Opinion & Analysis
Need a caddie? There’s an app for that
In his 2014 piece, “Where have all the caddies gone?” Mike Belkin wrote, “As I breezed through a quick round this past Saturday morning at Putterham Meadow, a muni just outside of Boston, the thought occurred to me that I might actually want a caddy. And I’m not talking about a lifer, but a local middle or high-school-kid…”
Well, Mike, now you can. Thanks to the new Uber-like app, Looper, golfers can get linked up with an on-demand caddie in general, and a “local middle or high-school kid” (Jr-Looper) in particular.
In line with Mike’s perspective, Dave Cavossa, co-founder of Looper, spelled out the caddie situation in his area.
“If I want to take a caddie today—I live in northern Virginia—I’ve got two options: I can join Trump National and spend $100,000 joining, or I can join RTJ and spend $100,000. I don’t have another option. Those are it. And every time I want a caddie, it’s $150, plus experience. What Grant and I have done is take that down to no membership, or low membership…and the entry price point is $30.”
To learn more about how Looper works, and how the app has fared in its six months since launch, I spoke with Dave and his co-founders Grant Creighton.
How did Looper get started, and what’s the idea behind the app?
Grant: I was a professional golfer…I caddied to supplement my income for six years…I was getting out of professional golf and put together the idea that a mobile app like Uber could manage scheduling and payment for caddies and communication between caddie masters and caddies. About a year ago, I met Dave at the PGA Show who was also of the same mindset. We were both…working on this concept, so we decided to put our minds together…and we’ve been collaborating ever since. Our main objective is build a network where golfers can find caddies and caddies can find work and grow the caddie trade and grow the game of golf by including junior loopers.
Dave: We launched Looper in the mid-Atlantic back in April. We have 22 courses in the market and over 500 caddies.
Great. Tell me more about how it works.
Dave: Well, we want to bring caddies back to the game of golf. We know that the way to bring caddies back to the 95 percent of courses that don’t have caddie programs is to make it free for them. We actually pay the golf course…golf courses can’t believe when we say, “Not only do you not pay a dime, but we pay you.”…We give them a small revenue share of every loop done at their course. We want to give every golfer at every course the option of taking a caddie again. The key word there is option. When you’re at a typical golf course, you can walk, you can take a cart, or you can take a pull cart.
How do you assemble a roster of caddies in a new area?
Dave: You go out to recruit hundreds and hundreds caddies…mostly teenagers…some college…some part-time…some retirees…you let them caddie at multiple courses in a region on their schedules when they want to…in addition to the fees that caddies are getting, they’re also getting to play free golf at these courses…about 70 percent of our caddies are teens…30 percent are part-time workers…Now we’re starting our national expansion…we got funded this year. We launch in San Diego over the next three months…We’re partnered with the First Tee of West Palm Beach, and we’re launching there in November. And we’re trying to launch in the Detroit and Philadelphia areas in April, and then we’re expanding further on the east coast as well.
I understand that you’re targeting private courses without caddie programs, high-end daily fee courses, and more low-end daily fee tracks. Tell me about some of the headwinds you’re meeting in that pursuit.
Dave: The biggest problem that Grant and I have every day…is the behavior change, and the perception change. When people hear “caddies,” they think “expensive” or they think, “I’m not good enough to take a caddie.”
And if a course says, “My customers don’t want caddies, they want to take a golf cart.” We push back…with, “Have you ever offered them caddies?” It took 60 years [to get to this point]. When golf carts were first introduced in the ’50s and ’60s, people didn’t like them at all.
We don’t think that we’re going to change the world in a day, but we do think with our three-year plan we’re going to change behavior and change perceptions. People want to get out and walk. They want the 10 to 15 thousand steps. They want to burn 2,000 calories.
There’s a portion of the golf community…we call them “would walkers.” Ten to 20 percent of the golf community. Somebody who would happily walk, but they don’t want to carry their bag [or take a pull cart]. But if you give them the option of an inexpensive caddie—our entry price point is $29, slightly more expensive than a golf cart—they’re going to try it. And they’ll say, “Let’s bring caddies back. Let’s grow the game. Let’s get teens caddying again.” It’ll introduce the game to kids who wouldn’t have had a chance to play otherwise…couldn’t afford it.
The Looper icon in Google Play and App Store.
Regarding what the company offers consumers, Dave indicated that Looper delivers value to caddies, golfers, and courses.
