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August 17, 2005
Golf Carts Killed the Caddie-O Star
Posted by Nick
Forbes explains why there aren't caddies on golf courses much anymore -- and how recreational golf has suffered as a result.
Over the past two decades, though, caddies in America have tracked the downwardly mobile career path of milkmen and typewriter repairmen. Management and golf pros discovered carts were engines of profit that didn't carry the figurative baggage of tax or labor issues. Carts didn't have attitude and always showed up for work. They were meant to speed up the game, which addressed players' time pressures and would also allow courses to get in more rounds in a day.
Tremendous nuggets and insights in this piece. Read the whole thing.
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Nick Schulz is the Editor of Tech Central Station and has worked in media circles and the ideas industry as a writer, editor, television producer and policy analyst. His writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Slate, The National Post of Canada, The Baltimore Sun, Investor's Business Daily, The Washington Times, National Review, Reason, Policy Review, and several other publications. He is also, it should be said, a rabid sports fan whose fandom is inversely proportional to his overall athletic ability.
1. Steve Sailer on August 26, 2005 12:12 AM writes...
At the ultra-elite clubs that still have caddies, like The National Golf Links of America in the Hamptons, a good caddie can make a lot of money per round nowadays, such as $150 per round or more for carrying two bags. I heard about a college student at Duke who flies in each weekend in spring and fall to caddie at The National. I'm not exactly sure how that's justified on a supply and demand basis -- I think mostly that a lot of members at ultra-elite clubs like The National just have so much money nowadays that they are generous with their caddies.
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