By Mike May
Thanks to the leadership of the Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, the role of the caddie is alive and well.
“We are in touch with middle school and high school golf coaches in the Indianapolis area, who provide us with a number of caddies each year,” says Tony Pancake, the director of golf at the Crooked Stick GC.
Not all Crooked Stick caddies are teenagers, however. There are roughly 70 caddies, in the Crooked Stick program, with some being in their 20s, 30s, and 40s.
Before caddies are allowed to walk on the golf course, they must go through a training program.
“Being a caddie is more than just carrying a golf,” says Luke Blank, the caddie manager at Crooked Stick. “We teach them how to be comfortable with the clientele, where to stand on the golf course, and how and when to speak with adults.”
Two of Crooked Stick’s caddies, Matt Alley, 43, and Emerson Bostic, 19, both enjoy sports and love being around a golf environment.
Alley has been a caddie at Crooked Stick for 13 years. It fits nicely with his full-time job teaching math at St. Michael-St. Gabriel School, in Brownsburg.
“I usually caddie five rounds a week during the summer,” says Alley, an eight handicap golfer, himself.
His motivation for being a caddie is simple.
“I needed something to do as a break from teaching school and I like golf.”
With his experience he knows the course well.
“I know this place well, I know the yardages, and I know these greens,” notes Alley, who estimates that he has caddied Crooked Stick for at least 1,500 rounds.
Another benefit of being a caddie at Crooked Stick is that you get to meet some interesting people.
“I have caddied for baseball pitcher Roger Clemens, a singer for the country band Rascal Flats, and former Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.”
As for Bostic, who is a finance major at Purdue University, he has learned a few life lessons from the golfers at Crooked Stick.
By walking alongside golfers at Crooked Stick, many of whom are successful businessmen, he has learned a few things about golf and life which are not taught in school.
“I’ve learned how to communicate with different types of people,” states Bostic, who ran cross country, played basketball, and played tennis in high school. “I’ve learned a few social skills and I’ve learned a great deal about golf. I’ve also met lots of business mentors in my major.”
Crooked Stick members enjoy having caddies alongside them as much as the caddies relish the experience. Steve Kirsh, a member at Crooked Stick since the mid-1990s, often has McKinlay Woodward, a senior in a local high school, carry his clubs.
“I taught her how to be a caddie, now, she’s a great. I even paid for her to have golf lessons and bought her a set of clubs,” adds Kirsh.
In addition to providing many teenagers with something to do in the summer, the membership of Crooked Stick honors and rewards its hardest working caddies.
Pancake added,
“Each year, we give out 10 to 16 college scholarships as part of the Crooked Stick Scholarship Program. The scholarships are for caddies and for children of employees of the club. A few of our caddies have received additional financial assistance for college from the Evans Scholarship program which is sponsored by the Western Golf Association.”
There is much more to the Crooked Stick caddie experience than just a cash tip after an 18-hole loop.
Finally, the seed money for Crooked Stick’s caddie program came from pin flags, signed by golfer John Daly, and auctioned to the highest bidders, following his win in the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick.
For more information about the Evans Scholarship Program visit: https://wgaesf.org/
