With so much money flowing through the PGA Tour these days, it’s easy to forget that not everyone fans see walking inside the ropes is flying private, bunking at the Four Seasons and chowing down post-round on the prime ribeye at The Palm.
Duane “Dewey” Bock, caddie to Sepp Straka, noted that there are plenty of Tour caddies who are living on tight budgets while working for lesser-known players. That goes unnoticed by most of the Tour’s prominent sponsors, but not by Jani-King International, the global commercial cleaning franchise company with deep ties to the Tour, especially its caddies.
A decade ago, Jani-King carved out a niche investing in loopers, and now provides stipends to more than 150 Tour caddies who carry the ubiquitous Jani-King branded golf towels.
“When you have a company like Jani-King step up and provide some income to caddies who are carrying their towel, that’s huge and very much appreciated,” Bock said.
This year Jani-King took its engagement with the Tour to a whole new level with its first-ever Spring Clean Challenge, a competition that took place among five players over nine events, culminating at the PGA Championship.
Bock’s boss, Sepp Straka, won the Spring Clean Challenge, and noted that one of the best things about it was that “it was something that Dewey and I did together – so now he has bragging rights, too!”
Sepp Straka (L) and caddie Duane “Dewey” Bock (R)
Straka got on a heater in mid-April, posting two top-10 finishes along with a T-11 at the Zurich Classic and a T-16 at the Masters, where, for good measure, he also aced the fifth hole in the Wednesday Par 3 Contest.
“We gave it a really good run at the Masters and a few other events – but (the highlight) has to be the hole-in-one during the Masters Par 3 Contest!” Straka said.
With the victory came a $30,000 payday for Straka – not a huge number by PGA Tour standards, but as Bock said, it was a “cool concept in the spring to keep our energy up.” Bock collected a $5,000 bonus for the victory, underscoring Jani-King’s commitment to supporting Tour caddies.
Duane “Dewey” Bock
“In the big scheme of things, is the bonus money going to change things for us? No, but it is extremely nice, and that’s what Jani-King has done for us,” said Bock, who said the other caddies already have reminded him that he’ll be picking up the tab the next time they get together for beers or dinner. “To step up and give us that…
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