Official Caddying Story: Bob Harig

Bob Harig is a senior golf writer for ESPN.com and has been covering the game for more than 25 years, first at the St. Petersburg Times and then for ESPN.com. He began contributing to ESPN.com in 1997. He also covered college football for the Times. Harig, a native of Barrington, Ill., got his first exposure to golf as a caddie at Inverness Golf Club, where he earned an Evans Scholarship to attend Indiana University. He graduated with degrees in journalism and history. Harig is a former president of the Golf Writers Association of America.

At which golf course did you first caddie, and how old were you when you started?

I was approximately 12 years old when I started at a place called Inverness Golf Club in Palatine, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Actually, the rules were that you had to be 13, so I kind of snuck in for a few months before I turned 13.

Why were you compelled to become a caddie?

When I started, I really knew very little about golf. I knew who the biggest names were, like Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. But I wouldn’t say that I followed it closely. I played other sports. But basically, by chance, a friend started doing it, and I decided to try it. That introduced me to golf, introduced me to playing golf, and has obviously been a big part of my career. It all points back to when I was 12 and got my first exposure to the game.

Take us through your first day on the job, who was your first loop?

Inverness was a very, very nice private golf course, kind of on the other side of the tracks you could say. It was less than two miles from my house, so I could ride my bike there. It was a place where you aspired to be, with many well-to-do people who were members. They took their golf very seriously as well as their caddying program. There was no carrying your own bag. You were expected to take a caddie with you, even if you were in a golf cart. The membership took a lot of pride in the fact that the club produced at least one Evans Scholar per year.

It wasn’t extensive, but there was a training program. The WGA had a little brochure called “Pin Pointers,” which I may still have a copy of today. It had all these tips for caddying. They gave you that and then they took you out on the course and actually gave you real training: how to carry a bag, tend a flag stick, repair a ball mark, not walk in someone’s line, replace divots, and raking bunkers. The protocol. The manners. How you go about doing the job as inconspicuously as you can. Along with that, you had to learn the game. A lot of kids started out not knowing much about golf, so you had to figure it out.

When I started out, I was at the bottom of the totem pole. There was definitely a hierarchy. There was hazing that went on, probably some things that couldn’t happen today. We didn’t have a caddie shack, but we had a caddie room. And sometimes, I’d show up and wouldn’t get out, wouldn’t get a loop. So it was stressed and impressed upon you that you really had to pay your dues. There was a running joke that the caddiemaster would sometimes tell you that you were looping for “Mr. and Mrs. Broom” today. Then, they’d hand you a broom, and you were expected to clean up the caddie room. It could be frustrating, especially when the older kids were getting two bags, and you weren’t getting out at all.

But when you got into summer, things really picked up. There were plenty of opportunities to caddie; they needed the caddies. The more you did it, the more you got out. At 12 or 13 years old to have a few bucks in your pocket when most kids didn’t have a job, I got into it. Then, you realize there’s a status that you needed to try to achieve to move up. At our place, there were “B” caddies, “A” caddies, and “Honor” caddies. They were paid accordingly. Honor caddies got to work for the best players and/or the best tippers. The caddiemaster assigned the loops, and there was no logic to it aside from merit. It came down to who you were and how well you caddied. So you needed to get good, beyond just showing up each day. 

Can you elaborate on your progression from each stage of your caddie rating?

After my first full summer, I got promoted to A caddie. Then, the next summer as an A caddie, I was getting out almost every time. The caddiemaster and some of the members got to know who I was. I started to carry doubles. And any caddie would tell you that he or she would rather make twice the pay for the same amount of time, even if it was physically draining to carry two bags. But, you were ultimately disappointed if you didn’t get two. And that’s a lot of work with two players, tending flag sticks and raking bunkers. And if there are two guys walking and another two in a cart, you’re doing everything! You had to be on your game.

