By AAGD STAFF
(August 30, 2018)
“It was good and I can’t thank God enough for putting me in that situation,” says professional caddie Wayne Birch Jr. Birch is on the bag for PGA Tour golfer Troy Merritt, and, he finally gets to add this winning notch to his belt. Proudly holding up the gleaming trophy from the Barbasol Championship, held July 16-22, 2018 at Champions at Keene Trace in Nicholasville, Kentucky, Birch was all smiles. The prolific golfer also becomes the first African American caddie to accomplish this tournament’s win since Freddie Burns (2000) who caddied for Hal Sutton at The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. With Birch’s help Merritt shot -23 at the Barbasol Championship which debuted in 2015 as an alternate event to The Open Championship in Britain in July.
A PLEDGE TO WIN
“I pray every week that I am going to win. But this was the week,” said the 34-year old golfer in an interview with African American Golfer’s Digest. “That’s what I told my buddy, fellow pro caddie Cedric Lamar. I was going to win! Birch and Lamar both hail from Atlanta, Ga. Together, they are two of only four black caddies working on the PGA Tour. “I told him, we were going to win in Memphis at the St. Jude tournament, but we didn’t win there. We came in 12th. Then, at the John Deere Classic in Moline, Illinois—but we came in around 49th there, and we needed to make a 31-footer putt on the last hole in order to make the cut on the numbers,” said 34-year old Birch. At the end of that day, Birch returned to his shared room with Lamar (to save money on expenses) and, again, reiterated, “We’re going to win this week.”
Zack Rasego (r), South African caddy and longtime friend and mentor to Wayne Birch Jr. (l). Rasego is a veteran caddie who has won nearly 35 times and on almost every continent, including the British Open and the US Open.
“We birdied 16 and bogeyed 17, so we were desperate and needed to make a 31 footer the next day (Friday) but there was a rain delay, in fact, all week we had rain delays, so we couldn’t finish out. We had to come back on Saturday morning and make that long putt. We got out there early and hit two shots: one to get on the green and the other to make the putt. And we made it! After that, I had to go back to the hotel room to just chill out! We shot five under, two days in a row, but we didn’t win, we came at 49th.
Then, right after that, we headed to Kentucky with confidence and shot a 62 on Thursday and we led the tournament all four days. Where we won!
Wayne Birch praises his grandmother Gertrude Smith (l) and his mother Geraldine Birch (r) for his success in life.
The Atlanta native played college golf at Southern University where he was All-American and graduated with two degrees: a Bachelors in Education with a concentration in Health and Physical Education and a Masters in Education Administration. Since 2016, Birch has worked full-time caddying on the PGA Tour. “I tried to play pro golf but it was difficult because I did not have a whole lot of money behind my efforts. I did not have any sponsors. While trying to play pro, Birch worked both as an educator and Athletic Director at Lee High School, Baton Rouge, La., he was the youngest Athletic Director in the state, then age 28.
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Wayne Birch at the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship with his mother Geraldine Birch (l) and cousin Julia Harvey (r).
“It is kind of hard, now that I am getting older and caddying full time, to still pursue that pro golf career. These guys playing pro are a lot younger. And, it is kind of hard for me, as I am getting older, to just leave the lucrative field of professional caddying to go to making no money. Where now, in tournaments with Troy, I am playing for $7 million purses nearly every week.” Caddies get a percentage of their player’s winnings, so even coming in at last place, let’s say the pro wins $15,000, it is still good money for a caddie. “The money is really good when you play well,” says Birch. “When we won, Troy made $630,000, and I got 10% of that.”
Wayne and Alison Birch
Recently married, on December 30, 2017, Birch met his lovely wife Alison 13-years ago while he was attending Southern University and she was at Florida A&M University (FAMU). “She does not play golf but supports me all the way. In fact, I did not win on the PGA Tour until I married her.”
During his spare time, Birch enjoys being outdoors fishing and hunting wild hogs and deer. His Instagram page showcases some of his catch.
With a 1 handicap, Birch’s advice for golfers hoping to get into professional caddying is, “besides being at the right place at the right time, it’s good to start off on a tour like the Web.com. Right now, we only have 156 total PGA Tour caddies yet there are only four black caddies on the PGA Tour. They are Wayne Birch Jr., Cedrick LaMar (caddie for Nicholas Lindheim) and Reynolds Robinson (caddie for Brett Stegmaier) who has caddied for more than 10 golfers in the last 10 years. Then, there is Zack Rasego, a South African (caddy for Branden Grace).”
