The Five Best Fictional Caddies

By Philip Van der Vossen on June 17th, 2010

Caddy With the U.S. Open taking place this weekend, we thought we would take a look at one of the most under appreciated aspects of the game, the Caddy. What better way to honor the caddy than to remember those caddies who have entertained us in film and television. As this quote from Caddyshack illustrates, the caddy isn’t often a respected position:

I’m going to put it right on the line. There’s been a lot of complaints already. Fooling around on the course, bad language, smoking grass, poor caddying. If you guys want to get fired. If you want to be replaced by golf carts, just keep it up.

For this list, we stuck with memorable characters from the past thirty years. Let us know in the comments section if we have left off any of your favorites.

5. Otto – Happy Gilmore

Played by Allen Covert, Otto is the homeless man that Happy Gilmore hires to carry his bag after he beats up the young kid that is assigned to him. Otto is a bit shaggy, and bathes in a water hazard, but overall he is the type of caddy that stays out of your way. He earns a place on this list purely for comedic value, and not for any particular bag handling skill.

4. Stan the Caddy – Seinfeld

Played by Armin Shimerman, Stan appeared in Seinfeld‘s episode 122, ‘The Caddy’. While only appearing in one episode, we have to think that Stan was an excellent caddy, based on the testimonial of Kramer alone, “Stan’s advice has transformed my game. He’s never wrong. Oh, he thinks eventually I’ll have a shot at making it big on the senior tour.”

3. Danny Noonan – Caddyshack

Played by Michael O’Keefe, Danny Noonan is the main caddy in the classic golf comedy, Caddyshack. While the movie obviously featured the talents of Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield and Bill Murray, there was still some plot carved out for this young caddy. In a move that might upset some people, I do rank him 3rd on my list even though he sank the winning putt.

2. Romeo Posar – Tin Cup

Played by Cheech Marin, Romeo is Roy McAvoy’s (Kevin Costner) faithful caddy in Tin Cup. Romeo attempts to ground Roy in the film, with lines such as, “He may be a “soulless robot”, but he’s a rich, happy, soulless robot… with a beautiful doctor lady girlfriend.” Cheech later said of his role, ”I was looking to do anything that didn’t have a big joint in it.”

1. Bagger Vance – The Legend of Bagger Vance

Played by Will Smith, Bagger Vance is the mystical caddy and teacher to Rannulph Junuh (Matt Damon) in the 2000 film, ‘The Legend of Bagger Vance‘. He helps Junuh to come to grips with his personal demons and helps him to play golf again. His effectiveness as a caddy, and prominence in the film easily place him at the top of this list.