Is Bones a caddy or a caddie? What about Fanny? Is one masculine and one feminine, like Bobby and Bobbie? Could it be that he’s a “y” and she’s an “ie”?
GottaGoGolf has been using the “Rules of Golf” spelling caddie, but between the resurgance of vintage golf movie Caddyshack and the rise of new golf mobile app Who’s Your Caddy, we finally looked it up.
According to Grammarist.com, “caddie” (from the French cadet) refers to the golf assistant and “caddy” (from the Malay kati) means a small holder for tea. It says, however, that “caddy” is used about a quarter of the time as a synonym for “caddie” and is not too terribly wrong.
Further dictionary research revealed, however, that “caddy” is not at all correct when applied to the person carrying your golf bag.
Blame the confusion on the fact that two words with different meanings and spellings have the same sound — just like bear and bare. But that doesn’t mean Phil Mickelson will ever ask a question of a caddy.
OK, allow artistic license when it comes to titles for movies and mobile apps. But put your money on a CADDIE, whether it’s a he or a she.
AND, HAVE YOU HAD ONE? DO YOU LIKE THEM? TAKE THE ONE-QUESTION POLL BELOW AND TELL US.
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I love having a caddie when I am playing a new course and can use their information to learn how to navigate the course. I have had good caddies and bad caddies. I would prefer a seasoned caddie who is good at providing the best service to their players. It is best to let the caddie know how you like to be caddied. I like to know yardage and best place to be for the next shot, not point out the places I don’t want to be or only play the safe shot. I carry the ball a pretty good distance, so I particularly like to know a carry distance, then I can decided what club to hit. I would say to not let a bad caddie experience prevent you from trying another one.
Thanks Kathy. Sounds like you recognize that you’re the one who is ultimately in charge.