- Caddies: No longer do they have to sit on a bench at 6 a.m. and wait around for three hours and maybe get out. Who they’re working for. Where they’re working. When they’re working. Paid in direct deposit the day of. Tipped in cash. Free golf.
- Golfers/Customers: If I’m at a course that doesn’t have a caddie program, I can take a caddie. Same caddie again and again.
- Courses: Free. No program to set up. No caddie check. No recruiting, training, certifying, scheduling. No liability, insurance issues.
To learn more about how the app works for golfers and caddies, check out the aptly titled “How it works” page on Looper’s website.
As the editor-in-chief of this website and an observer of the GolfWRX forums and other online golf equipment discourse for over a decade, I’m pretty well attuned to the grunts and grumbles of a significant portion of the golf equipment purchasing spectrum. And before you accuse me of lording above all in some digital ivory tower, I’d like to offer that I worked at golf courses (public and private) for years prior to picking up my pen, so I’m well-versed in the non-degenerate golf equipment consumers out there. I touched (green)grass (retail)!
Complaints about the ills of and related to the OEMs usually follow some version of: Product cycles are too short for real innovation, tour equipment isn’t the same as retail (which is largely not true, by the way), too much is invested in marketing and not enough in R&D, top staffer X hasn’t even put the new driver in play, so it’s obviously not superior to the previous generation, prices are too high, and on and on.
Without digging into the merits of any of these claims, which I believe are mostly red herrings, I’d like to bring into view of our rangefinder what I believe to be the two primary difficulties golf equipment companies face.
One: As Terry Koehler, back when he was the CEO of Ben Hogan, told me at the time of the Ft Worth irons launch, if you can’t regularly hit the golf ball in a coin-sized area in the middle of the face, there’s not a ton that iron technology can do for you. Now, this is less true now with respect to irons than when he said it, and is less and less true by degrees as the clubs get larger (utilities, fairways, hybrids, drivers), but there remains a great deal of golf equipment truth in that statement. Think about it — which is to say, in TL;DR fashion, get lessons from a qualified instructor who will teach you about the fundamentals of repeatable impact and how the golf swing works, not just offer band-aid fixes. If you can’t repeatably deliver the golf club to the golf ball in something resembling the manner it was designed for, how can you expect to be getting the most out of the club — put another way, the maximum value from your investment?
Similarly, game improvement equipment can only improve your game if you game it. In other words, get fit for the clubs you ought to be playing rather than filling the bag with the ones you wish you could hit or used to be able to hit. Of course, don’t do this if you don’t care about performance and just want to hit a forged blade while playing off an 18 handicap. That’s absolutely fine. There were plenty of members in clubs back in the day playing Hogan Apex or Mizuno MP-32 irons who had no business doing so from a ballstriking standpoint, but they enjoyed their look, feel, and complementary qualities to their Gatsby hats and cashmere sweaters. Do what brings you a measure of joy in this maddening game.
Now, the second issue. This is not a plea for non-conforming equipment; rather, it is a statement of fact. USGA/R&A limits on every facet of golf equipment are detrimental to golf equipment manufacturers. Sure, you know this, but do you think about it as it applies to almost every element of equipment? A 500cc driver would be inherently more forgiving than a 460cc, as one with a COR measurement in excess of 0.83. 50-inch shafts. Box grooves. And on and on.
Would fewer regulations be objectively bad for the game? Would this erode its soul? Fortunately, that’s beside the point of this exercise, which is merely to point out the facts. The fact, in this case, is that equipment restrictions and regulations are the slaughterbench of an abundance of innovation in the golf equipment space. Is this for the best? Well, now I’ve asked the question twice and might as well give a partial response, I guess my answer to that would be, “It depends on what type of golf you’re playing and who you’re playing it with.”
For my part, I don’t mind embarrassing myself with vintage blades and persimmons chasing after the quasi-spiritual elevation of a well-struck shot, but that’s just me. Plenty of folks don’t give a damn if their grooves are conforming. Plenty of folks think the folks in Liberty Corner ought to add a prison to the museum for such offences. And those are just a few of the considerations for the amateur game — which doesn’t get inside the gallery ropes of the pro game…
Different strokes in the game of golf, in my humble opinion.
