By Alan Blondin
The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) Meghan Tarmey founder of “The Caddy Girls” plans to add male caddies to her roster. Tarmey also plans a name change to “The Caddy Group” to reflect the expanded services of a traditional caddie service.
The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
The Caddy Girls, which Myrtle Beach resident Meghan Tarmey created in 2005 while she was a student at Coastal Carolina University and took on the show Shark Tank in 2014, is transforming its business model.
It will continue to be a company that employs young female caddies who provide a combination of caddie services and entertainment for about $150 per round. But Tarmey has added male caddies to her roster and has begun providing caddies for meaningful pro and amateur golf tournaments, such as qualifiers for national championships, PGA Tour events and Web.com Tour events.
Tarmey also plans a name change to The Caddy Group within the next year to reflect the expanded services of a traditional caddie service. “I’d like to expand and do bigger tournaments and real golf tournaments,” Tarmey said. “We’ll provide all ends of the spectrum. Why not?”
About a dozen men have contracted with The Caddy Girls and are available in areas including Myrtle Beach, Kiawah Island, Florida, Indiana and Palm Springs, Calif.
Tarmey lined up caddying gigs for both herself and Myrtle Beach resident Ken Hall for amateurs participating in the Wells Fargo Championship’s pro-ams last Monday and Wednesday at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, N.C.
Tarmey hopes to soon expand her number of traditional caddies and geographic range.
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In addition, some of her female caddies are certified with the Professional Caddies Association (PCA) based in Florida, and three of them caddied during the 2014 PGA Professional National Championship at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club.
Tarmey was one of six Caddy Girls at the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open in March. They were hired as ambassadors for tournament host Coco Beach Golf Resort and met a number of PGA Tour caddies there. “It helped me build my network,” Tarmey said. “When I needed a caddie for a qualifier in Indiana I contacted a PGA Tour caddie and he got me in touch with a caddie there.”
“It’s based on demand,” Tarmey added. “People are actually calling me, amateurs who need walking caddies and know we have some girls on our team who can caddie and play golf well.”
Tarmey is also turning the focus of her female caddie business to large corporate and charity events rather than day-to-day bookings.
Tarmey said she now contracts with more than 300 female caddies in more than a dozen markets year-round, the busiest being Myrtle Beach, Orlando, Miami, Las Vegas and Scottsdale, Ariz., and others including Charleston, Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Diego, Los Angeles and Palm Springs, Calif. She has seasonal booking throughout the country.
Tarmey’s appearance on Shark Tank aired in October 2014. The ABC show features entrepreneurs and inventors pitching their businesses and products to a group of wealthy self-made tycoons in the hopes of eliciting an investment offer. She was asking for $100,000 for 20 percent of her company, and her request was turned down by four of the five Sharks. Venture capitalist Kevin O’Leary offered her the investment for 50 percent of her company but she turned the offer down.
