xi) Caddies
One of the surprising things about the game of golf is that the wheeled trolley or buggy to carry clubs did not become common until the late 1950s. Before then, the player either carried his bag himself or employed a caddie.
The name caddie is thought to derive from the cadets who carried the golfing clubs for Mary Queen of Scots. The modern equivalent was usually a small boy who lived near the golf course and took on the job for pocket money and the chance to play himself.
Caddies could become junior members for a modest fee, sometimes paid on their behalf by a kind-hearted member, but many youngsters were unable to afford to buy clubs. In 1933, an appeal was made for members to hand in old clubs to be passed on to the juniors. The pay was strictly controlled. In 1933, the caddies were engaged by the Pro Ossie Walker who gave each boy a ticket to be redeemed after the game. The fee was 1/6, of which the caddie got 1/- and the other 6d was taken by the club for insurance while on the course. The fee went up to 2/- later in the year, to 2/6 by 1946 and to 3/6 in 1964.
Boyish enthusiasm had to be controlled and caddies’ rules and etiquette were clearly established:
- Caddies must be quiet at all times
- Only speak when spoken to and answer "Yes Sir" or "No Sir"
- No swearing
- Keep up with play at all times
- Keep your eye on the ball
- Never lose the member’s ball
- Always keep the ball and the clubs clean
- Attend the flag only when requested
- You are not permitted to swing any of the member’s clubs
- You must be quiet and well-behaved around the Club House area and the Pro Shop
There were also some unwritten rules, for example if the player lost a tee after hitting off, the caddie would race off to the next tee as soon as the hole was completed to try to find another to replace it. A good caddie soon found out that it paid to keep a few spare tees in his pocket.
Kevin Mullins was the Caddie Master during the shift to One Mile in 1949 and his job was taken over by former caddie Col Ryan. The Caddie Master’s job was to allot the caddies to the members and look after the Pro Shop when necessary. Many of the members had a regular caddie and this made the Caddie Master’s job easier.
A caddies championship was started in 1939. A good field of 24 took part in the first event in August, while other boys offered to caddie for their mates because they had no clubs. Even among the fortunate 24, there were several with only a few clubs which they carried under their arm because they had no bag. The first winner was Ron Hertrick with 83 off the stick and he was presented with a watch donated by R.G. Andrew. Later, Mr Andrew presented a perpetual trophy which became known as the Caddies Cup.
The winner and runner-up of the local competition then went on to enter the Caddies Cup in Brisbane, a regional competition started in 1927 whose winners included the great Norman von Nida. Winners from Ipswich were M. Hodgson in 1929 (prior to establishment of the official Ipswich caddies championship), Max Hertrick who played in bare feet in 1940, Doug Hertrick in 1947 and Peter Cairns in 1949.
The Brisbane Caddies Cup is still contested today, although not by caddies. It has become a competition between the Queensland State team and the professionals and is played at Royal Queensland, giving the players valuable practice for their interstate series.
Caddie Yarns
In the Depression years at the old Golf Park, caddies who did not get jobs would often go looking for lost balls on the course. One of their favourite spots was on the first hole - at the bottom of the hill on the right-hand side of the fairway was a muddy area which often claimed a sliced ball. The caddies would "help" the player look for the lost ball, but somehow, not many of them were found at the time. The caddies’ ploy was to stand on the ball and press it into the mud. Naturally, the ball was miraculously found after the player had disappeared over the hill.
At the old course in 1948, two caddies were working for two prominent doctors. On the 11th hole, one hit to the left and the other sliced one into the trees on the right. Off dashed the caddies to look for the balls. The one to the left was found quickly, but alas the sliced ball in the trees was lost. "Good caddies don’t lose balls" was the remark from the doctor. The caddie wondered if he had really lost the ball rather than the slicing doctor - and also was left wondering if he would get paid for caddying because of "his" lost ball.
In 1955, Len Katterns played in the Australian Open at Gailes and Eric Edgeworth caddied for him. Len decided to practice a month beforehand and so Eric foxed all the balls down the practice fairway. In those days, the caddie went down the practice fairway and the pro used him as a pin or target. The caddie had to keep his eye on the ball to avoid being hit.
Eric caddied for the four days at the Open and caught the train down to Gailes each day. He got 15 pounds from Len for his effort over the Open and that was considered quite a bit of money in those days. Arch Macarthur was the pro at Gailes and caddies were in great demand so Eric reported very early each morning for a job. Most days, he caddied 36 holes and one particular day, he caddied 54 holes. He got to bed early that night!
At the new course at Leichhardt, a group of caddies often went looking for lost balls. As the grass in the rough was fairly long in those early years, many a ball was lost, especially on the 11th hole with the "out of bounds" on the right-hand side of the fairway. This area always yielded plenty of balls and was a favourite spot for the caddies. After looking for lost balls in the summer months, caddies would often go skinny-dipping in one of the water holes down over the hill. Their fun ended when they were discovered by one of the members who had sliced his ball out of bounds. The summer swims came to an abrupt end and they all got a good dressing down by the Committee and the Professional.
Len Katterns tells the story of a young caddie Herb who begged to be allowed to enter the Caddie’s Cup. Member W.T. Leigh agreed to lend Herb some of his left-handed clubs and off went the happy little caddie. On completion of his round, he handed in his score card: 182. Len called him over and said that the card was wrong. "I make it only 160," Len said. The little caddie was relieved at this improvement in score. "I didn’t think I had that many," he said. The caddie eventually chose hockey as his sport.
Comments are closed.