After being let go, caddies Kip Henley, Taylor Ford express gratitude, look forward to future opportunities
By T.J. Auclair · August 8, 2019
“Caddying ain’t easy, baby.”
Those words are often tweeted by one of golf’s most social media-savvy caddies, Kip Henley.
When things aren’t going great and players reflect, caddies are often the first to be cut from the team.
That’s what happened this week to Henley, who was let go by Austin Cook as well as Taylor Ford, who spent the last three seasons looping for Stewart Cink.
Henley broke the news Wednesday via his Twitter account.
Welp the call came this afternoon that most caddies get from time to time. Cookie and I had a rough year and he’s going with a new guy this fall. No hard feelings on my end. It’s part of the biz. I only wish I could have done more to help. ✌️
— Kip Henley PGA loopr (@KipHenley) August 7, 2019
On Thursday, Henley explained the situation further to The Caddie Network.
“It was a phone call,” said Henley, who helped Cook to victory – as a rookie – in the 2017 RSM Classic. “Cookie handled it well. Though a phone call is disappointing, there’s never a great time to fire your caddie, but – hey – it’s part of the business. I guess he went home and did some soul-searching after we missed the playoffs and made the decision. I have no ill feelings toward Cookie. We had a good run, but caddies are like underwear: something bad happens, you change them. I wish him the best going forward.”
Cook just missed out on the 2018-19 PGA Tour Playoffs, finishing the regular season at No. 130 in the FedEx standings.
For now, Henley plans to hang out at home with the family. But he’ll be ready to go should the phone ring.
“I’m sitting by the phone, spending a bit of time with the family. My youngest daughter is coming to visit from LA, so I’m looking forward to that. But, like I said, I am sitting by the phone and looking forward to what’s ahead,” he said.
Ford, meanwhile, had nothing but appreciation for the time he spent with Cink, the 2009 Open Champion.
“I just wanted to say thanks so much to Stewart and Lisa for the opportunity they gave me the last three years,” Ford told The Caddie Network. “Working for a veteran, I learned a lot as a younger caddie. I went from Justin Leonard to Stewart and I learned so much from both those major champions.”
RELATED: Taylor Ford – ‘This is how I became a PGA Tour caddie’
Cink finished this season at No. 179 in the FedEx standings, also missing out on the FedExCup following two seasons in which he easily advanced to the playoffs.
“Stewart and I had a fun three years,” Ford added. “I gained a good friendship off the course as well. We’ll be lifelong friends. As a young caddie, it was important to me to be able to work with successful veterans – pros who know how to do things and could teach me the ropes. Those invaluable experiences have made it so that – even as a young guy – I’m treated like one of the veteran caddies. With the experience and skills I’ve picked up over the last several years, I know I’ll be a real asset to a younger player. I wish Stewart nothing but the best and I’m looking forward to some new opportunities.”
Caddies have the hardest jobs because the take the Blame for the bad shots that the Players make, they have to dodge flying club because if bad tempered players, and yet have to be quiet and take the abuse in order to land another job. There should be a good relationship between them both and the Players have a right to fire a Caddy also But man up and admit you’re not perfect and you’re going to hit bad shots, when your Caddy hits the shot for you then you can blame him but until then stop crying. If they give you a bad yardage that’s on them but if you miss it by 20 yards OOPS you might have hit a clunker, if you fire your Caddy be Man enough to do it face to face.
One day as he gets a little wiser he will regret this. He doesn’t know it yet but looks like the Korn is calling him. I remember the quote after
his only win was that he didn’t need a caddy. Is he carrying his own bag?
That’s crap “ Caddying ain’t easy” blah blah blah. You guys have 1 boss. ONE! The real world where you have several people who you need to make happy, almost never get credit, and almost take heat, is hard. I play great golf, I know golf, I know looping and have done it at ALL levels. I will trade my 55-60 hour a week management job chasing never ending quotas, being a baby sitter and a psychologist, taking the blame with a lot more stress with you babies anytime. Anyway! And I would love every minute and be thankful.
I feel for the caddies, but I guess we all have to make our own choices in life. A lot of tour caddies were failures on the tour themselves, so it takes a special kind of person to still remain confident in themselves, be positive in general, and be a beneficial member to their players’ team. I see Kip is now caddying for JB Holmes. I wish him much success.