3 of the Coolest Golf Apparel Brands Were Founded by These Former Caddies

1. John Ashworth - founder of Linksoul and former caddie at La Costa 

From his Official Caddying Story: I feel like what I do, believe it or not, designing and making clothing is kind of like caddying. I’m trying to make looks that people can pick and choose. I’m just putting out a menu of options. In essence, I’m caddying for how they’re gonna look. You know what I mean? I’ve never REALLY thought about it that much, but it’s kind of like being a sherpa.

Another person would be Dave Stockton, which is a cool story, actually. It was at the Players’ Championship down at TPC Sawgrass, and Mark wasn’t in the field. But I headed there anyway to see if I could just pick up a bag. You could do that back in the day. So there I was just hanging out in the parking lot and in drives Dave Stockton. I went up to him and said, “Mr. Stockton, I caddy for Mark Wiebe who isn’t playing this week, and I was wondering, you know, if you could use someone on your bag?” He said, “As a matter of fact, I can.” Boom! Right then and there, I meet Dave Stockton, and I’m on his bag that week. Then, he gets paired with Arnold Palmer and Gary Player for the first two rounds! How good is that?!? It was wild and kind of full circle since I’d grown up watching those guys with my dad at the Tournament of Champions.

Years later, Dave became the Ryder Cup captain and had some really great years on the senior tour. I called him up when I started Ashworth and said, “Hey, Mr. Stockton, not sure if you remember me but I caddied for you...blah, blah, blah. I’ve got this clothing company.” He started wearing Ashworth, which was fun, and we’ve been friends ever since.

2. Stephen Malbon - founder of Malbon Golf and former caddie at Atlanta National

From his Official Caddying Story: I fucked off so much that I dropped out of high school and moved to Colorado, first to Georgetown and then to Breckenridge. Seeing that there wasn’t much of a career path for me there and needing to learn a trade, I decided to attend The Art Institute of Atlanta. My family wasn’t too happy with me, so I needed to put myself through school. Since I’d grown up around golf, caddying was the best way for me to make a living.

“Invest in golf” came off of an old Masters Tournament ticket. If you invest in golf, it does good things for you, your family, and your acquaintanceships. You’re out there rubbing shoulders. I’m a classic example. I was living in LA and didn’t have anyone to golf with, so I’d hit the municipal as much as I could. Then, we start this golf thing. A year or two later, I’m playing LACC, Bel-Air, and Riviera, every good course there is, somehow. 

3. John O’Donnell - founder of johnnie-O and former caddie at Bob O’Link

From his Official Caddying Story: Just the work alone was a big lesson, honestly. I had to play through a lot of pain, so to speak, with those heavy ass bags in 92 degree heat. I hate to play old man, and I was very fortunate to come from a nice, upscale community. But it wasn’t even a question if you were getting a summer job. We all worked. From the paper route to cutting grass and then the caddying, we all gained a lot of discipline from working.

The other thing that you learned was about different personalities. I was more in-tune with and admired the gentleman player, not the pricks with bad tempers who maybe thought they were better players than they actually were.