Interview with Steve Brotherhood on Life and Future as a European Tour Caddie

Post by Golf Writer Keel Timmins

Caddying. Many people think it’s a dream job. Travelling around the world, visiting beautiful places whilst picking up a steady wage from your player, and perhaps landing a big pay day when your boss gets into contention every now and then. Steve Brotherhood, otherwise known as “Bro”, has experienced it all, starting his career as a bagman thirteen years ago on the European Tour, and is still going strong today, accompanying the fairways with David Howell.

You could say he has done alright for himself, witnessing three worldwide victories among the four players he has been calling the shots for. But Bro isn’t settled just yet, as he has recently created his very own business with the focus of helping amateur golfers, which looks to be going from strength to strength.

An accomplished player himself, Steve became a scratch golfer aged 16 and even played on the EuroPro Tour for three years before realising that pursuing the game as a player himself was just not going to work out. His first job on the bag was for Steve Webster, a fellow Englishman that was as steady as they come, but was yet to show the ability that his potential earlier in his career suggested. Indeed, Webster finished tied for 24^th in the 1995 Open Championship at St Andrews, beating a certain Tiger Woods to the silver medal as low amateur.

Since 1997, Webster had kept his European Tour card comfortably ever year, but had yet to secure a victory which would inevitably take his game to the next level. Shortly after giving up his own professional dream in 2004, Bro took over Webster’s bag for the 2005 season. Webster won for the first time just six months after. And Bro himself admits that it was complete chance that he got the bag: “My mate Steve Webster asked me to carry his bag for a few weeks in Australia at the end of 2004, which led to three years with him, and here I am 12 years later!”

You could say that Bro has that effect on players. He has since gone on to caddie for ex Ryder-Cup and Senior Open Champion Paul Broadhurst, Anthony Wall and now David Howell. “They’re all incredibly talented golfers and I’ve been lucky enough to have a minimum of two seasons with each, so luckily for me I’ve managed to secure a caddie-player relationship for a decent period and not had to go week to week trying to find another bag”, Brotherhood said.

But Bro’s best triumph on the bag game with his current boss, Howell. He began the final day at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in 2013 two strokes behind Peter Uihlein. Howell shot a 5-under 67 to tie with Uihlein and to take it to a play-off, where he eventually went on to win at the 2^nd play-off hole, the Englishman’s first victory in over seven years. Winning at St Andrews, the home of golf, is surely what any golfer or caddie dreams of. Not many feats could top that, but Bro is still missing two elusive events from his CV: “my biggest goal as a caddie: Ryder Cup and The Masters!”

Caddying isn’t all that easy – particularly when your player isn’t playing well. “It makes things very difficult. I got back from the Middle East a few weeks ago having missed all three cuts. It makes the weeks very long, especially all the travelling and being away from the kids."

As well as poor play, players do get injured whilst playing – it’s all part of the job. As a caddie, there’s not much more you can do other than try and get a bag with someone else whilst you wait for your player to rest up, or perhaps have some time off without getting paid. Howell had a problem last year with his left foot, causing him to withdraw from the Maybank Championship Malaysia, and then take three months out because of the injury.

Situations like that spark thoughts that caddying may not last forever as a viable career option – thankfully Howell is back to playing golf now, but the injury could have taken a turn for the worse and perhaps left Bro without a job. David’s injury has still not completely disappeared, as he was still feeling discomfort at the end of last year. There was no surprise then that the forward-thinking Bro launched his own career venture at the end of 2016 with the Tour Caddy Experience.

The business allows amateur golfers to get a feel of what professionals experience on tour. Hitting the ball well but not putting together good scores? That’s what the TCE focuses on, with caddies working on the mental side of the game in order for players to lower their scores. “I have been learning from the very best golfers in the world for the last 12 years as I have been observing them, talking to them and listening to them from inside the ropes. We have played in some of the world’s greatest golf championships," Brotherhood added. “I have learnt from the best and I know I can pass on some of the hints and tips I have learnt that will help your game get to the next level.”

Ever since TCE was launched, it has experienced huge growth with now 21 caddies located around the UK that have all signed up to offer the experience to amateur golfers, such as Brendan McCartain, Martin Gray and Damien Moore. After a round with the caddie, a post round report is written up so that the player can reflect on their mistakes and to allow them to put the advice into practice in future rounds. 

With packages starting at £120, it certainly looks a sound investment to get the advice from someone that has worked with and alongside the best golfers in the world. With amateur golfers making mental errors on most holes, it could prove to be an eye-opening experience with a caddie that has seen it all. 

For more information on the Tour Caddy Experience visit the website via  www.ourcaddyexperience.co.uk or follow @TourCaddyEx on Twitter.