled out of the
tournament on Monday due to recent chronic shoulder problems -a caddy winner
himself with Hayes
in 2002 at Quad Cities and was Bob Mays caddy in 2000 for the near upset of
Tiger in the PGA at Valhalla. Also there this week was Clint Begay (Notah Begay’s brother who won back
to back in 1999 on tour and had multiple wins on the LPGA tour last season) most
recently caddied for K.J. Choi for 8 weeks this year before getting let go.
Steve DuPlantis former caddy for Jim Furyk for 5 years and 4 wins, Rich
Beem in ‘99’ at Kemper, and Tommy Armour last year in San Antonio, was back
out this week and looking after two months away on personal business.
'Looking' also were Rusty Uresti veteran of 10 years (brother of PGA Tour player Omar Uresti) caught
Roger Clemens in his senior year at U of Texas and 2003 caddy win with Frank
Lickliter at Tucson and Tim Mork former
caddy winner for Woody Austin and more recently (last two years) caddy for Brian Henninger on the regular
and sub tour -shopping a job as well. This
is to name just a select few amongst a group of 10 or 12 caddies who's career's
totaled 30 or so previous tournament wins as caddies -out of work and looking
there Monday and Tuesday at Red Stone.
So Why do caddies most often get fired? The
most common expression is more likely "It’s time to Make a Change"
versus a bold faced Firing. Often
it’s chemistry problems, others it’s ‘I want to try some different
guys’. The veteran caddies know
that you’re only as good as your last performance.
I know of one such caddy who’s player congratulated him one day and
when he asked him why he told him, “This is our two year anniversary of you
caddying for me, no one has made it that far before!”
That caddy told me he always keep’s in mind each week, ‘That I try to
caddy like it’s my first week on the job every day!”
And
he’s correct about that as along with a decline in caddy enthusiasm and with
stretches of bad play or poor results with you on the team -the relationship can
go stale quickly. As well the
demands on the players to make a living and keep their playing privileges from
year to year alone provides plenty of leverage to the 'hiring/firing' caddy
quotient.
Sometimes caddies will fire a player as well due to perceived mistreatment,
personality clashes, poor play, poor pay, or to leave for someone who may be or
who they think will be, a better player and thereby better their position in the
business. But overall the players hold those cards and powers.
Reality has it that this is the way it is today
trying to caddy on the tour in 2004. Obviously a lot of guys can't last in
this environment and are forced to go to the sub tour and try to work for a
player and bring him back up to the PGA Tour and hopefully keep that job.
But that method is also not a guarantee in the caddy-game today! Then
there's the alternative reality that's always lurking to which a select few
veteran caddies still refuse to succumb, "You mean I'll have to quit this
and go get a real job! No way!"
Bob Whitbread
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