Everyone knows that golf is an expensive game in which heaps of money are flowing from one hand to another.
That being said, the following question may pop up in your head: How much money do golf caddies earn?
In this article, we will tell you exactly how much money golf caddies make.
How Much Money Do Golf Caddies Make?
On average, PGA Tour golf caddies make between 50,000$ & 150,000$ a year. A PGA Tour golf caddy’s salary is split between a weekly salary (1000$-3000$), and a percentage (5%-10%) of the winnings earned by the professional golfer he serves.
Golf caddies come in all sorts of levels of proficiency, and their salary greatly depends on their experience and the status of the golfer they work for.
For example, Tiger Woods’ caddy will obviously make more money than the caddy of some random guy who struggles to break 100.
Brand new golf caddies are basically the equivalent of high schoolers who just graduated. Brand new golf caddies will typically make 10-20$ per hour.
At a slightly higher level, caddies with a few years of experience can make 20-40$ per hour.
Even more experienced golf caddies who caddy for non-professional or amateur golfers can make 40-60$ per hour.
Finally, you have the caddies for professional golfers, such as in the PGA Tour, who earn a good living. Golf caddies who caddy for PGA Tour golfers earn, on average, between 50,000$ and 150,000$ a year.
A PGA Tour golf caddy’s salary is split between a weekly salary and a percentage of the winnings his employer (the professional golfer) earns.
The weekly salary of a PGA Tour golf caddy typically lies between 1000$ and 3000$ a week. However, these numbers can vary greatly from one caddy to the other, as there are no conventions as to how much a professional golfer should pay his caddy.
A PGA Tour caddy will also receive a percentage of his employer’s earnings from tournaments, which usually lies between 5% and 10%.
If the professional golfer wins a tournament, the caddy will receive 10% of the golfer’s earnings for that PGA Tour event.
If the professional golfer finishes top 10 in a tournament, but does not win, the caddy will receive 7% of the golfer’s earnings for that PGA Tour event.
If the professional golfer finishes outside of the top 10 in a tournament, the caddy will receive 5% of the golfer’s earnings for that PGA Tour event.
If the professional golfer gets cut from the tournament, he will receive no earnings, so the caddy will only receive his weekly base salary.
For example, if a professional PGA Tour golf player makes 2M$ during a season, all coming from outside of the Top 10 positions, the caddy will earn:
Caddy yearly salary = Base Salary + Percentage of professional golfer’s earnings
Caddy yearly salary = 75,000 + 2,000,000*0.05 = 175,000$ for the year
On very rare occasions, some caddies can make over 1M$ some years, like when employed by a generational golfer such as Tiger Woods.
In a given year, the highest earning golf caddies typically earn around 400,000$ to 500,000$, but this is not the average caddy salary.
Golf caddies need to pay for their own travel and lodging expenses, which lowers how profitable of a job it can be.
How Much Money Do LPGA Golf Caddies Make?
On average, LPGA Tour golf caddies make between 50,000$ & 75,000$ a year. An LPGA Tour golf caddy’s salary is split between a weekly salary (1000$-1500$), and a percentage of the winnings earned by the professional golfer she serves.
On the women’s side, LPGA caddies make around 1000$ to 1500$ per week.
LPGA caddies also get a small percentage of winnings from the professional golfer who employs them. The percentage of earnings can be higher than in the PGA Tour, as prize pools are smaller.
Just like in the PGA, LPGA golf caddies also need to pay for their own travel and lodging expenses, after which there may not be much salary left (after taxes).
Conclusion
There you go! After reading this article, you now know exactly how much money golf caddies make.
Would you like to work as a caddie in the PGA? Let us know in the comments down below!
I made 74k(gross)my last year of nursing in a Canadian prison hospital setting. I dealt with very violent offenders who where mentally disordered.
I just retired this year and will be living in Florida for winters. Where could I go to learn how to caddie.
I have played many sports throughout my life.
I golfed a lot as a child and in recent years got a membership to a local golf course.
I my opinion most caddies do alright. Caddies work outside daily, no one is trying to hurt (or kill) you. Where do I sign up!