“ You’ re working at a place that’ s as premier as it gets in Virginia, just as good as any club on the East Coast. Then you add in having a great boss and it makes you love the place that much more.” – Jed Rasnick
CHRIS LANG
“ You’ re working at a place that’ s as premier as it gets in Virginia, just as good as any club on the East Coast. Then you add in having a great boss and it makes you love the place that much more.” – Jed Rasnick
It was just a reminder you have a couple months ahead where it’ s going to be a little bit lean [ financially ].”
BEYOND THE BAG Luke Thornton caddied on the Florida-to-New York swing after graduating from college, working for clubs in West Palm Beach and on Long Island. As with many caddies, it was a way to make a little money and stay involved in golf following the end of his competitive playing career.
Invited to work one weekend at Kinloch during the COVID-19 pandemic, the course“ just blew me away,” Thornton recalled. When Barnes offered to bring him on full time, Thornton jumped at the opportunity.
“ From the time you enter the gates, there’ s something different about this atmosphere,” he said.“ On top of being a top-notch golf course, it’ s one of the most welcoming places you can be. It’ s like a family. The management are wonderful people who know how to take care of caddies, and our membership is first class.”
Rule knows a little something about high-end country clubs, having worked at Hazeltine for four years and Oak Hill for 27 before relocating to Virginia. He said Kinloch’ s members“ appreciate the caddie program much more than most places.”
“ We love how we’ re treated and that makes us want to treat others well,” Thornton added.“ We really care about the experience our members and guests have while they’ re here.”
The service Kinloch’ s caddies provide goes far beyond simply lugging a golf bag around for 18 holes. Because they have intimate knowledge of the course, they recommend club choices and point out the best“ miss” to avoid major trouble on any given hole. They also offer small swing tips, help read putts and occasionally play amateur psychologist to keep their players in a positive frame of mind.
“ Somebody will hit it in the woods on the first hole and say,‘ Aw man, I’ m sorry.’
I’ ll tell them,‘ Look, I’ ve been here 20 years. There’ s not a place you can hit it on this golf course that I haven’ t been before,’” Moran said with a laugh.“ Don’ t worry about that, let’ s just have a good time. Let’ s try and keep it in front of us and we’ ll get you around here.”
When Barnes took over as manager of Kinloch’ s caddie program nearly 20 years ago, he used a variety of strategies to recruit new talent: from purchasing advertising space in the newspaper to putting flyers up on bulletin boards at local schools and public golf courses. That’ s no longer an issue. Now the club basically sells itself and he has to turn down many more prospective caddies than he could ever hire.
“ I get phone calls, emails and voicemails day-in, day-out from guys wanting to caddie here,” Barnes said.“ I feel kind of bad— sometimes it takes four or five years before I can call somebody and let them know I’ ve got a spot for them.”
Ninety of the top mid-amateur and senior amateur golfers from across the U. S. came to Kinloch in early May for the inaugural Giles Invitational. Afterward, the event’ s namesake proudly recounted how many players made a point of approaching him to offer compliments about the club’ s caddies.
“ They were just wonderful comments— not only about their professionalism, but how knowledgeable they were and how much they helped the player learn the golf course a little quicker,” Giles said.“ To be honest, it didn’ t surprise me. I’ ve probably had 30 or 40 of them caddie for me at one point or another and I’ ve never had an issue. If you rate somebody from 1 to 5, with 5 being the best, a lot of our caddies are 6s.”
When not working, Luke Thornton and Parker Wingfield are regular competitors in the VSGA Four-Ball Championship. vsga. org J ULY / A UGUST 2025 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 25