Caddying 101: Caddies in a 3rd world country

The 33rd Coral Invitational of the Cebu Country Club (CCC) began yesterday. It is undoubtedly the most prestigious tournament that the club members participate every year as this golf tournament allows its members to bring in a partner who is not a member of the CCC to come and play in this annual golf tournament.

This type of tournament has become so popular that they have similar tournaments in Alta Vista Golf & Country Club dubbed "The View Tee" while the Club Filipino, Inc. in Danao City calls it the "Corn Tee" while the Mactan Golf Club calls it "The Island Tee". In Manila they too have a similar tournament. The Alabang Golf & Country Club calls it "Mango Tee".

Inviting friends to be a partner in this tournament is one way to reciprocate them whenever one gets invited to play golf elsewhere in the country. For Cebuanos, it is their way of inviting their golfing friends not only to the Coral Tee tournament, but also for them to come and enjoy the Sinulog Festival. This is why the Coral Tee has also been celebrated as long as the Sinulog has been celebrated.

I woke up yesterday morning to be told by my wife that our good friend Super Bobby Nalzaro of DySS touched on the issue of the caddies of CCC. Apparently, there was an attempt by the Associated Labor Unions (ALU) to organize or unionize the caddies at the CCC and yesterday morning, ALU members tried to picket the entrance of the club to prevent those caddies from earning money, especially during the Coral Tee tournament.

So the first question to ask is, "is ALU doing a service to the caddies?" First and foremost… Caddies are not considered employees of the CCC or with any other golf course for that matter. So there are no employee-employer relations with them, whether it is CCC, Alta Vista, Mactan or Danao or elsewhere in the Philippines. This fact alone should have been understood by ALU and those caddies that they tried to convince to become a union.

Perhaps ALU is making a statement here that if they can succeed in Cebu Country Club…it would open the floodgates of unionized golf courses all over the Philippines. But will this happen? That ALU is trying to picket the Coral Tee Tournament is a huge disservice to those caddies who merely want to earn a living, especially during the Coral Tee where they get higher pay for caddying for golfers.

As expected, not all caddies want to be part of this deal most of those who signed with ALU where simply cajoled into signing by friends because of "kaikog". The reality is… there is a small picket outside the CCC gate and if they are really regular caddies, that means they didn't earn anything yesterday. Perhaps the bigger question we should ask is…can golfers play without a caddy? Absolutely! Whenever I go to the US… I get a golf cart and play with friends and we are given a small plastic bottle of sand to cover our divots. Yes in the US and Europe, caddies have become a luxury.

Since the Philippines is a 3rd world country and because our politicians have made our people so poor and uneducated, those who really can't find work here or abroad end up being "Ball Boys" who fetch balls for those practicing in our various golf course… and when they are old enough to carry those heavy golf bags, they become caddies. The talented ones are those caddies who learn to play golf (Yes, in Country Club, Mondays are called "Caddies Day" so they could play golf and learn a few tricks here and there.

Perhaps the bigger question is "How much do caddies earn?" In CCC, the minimum that caddies earn for an 18-hole game is P400. I say it is the minimum because golfers always give a tip, which largely depends on how the caddy was able to help improve his game. If you ask me, the minimum in CCC is even higher than the mandated Minimum Wage, which is P327 per eight hours of work. A normal 18-hole game can be finished within 3 to 4 hours. So good caddy can earn at least a thousand a day.

Of course, caddies do suffer a setback when we are hit by typhoons or weeklong rains, where they cannot earn. But some hardy golfers do brave the winds or rain and still play. But whenever tourists come to play golf, the caddies are the bigger beneficiaries as they are given dollar tips, more than they earn as caddies. So things sort of evens out for our caddies.

So the final question I would like to pose is, "Do we need caddies?" I personally don't need a caddy because years ago when I play golf in the US; I learned to play without a caddy. I'm a member of all three golf clubs in Metro Cebu except in Mactan. But all this can change over night. So Golf Clubs and not ALU are doing a great service to help our poor caddies earn money, as these clubs require caddies. But when the time comes when caddy fees become too expensive or prohibitive, I guarantee you that you'd rather pay for a golf cart and fix your own divots than hire an expensive caddy.

*  *  *

Email: [email protected].