Golf’s Most Famous Feet Take Caddy From Augusta National to Myrtle Beach!

May 21, 2014

If Henrik Stenson or Louis Oothuizen came to town for a few days instruction, I was allowed to sit in on the lessons. I could learn more about golf in a week then most people could learn in a lifetime. Lucky me.

During that time I became good friends with Pete’s second in command, a guy by the name of Mike Walker. Mike has become a respected golf instructor in his own right working with the likes of Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell and one of my old bosses Alejandro Canizaries. Mike also coaches Matt Fitzpatrick.

After a few weeks at the academy, my brother flew over from Canada and we decided to make our way up to Scotland and play some real golf. I have a little motor home I leave in England and the two of us hopped in it and headed up to God’s country. We were up there about a month when I got a call from Alejandro saying his caddie couldn’t make it to the Scottish Open and would I mind doing the week for him. Why not! It was a great week on a great course with near perfect weather. What a joy.

About half way through the week I got another call, this time from Mike Walker saying that a young amateur by the name of Matt Fitzpatrick had qualified for the British Open. Mike knew I had caddied for Tom Lewis when he won the silver metal for low amateur in the 2011 British Open and he was curious to know if I was interested in making it a pair. Why not!

I made my way to the venerable course of Muirfield and by the week’s end Matt had won the Silver metal as well. I must be the only pro caddie in history to have two silver metals on his résumé. Not much money in that accomplishment but very satisfying just the same. But Matt didn’t stop there. He was already world number one amateur but he still had one thing left to accomplish, and he did that three weeks later by winning the US Amateur and with it a trip to The Masters. And this is where the famous feet come in.

I have always had bad feet. Even as a kid playing hockey my feet were always the first to get sore in a pair of skates. Years of walking golf courses, in over a thousand tournaments didn’t make them any better. It wasn’t long before the only way I could get around was in a pair of sandals. I’m the first to admit that it doesn’t look pretty but it got the job done and soon everyone that was watching golf in Europe knew about the guy that caddied in sandals. I quite often wore a Hawaiian shirt and always an army style hat with the Amnesty International logo on it. That sort of solidified my reputation.  

I knew when I got to Augusta that my regular wardrobe would be off limits as all caddies are forced to wear those ghastly boiler suits. Why they want all the caddies looking like they just escaped from jail fascinates me. But it never occurred to me they would be so restrictive about my footwear.

I had caddied in US Opens, British Opens and US PGAs with no one even commenting on what I stood their fairways in, so I assumed it wouldn’t be that big a deal at Augusta. I was wrong. I have never met such narrow-minded people in all my life. I tried to explain that it wasn’t a fashion statement but a medical problem that led me to the sandals but no one would listen.

Finally I went to see the head guy to talk it out and was so disappointed to find that he couldn’t conduct himself like a gentleman long enough to have a civil conversation about the situation. So that was it. I went and found Matt and told him I would have to withdraw my services and he would need to find another caddie for the week.

Well if I couldn’t caddie at Augusta I certainly wasn’t going to hang around and watch. I need some place to go that would appeal to the golfer in me. Because as much as I enjoy caddying and as much as it great to watch the best players, the true joy in golf is in playing the game itself. I looked at a map and the solution jumped out at me, Myrtle Beach. I had never been there myself but loads of the members of my course back in Canada had come down and they all loved it. I hopped in my car and made my way to golf central. Four hours later, I had left the snobbery of Augusta behind me and had arrived in my idea of golf heaven.

Myrtle Beach has everything for every kind of golfer. From putt-putt to par three courses to inexpensive 18 holes to championship courses. All in one place.  And not one of those places cared if I teed it up in a pair of sandals. This is my kind of place.

I stayed for the whole week, golfing to my heart’s content. I must admit that I did spend a few hours in one of the local bars watching some of the action from Augusta. Matt played great but unfortunately missed the cut by one. He called me on the Saturday morning saying he wanted to do a practice round for the Heritage Classic on Sunday so I reluctantly left behind my new-found golf oasis and headed to Hilton Head Island.  I was a little disappointed and angry I didn’t get to caddie at Augusta this year but that all melted away during my week in Myrtle Beach.

Matt and I had a great week in Hilton Head with Matt making the cut and shooting two bogey free rounds on the weekend on his way to finishing tied 23th in the tournament. Not bad for a 19 year old amateur and you’ll be happy to know that the powers that be at Sea Pines were a bit more embracing of foot diversity then their counterparts in Augusta, It had been a long wet and windy week and I have to admit I was more then a little tired and I still need to make some arrangements for getting back to England. But I thought, maybe I could put that on hold for a couple of days. What I really felt like doing has playing a bit of golf. Well it didn’t take me long to figure that one out. Myrtle Beach here I come.

 

Lorne Duncan has traveled the world caddying and playing golf. After his dustup with the lords of Augusta, he has made his maiden voyage to Myrtle Beach, but it won't be his last!!