Anyway, I believe equipment company engineers are genuinely trying to build better equipment year over year. The marketing departments are trying to find ways to make this equipment appeal to the broadest segment of the golf market possible. All of this against (1) the backdrop of — at least for now — firm product cycles. And golfers who, with their ~15 average handicap (men), for the most part, are not striping the golf ball like Tiger in his prime and seem to have less and less time year over year to practice and improve. (2) Regulations that massively restrict what they’re able to do…
That’s the landscape as I see it and the real headwinds for golf equipment companies. No doubt, there’s more I haven’t considered, but I think the previous is a better — and better faith — point of departure when formulating any serious commentary on the golf equipment world than some of the more cynical and conspiratorial takes I hear.
Agree? Disagree? Think I’m worthy of an Adam Hadwin-esque security guard tackle? Let me know in the comments.
@golfoncbs The infamous Adam Hadwin tackle ? #golf #fyp #canada #pgatour #adamhadwin ? Ghibli-style nostalgic waltz – MaSssuguMusic
Episode #16 brings us Cliff McKinney. Cliff is the founder of Old Charlie Golf Club, a new club, and concept, to be built in the Florida panhandle. The model is quite interesting and aims to make great, private golf more affordable. We hope you enjoy the show!
Last week, I came across a reel from BBC Sport on Instagram featuring Scottie Scheffler speaking to the media ahead of The Open at Royal Portrush. In it, he shared that he often wonders what the point is of wanting to win tournaments so badly — especially when he knows, deep down, that it doesn’t lead to a truly fulfilling life.
View this post on Instagram
“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about it because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport,” Scheffler said. “To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world, because what’s the point?”
Ironically — or perhaps perfectly — he went on to win the claret jug.
That question — what’s the point of winning? — cuts straight to the heart of the human journey.
As someone who’s spent over two decades in the trenches of professional golf, and in deep study of the mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the game, I see Scottie’s inner conflict as a sign of soul evolution in motion.
I came to golf late. I wasn’t a junior standout or college All-American. At 27, I left a steady corporate job to see if I could be on the PGA Tour starting as a 14-handicap, average-length hitter. Over the years, my journey has been defined less by trophies and more by the relentless effort to navigate the deeply inequitable and gated system of professional golf — an effort that ultimately turned inward and helped me evolve as both a golfer and a person.
One perspective that helped me make sense of this inner dissonance around competition and our culture’s tendency to overvalue winning is the idea of soul evolution.
The University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies has done extensive research on reincarnation, and Netflix’s Surviving Death (Episode 6) explores the topic, too. Whether you take it literally or metaphorically, the idea that we’re on a long arc of growth — from beginner to sage elder — offers a profound perspective.
If you accept the premise literally, then terms like “young soul” and “old soul” start to hold meaning. However, even if we set the word “soul” aside, it’s easy to see that different levels of life experience produce different worldviews.
Newer souls — or people in earlier stages of their development — may be curious and kind but still lack discernment or depth. There is a naivety, and they don’t yet question as deeply, tending to see things in black and white, partly because certainty feels safer than confronting the unknown.
As we gain more experience, we begin to experiment. We test limits. We chase extreme external goals — sometimes at the expense of health, relationships, or inner peace — still operating from hunger, ambition, and the fragility of the ego.
It’s a necessary stage, but often a turbulent and unfulfilling one.
David Duval fell off the map after reaching World No. 1. Bubba Watson had his own “Is this it?” moment with his caddie, Ted Scott, after winning the Masters.
In Aaron Rodgers: Enigma, reflecting on his 2011 Super Bowl win, Rodgers said:
“Now I’ve accomplished the only thing that I really, really wanted to do in my life. Now what? I was like, ‘Did I aim at the wrong thing? Did I spend too much time thinking about stuff that ultimately doesn’t give you true happiness?’”
Jim Carrey once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”
Eventually, though, something shifts.
We begin to see in shades of gray. Winning, dominating, accumulating—these pursuits lose their shine. The rewards feel more fleeting. Living in a constant state of fight-or-flight makes us feel alive, yes, but not happy and joyful.
Compassion begins to replace ambition. Love, presence, and gratitude become more fulfilling than status, profits, or trophies. We crave balance over burnout. Collaboration over competition. Meaning over metrics.
Interestingly, if we zoom out, we can apply this same model to nations and cultures. Countries, like people, have a collective “soul stage” made up of the individuals within them.
Take the United States, for example. I’d place it as a mid-level soul: highly competitive and deeply driven, but still learning emotional maturity. Still uncomfortable with nuance. Still believing that more is always better. Despite its global wins, the U.S. currently ranks just 23rd in happiness (as of 2025). You might liken it to a gifted teenager—bold, eager, and ambitious, but angsty and still figuring out how to live well and in balance. As much as a parent wants to protect their child, sometimes the child has to make their own mistakes to truly grow.
