In 2019, the world’s first and only Caddie School for Soldiers was established in St. Andrews, Scotland, in partnership with the late Graham Proctor’s St. Andrews Legacy and with the support of the Kohler family and Company.  Each session the school welcomes veterans from the U.S., U.K. and Canada to participate in a month long training in which each veteran is able to leave their real-world responsibilities behind to learn the skills needed to find work as a caddie.  The hope is for these veterans to find some healing and relaxation while also finding a new belief in theirselves as they complete their training.

Following the completion of the first session, one of our student veterans Scotty went on to become a beloved caddie for The Links Trust.  Scotty still enjoys his time caddying on the famed Old Course today. Another of our student veterans found work as a caddie at Royal Liverpool.  While not all of the first session’s veterans went on to work as a caddie, they all left Scotland with a new sense of peace, camaraderie and belief in theirselves.

In February 2020, our second class of soldiers arrived. Two from the U.K., two from Canada and three Americans.  Like the first session in 2019, these seven veterans all had a story to tell and wounds to heal.  They arrive anxious and withdrawn, almost like ghosts who had once again ventured far from home, into uncertainty. But day by day as they lived together in a fine home on the North Sea in the town of Elie, they begin to find themselves again. 

Out on the golf course, under the instruction of our Caddie Master, Davy Gilchrist, and our Director of Instruction, David Scott, the soldiers of our first two sessions battled through the brutal Scottish weather slowly finding belief in themselves by earning the trust of their golfer at their side. In this way they rise up through their darkness and desolation. It is a simple but profound equation. The chance to leave their own story behind and to disappear for hours into the story of their golfer is a healing for them. As is the chance to be in the company of their fellow soldiers, a new band of brothers, and to be of service again, on a mission to lead their golfers across lovely grounds of the course.

The school was eager to bring in it’s third session in March 2021.  However, Covid-19 had other plans and sadly we had to cancel that session.  While it was a blow to the moral of the school and our want to help the veterans who were scheduled to arrive, most were willing to wait out the pandemic to attend a later session.  As for the school, we would find out that having to cancel that session was in ways, a blessing in disguise. 

Due to the travel restrictions into Scotland, the Kohler family and Peak Scientific, our main sponsors, stepped up to help us run our first session in the U.S. at Whistling Straits right after the completion of the 2021 Ryder Cup.  During this session, it was clear to our founder Don that two of the student veterans would be a huge asset in the growth of the school.  Soon after the completion of the school Michael Pappas and Sean Sutherland were both asked to come mentor the next session in Scotland as well as take leadership roles in the school.  These students turned mentors will be vital in the next phase of the school as we strive to run more sessions throughout the years to come so that we can continue to help more and more veterans.

Finally, in March 2022, the latest session took place back at our home in St. Andrews.  The seven veterans from the U.S., U.K. and Canada lived together in a lovely old stone house with the North Sea out the front door. Out the back door was the marvelous Elie golf course.  For four weeks, the soldiers trained each day at the majestic Dukes Course overlooking St. Andrews.  Three of those veterans have since found jobs working as a caddies.  Luke Cyr, as well as student turned mentor Sean Sutherland (both from Canada), at Cabot Links.  Paul Bonny from Ireland at Royal Portrush.  Bruce Chim from Texas at Dallas National.