After my second year of being an A caddie, I got promoted to Honor caddie. So basically, I was about 15 years old. At that point, you’re one of the top 10 or 15 caddies there. That’s when I really started to take it seriously. I was in high school, and any opportunity to get out there, I was on the course working. Essentially after two or three years, I could also see that there could be a huge payoff here, earning an Evans Scholarship. It was something to stick with, and I also really liked it. We could play on Mondays, so I started playing and following golf, making some lifelong friends in the process. 

What was the biggest mistake that you made during your caddying career?

In terms of walking in somebody’s line or giving them the wrong club, I don’t recall anything egregious. But I do have one instance that was highly embarrassing and was a great lesson. I would have been in college at this point. When I'd come home from college during the summers, I’d caddie since it was the best way to make money. Being of that age, sometimes you overdo it yourself. I showed up one morning and just had a bad night, like a college kid was prone to do. But while most kids would be able to sleep it off, we had to get there at 7AM. I might have been out until 1 or 2 in the morning. I’m not proud of it but just explaining what happened. So I am packing two bags, and we started out on the back nine, which is the tougher nine to walk. I remember the 12th hole, especially, has a pretty steep hill to walk up to the green. It’s about 9AM at this point and starting to get really hot. So I’m walking down the fairway on the next hole, and I’m starting to get sick. I had to rush over into the trees, and I’m vomiting there. Of course, I’m thinking I’m going to hide this, which didn’t work. But both guys I was caddying for were really cool. I tried to go one more hole, but they basically called an end to it. They said, “Look man, you need to go in. You need to get some rest. Drink some water. You’re going to have other days like this.” They kind of laughed it off as a great experience and took care of me. Nothing was ever said. I never got in trouble, and the next time I saw them, they got a kick out of it. But it was a lesson learned for me. Don’t ever show up like that. It was a negative at the time that turned into something that ultimately served me pretty well.

What did you most enjoy about caddying?

A lot of things, it gave me structure. It was a great outdoor job. It was a lot of fun. Inverness Golf Club really took their caddie program seriously. We had a member/caddie golf tournament. I remember going to a White Sox game as an outing, and they would take care of it. We had a big banquet at the end of the year. Members were very generous in that regard. You were around successful people, people who were in business and some who had their own companies. You started to see what it’s like to take things seriously because these people certainly did to get to where they were in life.

But not to say they were all upstanding people, there were some characters. Caddying is where I learned a different vocabulary, words I’d never heard before. There were more than a few golfers who showed up on the first tee on a Saturday morning, and you knew they hadn’t gone to sleep. That kind of thing, it was eye opening just from a life standpoint. It was all a great experience, and I can’t say anything bad about it. Sure, it was tough at times when you didn’t get out or didn’t get paid what you thought you should. It rained too much or was too hot. But the overall experience was phenomenal.

Tell us about some of the people for whom you caddied, did any of them contribute to your career in a meaningful way?

There weren't a whole lot of people in the media business there. They were into business. I had friends who went to work for people they caddied for, but my goals were a little different. There was one member in particular who took me under his wing a little bit. I’ve lost touch with him unfortunately but talking about this makes me think about trying to track him down. His name was Judd Holman, and his family owned a brick company that was called Holman Brick. He was a relatively young guy, like his dad had built the business, and he was going to go take it over. He was a really good player, a single digit handicap, which was a plus since you don’t want to caddie for a guy who can’t break 100. Around my 4th year caddying, he took a liking to me and would request me every time he played. That just became known. The caddiemaster would assign me to him, or Judd would give me a heads up. He played just about every Saturday and Sunday, sometimes once during the week in the afternoon. He paid me way more than anyone else, almost double the going rate. He was very, very generous. I got to know his game and also improved my own golf game by working for him and figuring out how good golf is played. Course management and green reading all of that stuff. In terms of a learning experience for golf, you just couldn’t ask for anything better. 

