There was an aura about Alexandria’s Bringhurst Golf Course, the oldest par-3 golf course in America, on Sunday afternoon. The last 18 of 54 teams to tee off in the day-long Trotter/Brame Memorial Golf Scramble were winding their way around the venerable municipal golf course that will celebrate its centennial year in 2028. It was the topper of the fall season’s first picture-perfect weekend that felt brisk enough to stir thoughts of making gumbo.
Imagine you were there, and you got to hang for a while with the top golf celebrity of the field, Ted Scott Jr. of Lafayette. That’s Ted Scott, as in Scottie Scheffler’s caddie. He’s like the Chief of Staff for the top golfer in the world. Scheffler, 30, is No. 1 in the World Golf Rankings, and has held that position for many moons. He has been the PGA Tour Player of the Year and top money winner for four consecutive seasons. He has won four majors, plus two Players Championships. I could go on, but you get the idea, and Ted Scott Jr., is this guy’s shadow, his trusty companion in all his competitions.
Most people wouldn’t recognize him in the grocery store or a restaurant, but put him on a golf course like Bringhurst, and he becomes the guy about whom people say, “Hey, that’s Scottie Scheffler’s caddie!” And then, “Mister Ted, can I get my picture with you?”
And he loves it and couldn’t be nicer or more obliging. To make it even sweeter, he has family roots at the Bringhurst course. His father Ted Sr., who was also on hand (traveling from Picayune, Miss.) grew up in Alexandria and used to live in what is now the Bringhurst clubhouse many decades ago with his father, Don, and his brother, Don Jr. “The Don” used to be the Bringhurst course manager and Ted and Don Jr. became great golfers and athletes. Don Jr. is a former McNeese State golf coach.
Scottie Scheffler’s caddie was at Bringhurst Sunday because one of the longtime course managers, William “Bugs” Trotter, called Ted Sr. a while back, asking if he could attend the event and maybe bring his son to bring to life some of the history of the course that was being celebrated.
They both were happy to oblige. Ted Jr. said he remembers playing the course when he was about 10.
“I don’t remember much about the course,” said Ted, who is now 55, “but I do remember just being happy to play the course with my dad and my granddad. Some of the best times of my life were playing here with my dad and granddad. It’s a great course, fun to play, and it can be that way for veteran players or beginners.”
He clearly enjoyed playing Sunday, and his partner and the other twosome in his group were delighted to have him in their company. I watched, as on the second hole of the back nine (the longest on the course, 119 yards), he held one of the men’s head down and coached him on how to hit a better chip shot. He later read the green on the fifth hole for his partner, helping him make a 15-foot, right-breaking putt.
Asked what Scheffler might do, playing at Bringhurst, he quipped, “He’d destroy it with all the shots he has in his pocket.”
Any highlights being Scheffler’s caddie this year stand out?
“I’d say, first of all, it was pretty cool to see him with his second kid (Remy, born in March),” he said. “He’s such an amazing father.” Scottie and Meredith’s first child, Bennett, was born in 2024.
Then, probably the next two best highlights, he said, were Scheffler’s 8-shot victory in the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis followed two weeks later by his TOUR Championship triumph at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, rallying from three strokes back on Sunday to finish 16-under-par and win the FedExCup title. It was his second such title in three years, tying him with Tiger Woods for four career FedExCup playoff event victories.
Since Scheffler is so wonderful a golfer, how, I asked, does he tell him what to do, when it seems he should know that?
“That’s a great question, and a deep one,” he began. “No matter how great you are, you have times when you have fears or doubts. I am there to deal with his fears, his doubts, his insecurities, his worries. I try to fill in the gaps with information or maybe saying something to him, what he might want to do. Trying to find the right words to say to help him.”
Scott said if young men are interested in having a career as a caddie, he doesn’t encourage getting into that line of work.
“It’s way harder to get into than playing (professionally),” he said. “When you play, you make it on your own; but to become a caddie, you’ve got to know someone. It’s pretty hard to network and get (a caddie job) on the Tour.” One job doesn’t mean job security, either, he said. “I know some world-class caddies who’ve been dropped by a golfer who spend years trying to get another bag.” Scott, himself, survived a shaky start to his career that could’ve been disastrous.
Scott was playing mini-tour events in 2000 and tried to Monday-qualify for the Web.com Tour event (the Louisiana Open) in his hometown of Lafayette. After failing to qualify, he called the course to ask about caddying work and was introduced to Grant Waite. On his first day with Waite, he did not know he was supposed to manage or carry a yardage book. That could’ve gotten him fired, but Waite kept him on because of his easy-going, upbeat manner and work ethic.
He has been at it since. After three years with Waite, he caddied three years for Paul Azinger and then 15 years with Bubba Watson (including two Masters championships) before serving as caddie the past five years with Scheffler. Despite his fame as a caddie, he said he regards himself primarily as a “Christian, father (two daughters) and husband. I serve God, then my family, then my job.” In fact, his partnership with Bubba Watson was rooted in shared Christian faith, through Bible study and prayers. And he met Scheffler through a Bible study. When requesting Scott to be his caddie, Scheffler said, “I really want to work with a Christian. That’s how I try to live my life.”
After Scheffler won the Masters in 2022, he said of Scott: “I respect him so much just as a person. He’s a man of faith, and I love him.”