The Challenge 

Dormie Network and Dormie Club strive to provide an unmatched member and guest experience, with the highest level of service and hospitality. That hospitality extends to each round of golf, making caddies a key piece of the overall golfer experience. Because caddies arguably spend more time with members and guest than any other staff, they have the chance to make the biggest impact on the overall club experience.

Club management was committed to a robust caddie program and wanted to boost the number of caddies in the pool while also refocusing the caddie’s role in providing on-course hospitality.

The Solution 

CaddieNow was engaged in a partnership in January of 2021 with an existing pool of 10 caddies. CaddieConcierge, part of the company’s CaddieSuite of solutions, offered comprehensive program management for Dormie Club to:

• Recruit and train caddies

• Protect the club from caddie misclassification and personal injury concerns

• Simplify caddie communication and payment with an intuitive software platform

The Results 

Caddie Recruitment 

The numbers from the past year are impressive—over 7,000 caddie rounds were completed in 2022. Thanks to the efficiencies created by CaddieNow’s tech and management support, the caddie program was able to be managed on a part-time basis by one of the club’s outside services managers, saving the club time and resources.

“CaddieNow has been a major asset to Dormie Club,” says Kalan Fread, Head Professional at Dormie Club. “From the recruiting process to payment processing, the experience could not be smoother.” He says that CaddieNow provides all of the necessary resources for success and their staff is quick to assist with any needs that may arise.

Caddie Recruitment

Because Dormie Club is a national membership club, the traditional “caddie barn” model isn’t something that works with their business model. Management needed the availability and flexibility to book caddies in advance, and CaddieNow offered the best solution.

More than 100 caddies applied for loops at Dormie Club as a result of broad social media and other campaigns. CaddieNow selectively vetted the applications to identify and present the right caddies that fit the Dormie Club culture for approval and certification. “CaddieNow has been instrumental in making sure we are getting the best loopers out there,” Kalan says.

Over 90 caddies now serve members at Dormie Club and are an integral part of Dormie Network’s signature hospitality. Fifteen honor caddies take on five to seven loops per week, with an additional 50 that work up to 10 loops a week as needed and another 30 available for special club events. Caddies complete a post-round debrief form after each loop that records customer feedback, favorite food and beverage items, and other unique details about the guest. This information is automatically shared with the management team to facilitate the highest level of service possible.

CaddieNow also helped Dormie Club fill the need for additional, on-demand independent contractor labor for food and beverage support and golf operations. In fact, the caddie program has helped fill additional full-time roles at the club, including Assistant Golf Professional and several positions within the outside services support team. 

Caddie Training & Benefits

CaddieNow works with club staff to hold quarterly training and education sessions aimed at refining the caddie’s knowledge and skills on reading greens, elevating hospitality services, club and ball fitting, course management, and creating tour level yardage guides. “We can be very hands on with training,” Kalan says. “We can teach our caddies what we expect on the hospitality side and essentially make them extensions of our staff on the golf course.”

Kalan says it’s incredibly important that caddies understand what the club is trying to accomplish from a hospitality standpoint. “It makes them a more effective conduit between our staff and members/guests when they need to be.”

Caddies benefit just as much from CaddieNow’s solutions as Dormie Club. The convenience of the CaddieNow app eliminates wait times in the caddy shack, and caddies earn 20% to 40% more compensation from the golfer’s base fees.