Arizona Foothills Magazine - Meet the Caddies

“It’s similar as far as the teaching aspect because there is a lot of teaching involved with caddying; you’re giving them information and helping them get through their day,” Lurkins says. “We tell a lot of stories on the golf course about things that happen during the FBR Open, and a lot of teaching is storytelling—only on the course the audience is a lot smaller.”

Lurkins says that, unlike a classroom filled with the same smiling faces every morning, he finds the uncertainty of how each day will unfold on the course refreshing.

“My favorite part is that I get to meet a new group of people every day, so it’s not a job you take home with you,” Lurkins says.

During the off-season, Lurkins retreats to Maine, where for the past 10 years he has been the land-sports director for an all-girls sports camp. “It did prepare me for sure for TPC because I’ve basically been coaching sports and teaching all my life,” Lurkins says. “I enjoy the golf course; I enjoy being outside; I enjoy the nature of it. I wasn’t a real nature buff until I started working here; but you see the same little ducks, ospreys and fish off the No. 15 green and the same ground squirrel running around [the] No. 7 tee box.”

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