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Getting the pink slip
Posted: Tuesday July 11, 2000 02:12 PM
SYLVANIA, Ohio -- Last Tuesday morning in the parking lot at the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic, I heard the words that all caddies know they will one day hear. "This will be our last week of working together," said Sara Sanders, my full-time employer for the past year and a half. "I need to make a change." There is at least one guarantee in the caddie business: Nothing lasts forever, so eventually you will be fired. Caddies are let go for many reasons: bad yardage, bad hair, bad club selection, bad conversation and bad breath. These are just a few of the excuses I have heard over the past 17 years.
Since winning the U.S. Open in 1986, Jane Geddes has released Jesse Harris a handful of times. Actually, it has happened so often that everyone has lost track. The routine goes: She fires him; he heads home; and three months later when Geddes is still struggling, Harris receives the call to come back. (By the way, he most recently was axed in February, and he's presently looping for Michelle McGann ). Most firings happen after big tournaments or big slumps. They are like a chain reaction, not dissimilar to a bad day on the stock market. Earlier in the season, Pat Hurst and her caddie, Chris Birdseye, parted ways, which left an opening for Dan Wilson, who had recently split with Dottie Pepper. Janice Moodie dropped Mike Patterson a week after the Evian Masters, then proceeded to win her first LPGA event at the ShopRite Classic in Atlantic City. (This will probably set off a few light bulbs in players' heads.) One of the most shocking firings was that of Jason Hamilton, who was unceremoniously dumped by Helen Alfredsson during the second round of the 1998 U.S. Women's Open. Luckily, her former fiancé was on the course and took over. It's a lot like a struggling baseball team. Instead of getting rid of the underachieving players, the manager is told to hit the road. Which all leads to the most common reason for a firing: the dreaded phrase "I need to make a change." A caddie/player relationship, especially on the LPGA Tour, can be a more strenuous dynamic than a marriage. The pair works together 30 weeks a year, six days a week. Based on an eight-hour day, a caddie and player spend approximately 1,440 hours together per year. I once joked with Sara's husband, Drew Sanders, that I saw his wife than he did, which didn't go over too well with Drew. But over time, players and caddies do grow tired of each other. In most cases, players change caddies to give themselves a new look, much like putting a new coat of paint on a house that you have lived in for 20 years. Somehow they feel that the change will help them cure snap hooks, three-putts and eliminate those disastrous double bogeys. So even though I got canned, I worked last week for Sanders. Maybe just the knowledge that she was making a change helped cure all the problems she was having over the past five weeks, during which she didn't come close to making a cut. Sanders had her best showing of the year, finishing in a tie for 10th. Coincidentally, she recorded a top-10 finish in the first tournament I ever worked for her, at Youngstown in 1998, right after she "fired" her dad (relatives are not immune to the system). This was a nice way to part. I wish her the best of luck and will remain of big fan of hers. As for me, don't worry, there are still plenty of jobs on the tour for an experienced caddie. Over the next couple of weeks I plan to work for Dana Dorman in New Rochelle, N.Y., and for Julie Piers in Youngstown, before joining up with Kellee Booth in St. Louis, hopefully for the rest of the season. While I am excited about the new opportunities, I know one thing for sure: There is no such thing as tenure for a caddie. Tom Hanson, a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated's Golf Plus section, is a longtime caddie on the LPGA Tour. Click here to send him a question or comment. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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