When I went to college, there was some type of caddie banquet, and I was up for an award. Maybe I'd accumulated a certain number of points or something like caddy of the year. But I’d gone off to college and was supposed to be recognized with an honor. Indiana was five hours away, however, and I didn’t have a car. It was going to be hard for me to go, but Judd sent me a plane ticket so that I could attend. I flew up that Saturday morning and came back on Sunday. That’s the type of thing that you remember. There were lots of people at Inverness that were like that. It’s what I talk about today in terms of caddying, such a great opportunity for a kid to get some guidance from an adult that’s not their parent. It’s such a great experience from that aspect.

What was the biggest lesson that you learned from caddying that helped you succeed as you progressed in life?

It was commitment, and it was responsibility. In a regular job, you obviously have to be there on time. But when you’re a caddie, it’s about self starting. In fact, you never HAD to be there. There was no requirement. You could show up whenever you want. But if you didn’t show up, you weren’t going to get rewarded very well. There was a lot of self motivation on those early weekend mornings to get yourself out of bed and get over there. It’s a great life lesson. You had to be disciplined. You had to motivate yourself. You weren’t going to get fired from caddying if you didn’t show up, but you weren’t going to get out that day and that was an opportunity lost. I think that was something that really stuck with me and obviously sticks out in life, following those guidelines really helps you out.

I wound up caddying for 10 years. Even during the last two summers of college when I had internships in the journalism field, I’d still make it back to caddie whenever I could. My first internship was in Milwaukee, which was about 90 miles from my parents’ house. On some of my off days, I would go back to caddie because the money was so much better than what I was making from as a summer intern at a newspaper. I did the same thing the summer after I graduated, caddying before and after my internship got going in Cincinnati. For parts of all of those summers while I was in college, I caddied. I even caddied on some spring breaks if I wasn't going anywhere. The money was just way better than any minimum wage job. Besides, I just liked it. I enjoyed being out on the golf course. Inverness is a very unique old golf course that opened in the 1920s. I haven’t been there in years, but I still remember how the first 6 holes are par-4s, then a par-3, a par-5 and a par-3. And on the back nine, you didn’t get to a par-5 until the 16th hole. Then, 16 and 17 are both a par-5s. At that point, you were dying carrying bags on the longest holes. 

That’s where I played my first rounds of golf. Every Monday, we played from 7AM until 3PM, as much as we wanted. Then, we could go to the pool. We were there from 7AM to 5PM every Monday. That’s where I learned to gamble while playing golf. Maybe you weren’t supposed to at that age but those were life lessons that served you well.

Anyone who follows golf has seen your work at some point in time. How did you wind up in the media business?

It’s funny because there were some pulls in the other direction. I thought maybe I should go into business, after getting to know some accountants or entrepreneurs. But something drew me to journalism, as early as 8th grade. My friend’s dad was a city hall reporter in Chicago who covered the mayor. He worked for an all news station called WBBM. His job was to do these radio reports. I went with him one day, just one of those following somebody around things. It just really grabbed me. In high school, there was a paper that I worked on, and I got to take a Journalism class. As I got closer to college, I was looking for places where I could have a Journalism degree. I wasn’t even someone who really enjoyed writing. It’s not like I wrote papers all of the time, but I really liked the entire craft. The reporting and how every day was different. In college, it became clear that sports was going to be my avenue because I loved sports. How hard can it be to get interested in a game that you already follow! 

The way it worked out with golf, covering golf was flukish. I saw myself as probably becoming a baseball writer or a football writer. And I did those things. I covered Florida State football for a long time, which was a huge beat at my paper. Golf was very niche back then, but I did basketball, went to Final Fours and also did Super Bowls. Things like that. As Tiger emerged, golf shifted a little bit. My emphasis went to golf just by chance. Then, getting the opportunity at ESPN where you specialize, I really had to hone in on it. That’s sort of how it all evolved and kind of funny how it worked out.