What does caddying mean?
Caddying is the occupation or activity of serving as a caddie — a person who carries a golfer's bag and clubs around the course, keeps score, and offers advice on club selection, distances, and reading greens. It is most often discussed as a form of employment, particularly the classic summer job taken up by teenagers at golf clubs, but it also encompasses the highly skilled professional role of touring caddies who work alongside elite players on professional circuits. The word carries connotations of hard outdoor work, patience, and insider knowledge of the game; a good caddie is widely regarded as part coach, part strategist, and part confidant. In usage, caddying typically appears in phrases like 'a summer spent caddying' and functions naturally as a gerund following verbs such as take up, do, or give up. Understanding the word offers a window into golf's social history, since the profession has long served as a route into the sport for those outside its traditionally wealthy circles.
nounThe action or occupation of serving as a caddie — carrying a golfer's clubs and offering advice on play during a round of golf.
- The work of carrying a golfer's clubs and assisting them during a round of golf.
- More generally, any period of employment as a caddie, especially as a young person's job.
"He spent his summers caddying at the country club to pay for college."
"She took up caddying at fourteen and knew every bunker on the course within a season."
"Caddying gave him not just income but an education in how champions think their way around a golf course."
Before they were legends, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope earned pocket money caddying — a job so tied to American summers that an entire slang culture grew up around it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of caddying
The word derives from 'caddie' (also spelled 'caddy'), which entered Scots and English in the 17th century from the French 'cadet', meaning a younger son or junior officer. In Scots dialect, 'caddie' originally referred to a odd-job man or errand-runner before it became attached specifically to golf in the 19th century at St Andrews. Cognate forms include 'cadet' and the related English words 'cadge' and 'cad', all tracing back through French to the same root idea of a dependent or junior person performing services for others.
Related word forms
How caddying is actually used
Informal to neutral in register; strongly associated with golf culture and with teenage or summer employment. Often used with gerund constructions such as 'spend a summer caddying.' The spelling 'caddie' is preferred over 'caddy' when referring to the golf assistant.
Easily confused with caddying
A 'caddy' is also a small container for storing tea or other items, whereas 'caddying' refers specifically to the activity of working as a golf caddie.