So when Scottie Scheffler wonders what the point of winning is, I don’t see someone losing strength.
I see someone evolving.
He’s beginning to look beyond the leaderboard. Beyond metrics of success that carry a lower vibration. And yet, in a poetic twist, Scheffler did go on to win The Open. But that only reinforces the point: even at the pinnacle, the question remains. And if more of us in the golf and sports world — and in U.S. culture at large — started asking similar questions, we might discover that the more meaningful trophy isn’t about accumulating or beating others at all costs.
It’s about awakening and evolving to something more than winning could ever promise.
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TeeUpOne
Oct 30, 2016 at 2:19 am
I’m extremely excited to have come across the article and can’t wait to actually be able to use the service. Looper just added our course a few weeks ago. The thought that I will be able to book a caddie at my club or one of the premier clubs that I often play rather than ride and actually enjoy the round is spectacular. For me, the best experiences have always been with a caddie on my bag or caddying for my grandfather over 30years ago when I was learning the game myself and caddies were still a big part of the game. I’m also very impressed with someone taking a great idea and making it even better by including the youths of today instead of just going after experienced caddies. Not only does it make it more affordable for those not looking for a Pro type Caddy but just someone to carry the bag, rake a bunker here and there, clean the clubs and tend the flag. For the youths (h.s schoolers/ students and recent grads) and young professionals that do take part, well they are learning possibly a new sport, staying a part of one, making new contacts and will just have a overall learning experience that they sure can’t get from sitting in front of a game system. Earning money by working hard and best of all…free golf or at least when I caddied back in the day we got to play. I probably play 20-30 rounds a year with clients and to now be able to take them out with a caddie to not always be stopping and starting in a cart but to really enjoy the course, our surroundings and have one another’s attention is priceless. Is it for everyone…..absolutely not but for everyone to have the option is fantastic in my opinion. Well done Looper and again I look forward to using your service soon. ????????
Ms
Oct 27, 2016 at 9:21 pm
Whoa whoa whoa. There is a MASSIVE difference between a real Caddy, and just a looper who carries the bag and not do any of the reads or advises on shots – the looper just needs to wash the clubs and fix divots and keep his mouth shut the other times. So instead of a walker having to push or pull cart or carry his own bag (oh the horror! haha), or rent an expensive cart, he can just have some kid carry his bag for him so he can have a nice walk on the course. Nothing wrong wit that
TheCityGame
Oct 27, 2016 at 3:30 pm
Problems with this. . .
1) This $29 seems like a real come-on. The website itself says for a junior looper, it’s $40 plus tip, so what. . .you’re talking $60?
2) Even if it WERE $29, now you’re asking me to play this $90 course with a $30 bag carrier or I can go play a $120 course that might be a better course.
I guess looper did their market research, but it seems like most people don’t care about caddies. For one, I’ve had more negative experiences with caddies in my life than positive ones. And two, the positive ones weren’t really positive at all. Show me a weekend golfer that really benefits from a caddy’s read, or needs a good line off the tee on a course in his regular rotation.
If you’re into caddies, you probably already belong to a course that has them. I just don’t get it.
In a related issue, most courses just don’t treat walkers fairly. There’s no reason that a walkable course shouldn’t have $X for walking, $X+$Y for cart, and then give me the option of $X+$Z for a caddy.
dave
Oct 27, 2016 at 5:14 pm
Oops, forgot to update the website with our new pricing for 2017! http://www.looper.golf/caddies/
SemiPro
Oct 27, 2016 at 11:02 pm
No one cares bro
You guys are in a garbage market
Noonan
Oct 27, 2016 at 11:47 pm
You do realize the Washington, DC metro area is a Top 10 golf market in the U.S. as measured by total number of golfers…
Dave
Oct 27, 2016 at 8:12 pm
I think its a little…crazy…that their $29 rate is for 14-18 year old juniors. There are at least 8-10 courses on that list that would be an absolutely brutal haul for an adult let alone a 14 year old kid. They might have done their market research on the program itself but I really question their choice of courses and wonder how much research they did in that regard.
KK
Oct 27, 2016 at 10:40 pm
14-18 year olds have a ton of energy. They’ll survive.
