Starting a Caddie Programme? Here’s Where to Begin
Adding a caddie service to your club isn’t just about having someone carry bags, it’s about elevating the entire golfer experience. Whether you're starting with 5 caddies or planning to scale to 100+, getting it right from the beginning will save you major headaches later.
We've seen that the clubs best positioned to grow great caddie programmes are already doing a lot right. They’re busy, respected, and already delivering a fantastic experience for members and guests. A caddie programme, done well, is a huge addition to your member and guest experience at your club, so it’s an exciting time for you!
If you're in the early stages of building a service, or thinking about refreshing your current approach, here are 3 essentials to set you on the right path:
If you want a caddie programme to thrive, you need someone focused on making it work. From recruiting and scheduling to handling last-minute cancellations, there’s a lot of moving parts. This can’t just be a little side project for your team if you’re serious about making this work.
In smaller programmes, it can start with an assistant pro, but the key is to minimise how much of their time is spent on admin. Their focus should be on enhancing the member experience, not chasing down no-shows or texting caddies all day.
If you're aiming to grow beyond 40 caddies, you’ll want a dedicated Caddie Master in place. Without one, things quickly become reactive instead of proactive ,and that’s when quality starts to slip.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking the job is done once the caddie is booked. But really, that’s when the work begins.
Let’s do some quick math: say your club does 10,000 rounds per year, and 3,000 of those are with caddies. That’s 13,500 hours of one-on-one customer interaction. No other part of your business comes close to that level of guest contact.
That time is either building your club’s reputation, or quietly eroding it.
The best-performing clubs we work with are tracking caddie performance, collecting feedback, and using data to improve the overall service. Tools like Handicaddie let you monitor reviews, manage training, and reward top performers — so the programme gets stronger with every loop.
Using tools like Handicaddie can be a great idea for tracking caddie performance
Most clubs start off with a WhatsApp group or chat to post jobs and collect responses. It works… until it doesn’t.
Once you’re doing 10+ jobs per day, it becomes a full-time task just to confirm availability and chase replies. And worse ,you have zero visibility into who’s available, so every loop becomes a guessing game.
We always say: don’t wait until you're in pain to fix your systems.
Good tools let caddies update their availability in advance, receive offers automatically, and confirm jobs without the back-and-forth. That means fewer dropped balls, smoother ops, and a caddie master who can actually focus on growing the programme — not just keeping it afloat.
It’s the difference between working IN the programme (scheduling, texting, putting out fires), and working ON it (training, recruiting, improving service).
One keeps you stuck. The other helps you grow.
There are tools like Handicaddie available, that are specifically designed for managing caddie programmes.
If you’re starting a caddie programme, or thinking about taking your current one to the next level, I’d love to hear about it.
👉 Book a call here
Let’s get your programme off to a flying start!