Tonight:
9°c
Golf officials ban sexy caddy escort service
02.09.09
Models have been banned from providing a sexy caddy escort service by golf officials who accused them of damaging the reputation of the sport.
Eye Candy Caddies offers an all-female caddy service by providing models to help rake bunkers, man competition holes, help with registration and "provide light banter".
The company, based in Eastcote, north-west London, has around 150 young women on its books, and they are available for golfers for £230 for a round.
Their online profiles show some provocatively dressed in underwear and feature their answers to questions on their favourite music, holiday destination and body part.
But their presence on the fairways prompted objections from purists of the sport who claim they devalue the reputation of golf.
Leaderboard Golf, which owns and operates courses including Chart Hills in Biddenden, Kent, Dale Hill in Wadhurst, East Sussex, Sandford Springs in Kingsclere, Hants, and the Oxfordshire in Oxford, enforced an immediate ban on members bringing the caddies on to its courses.
The ban follows concerns by both male and female club members and what Leaderboard claims was the unauthorised use of its flagship course, the Oxfordshire, on the Eye Candy Caddies website.
A Leaderboard spokesman said: "With golf having been shortlisted to become an Olympic sport, anyone who seriously cares about the development of the game should work to ensure it is as professional, inclusive and culturally inoffensive as any other major sport.
"We are not being killjoys in objecting to a service which invites men to select from a photo menu of young women, often pictured in their underwear, who are to be judged according to the merits of their responses to questions such as 'What is your favourite body part'.
"And we utterly refute any suggestion that this provides an inroad into the sport for women seriously interested in golf.
"Exploiting outmoded notions of golf as a male bastion is not 'just a bit of fun'.
"It damages the reputation of the sport as a whole as well as its appeal to members of the younger generation of either sex.
"We hope other courses in the UK will follow our example."
Former model Sarah Stacey, 43, managing director of Eye Candy Caddies, said they were "being persecuted for being good looking" and accused Leaderboard officials of being killjoys.
Ms Stacey, who founded the business five years ago, said: "We are there to put a smile on the faces of people, and the girls' presence helps raise extra money for charities and societies.
"We are not interfering with the more serious side of golf. We are not qualified to caddy for competitions, we don't offer neck and shoulder massages and the girls do not fraternise with golfers.
"Just because we happen to be good looking, people seem to be derogatory towards us. The girls are very professional, very well bred people who have their own boyfriends and are not interested in older men.
"If some people deem it appropriate to put us down, then that's up to them. But it's not going to stop us. I run a professional bona fide business and it will continue."
Reader views (7)
I can not believe that some of you on here are claiming that we wear tight provocative clothing showing off our 'bums and boobs' on the golf course. We are all very respectable and professional girls and we are all provided with very suitable attire that is not revealing or tight! You can not judge the girls by their photos on the website as these are from model portfolios and they are models after all. If it was sexist we wouldn't be working for an amazing manager like Sarah Stacey!
As for those who think we just drive around in a golf buggy all day clearly haven't seen us at work. We are very hard working and yes we do carry the bags around! We carry out all the normal duties of a professional golf caddy with that added smile!
- Anonymous, UK
Golf is hard enough without boobs and bums in tight clothing making you take your eye of the ball !!
- Brian, Wiltshire
Mark. You plank. "The worst kind of sexism?" Really? So, female genital mutilation, stoning for adultery, lashes, education bans for young girls and all the other sexist evils of despotic Islamic states are lesser forms of sexism, are they? Get some perspective sunshine, and lighten up.
- Dr. Jonathan Melvin, Dublin
They use golf carts and drive the bags around, so it is not about carrying them or nothing. Another point is that these women are MEANT to be eye-candy. It doesn't make them whores, just women there to be (openly and in the public eye) pleasant companions on business or other such gatherings having golf get-togethers. That's no different to having the same thing in restaurants and clubs. Prudes may not like it, but bad luck - real people live their lives despite the narrow mindedness of others.
For those saying it might harm their Olympic pretensions - I would suggest they look at the endless adverts using Olympians alongside some very sexy ladies to sell products across the board, and then justify their comments.
I like and play golf, but this is just prudishness, plain and simple.
- Rogan, Irving
Maybe if they dressed up in Rupert Bear trousers and Pringle jumpers they'd be acceptable?
- Paul, London
This is the worst kind of sexism. Banning this can only be a good thing.
- Mark, London
By definition, doesn't a caddy carry the golf bag/clubs? If they carry the bag then I can see the point but otherwise they perform no useful purpose and should be booted out otherwise it's akin to dragging a friend around the course with you, slowing up your game and peeing everyone behind you off.
- Bob, Cheam