Dave
Oct 28, 2016 at 6:43 am
Just curious, have you actually seen or played some of these courses? Augustine, Raspberry and Old Hickory are completely unwalkable. Old Hickory has several 1/4 + mile transitions between holes – how are they going to handle that? You could easily see a group getting way, way out of position after just a few holes.
SemiPro
Oct 27, 2016 at 2:08 pm
These “looper” guys are a flop, check out this up and coming company from Texas. loopgolf.com
EAZ
Oct 27, 2016 at 8:05 pm
LOL! This “up and coming” “company” isn’t even up and RUNNING.
SemiPro
Oct 27, 2016 at 10:59 pm
That’s why it’s up and coming not already here genius
EAZ
Oct 27, 2016 at 11:27 pm
Generally speaking, an up and coming company has more than just a website…e.g. a working product or at least a beta. Otherwise it’s just an idea. Regardless, best of luck to them getting off the ground.
Dave
Oct 27, 2016 at 1:43 pm
One problem with this whole system is that you are hiring teenagers and part timers who – chances are – will barely be familiar with each course if they are caddying at 6-8 courses. The nice thing about a caddy program at an established course is that they have worked there for years and are familiar with the layout and the greens. If you want to just pay a kid to schlep your bag I guess thats fine though.
But the bigger issue in the DMV is that a lot of these courses simply werent built for walking. Caddying at Worthington Manor sounds…insane to be honest. Same for Bull Run and Raspberry and Old Hickory. Theses courses all have *several* green>tee transitions that just dont make sense to walk.
I applaud the effort but I think its really more applicable to the older private clubs in the area that might be much more compact and conducive to walking.
Jack
Oct 27, 2016 at 10:12 pm
@Dave, I think you’re taking the idea way too seriously. The benefit of Looper and another caddie app, ClubUp, isn’t to get a senior-level, experienced caddie to give you advice and read the greens. It’s to have someone there to carry your bag so you can walk without pushing a cart or carrying. Other benefits are things like giving a First Tee kid an opportunity to be around the game and earn some cash, give others opportunities to make money on their own schedules and provide an alternative service for those who want to get some exercise instead of cruising around in a golf car.
As an aside, I have played all of the Northern VA courses you mentioned. If you’re not carrying a golf bag, can you not handle walking up a few hills?
Dave
Oct 28, 2016 at 9:07 am
The point isnt walking – thats fine. The point is that several of those courses simply werent *built* for walking. The distance between the 1st green and 2nd tee at Old Hickory is over 1/4 mile. 3rd to 4th tee is the same coming back. 4th to 5th tee – long walk, close to 1/4 mile. 8th to 9th tee – about the same. 9th green to 10th tee – over 1/4 mile. At a course that packs 9 minute tee times you could be two holes behind after the front nine – just from walking.
Its not “you should walk instead of ride” – I agree, I walk all the time. Its that a lot of these courses from a *layout* perspective are not built for walking. Thats why I said they should probably concentrate on some of the older private courses in the area that are much, much easier to walk.
Chubbs
Oct 28, 2016 at 12:30 pm
Of course there are going to be courses where the layouts are more or less conducive to walking. The courses that are tough to walk will probably see less use. That’s just reality. But, I think the point is to give golfers the OPTION of taking the caddie. Or maybe the golfer wants the challenge and more steps.
In terms of Worthington Manor, they hold U.S. Open qualifiers there…do those guys get to ride? Don’t think so. What about when the USGA held the Public Links (RIP) Championship at Laurel Hill a few years ago…yep, they walked too. Bet they all wished they had caddies to do nothing more than carry their bags.
As for pace of play, there are many more factors (as researched by USGA and others) than just walking vs. riding. Green speeds, quality of golfer, playing ready golf, the time of day, and length of the course just to name a few.
dave
Oct 31, 2016 at 9:39 am
All good points. At LOOPER we focus on Forecaddies for “hard to walk” courses. That way everyone wins. Side note, we walked Raspberry and Worthington and 4:15min. 17,000 steps, 40 flights of stairs, about 8miles. I slept well those nights!
Double Mocha Man
Oct 27, 2016 at 10:43 am
The Uber of caddies. This is great. When I take a caddy I love the fact that I get to wander about, no encumbrances, while my buddies are slaving over their shots. It becomes a stroll in the park. As an aside, if you ever play Pebble Beach DO NOT take a power cart. All the cart paths are on opposite side of the fairways from the cliffs. To make sure of the best vistas, while walking, hit that power fade down the right side of most holes. Take a cart and you might as well have played your local muni.