Say you are in a major golf tournament, and your caddy takes an errant shot to the forehead. What happens next – do they have a pool of replacement caddies, or do you have to withdraw?
I actually caddied in a LPGA event about 25 years ago for 3 holes when the regular caddy passed out from the heat.
I was following a group and was talking with the players mother when her caddy passed out the 11th hole. I told the Mom that I could carry her clubs to the clubhouse.
to make a long story short, another players caddy was on the grounds and they tournament officials summoned him, but it took about an hour to locate him. he finally caught up to us on the 16th hole. She told her mother to give me $50 for my efforts. Which wasn’t bad for an hours work back in the mid 80’s. I really wasn’t expecting anything.
By that anecdote, I think that there are spare caddies looking for work at the tournaments.
There definitely are “free agent” caddies looking for work at every tourney. Not to mention the host club likely has a roster of its own regular caddies who can step in.
Not every pro has a regular caddy who commits to and travels with him, as not every pro knows which tourneys he will qualify for. When you read up on golf, exemptions are in many ways more important than the prize money itself.
Lots of times due to scheduling conflicts or whatever, you’ll see a family member, friend, or fellow pro looping for a golfer. I think I’ve even heard of the rare instance where someone was asked out of the gallery. Its just that you don’t see as much coverage of the Monday qualifiers and such who generaly finish lower down on the scoreboard.
And there is no penalty WRT changing caddies. Hell, you could fire your caddy in the middle of the round, and ask some guy to put down his beer and haul your bag.
BTW - if you have never carried one of those bags - THEY WEIGH A FRIGGIN TON!
I knew Tin Cup was actually a documentary!