Kid Caddie Review

When my daughter was born this past August, many of my friends began to give me advice on what to expect as a father. Enjoy the little moments, work on your patience, sell your golf clubs because you will never play again. Well, as you can imagine that last one really caught my attention. I know my parents were still able to play golf when my brothers and I were little. But they would just give us BB guns and we would be distracted for hours; I doubt my wife would let me get away with that.

Then while in the hospital waiting to be discharged, I stumbled upon Kid Caddie on social media. When I went to visit their page, I found what could be the answer to my problems. A way for me to play golf AND babysit, perfect. Well, when I showed my wife this wonderful invention I think her epidural had just worn off because she looked at me and said sternly, “No.” So you can imagine my surprise when I opened my birthday gift from her and saw the Kid Caddie in that gift bag.

The Kid Caddie is such a simple and creative idea, it almost makes you upset that you never thought about it before. Simple attach your Kid Caddie the handle of your stroller, secured the Velcro straps, add your clubs, and you are ready to play. It has room for up to 18 clubs, 7 golf balls, 6 tees, and my wife was kind enough to get the cup holder attachment. The Kid Caddie essentially turns your stroller into a multipurpose pushcart. The plastic is a strong and well-built design. I won’t be taking the baby out in the stroller during the Arizona summers, so I am not concerned with how will hold up in the heat. It was strong and sturdy when attached to the stroller, so you don’t have to worry about it coming off if the terrain becomes bumpy or uneven. Our stroller does have a curved handle, so the attachment arms did not sit entirely flush on the handlebar, but combined with the Velcro straps the Kid Caddie was more than secured to the stroller. I would love to see them offer a straight and curved handlebar designs, but in all it was not that big of a deal and did not affect the performance at all. Depending on your make and model of stroller you will need to play around with the handlebar position and crib position. We found that switching the crib to a forward-facing position gave more room for the clubs to fit. It was a bit of a windy day, though luckily we had a cover to place over the opening to get the wind out of the baby’s face.

The course my wife and I took it to was our local par 60 short course. We decided that we could each put a partial set of 9 clubs onto the carrier, plus each have a few golf balls. We started out with my wife’s set on the top row and mine on the bottom row, which worked ok for a few holes. After about the 3rd hole we had a bit of a wait on the next tee box, so I decided to rearrange the clubs with all the longer clubs, 6 irons and above, on the top row, and the rest including putters on the bottom. I felt this made it so much easier to not only grab the clubs out of the holder but also place them back. Because of the design the butt end of the clubs is meant to rest on the bottom net of the stroller, and my wife’s clubs were to short to reach from the top row and they had a tendency to get stuck and pinched together. After the switch even my wife commented how that worked so much better. I do think that if you have jumbo sized grips or even larger they can get caught on the slots, so it will be something to consider. My wife and I both have standard sized grips and did not have that issue. A feature that I did like was the bottom sole of the club was facing up toward you and resting in the slots. Having two different sets, this feature made it very quick and easy for both of us to find our own clubs and the right club we wanted. I don’t recommend having head covers on your clubs, we had them on until the first hole and just found they got in the way and were a bit of a pain. The ball compartment was nice and held the golf balls just fine. We also each grabbed an extra sleeve of our golf balls and had them underneath, along with extra sweaters, snacks, and diaper bag. I just carried my tees, ball maker, and divot tool in my pocket out of habit, but my wife used the tee holder and would often find more tees to replace the ones she broke. The cup holder worked well, it slides into a cut out on the side and was pretty secured during the round. Fair warning, Stanley water bottles are a bit to big and heavy for it. So, if your wife is a nurse and has a Stanley (I mean come on, of course they will have a Stanley), then they should carry them. My travel coffee mug held in there just fine. They have several holes cut out on either side, so you can place any of their attachments on the desired height. The company also offers phone and wallet holders, smaller can holders, and even a youth club holder. I would like to also see a spot to attach a towel and carabiner as a standard option. I was able to tie my towel around the handle and it worked, just not the best.

Pushing the stroller was just fine, we decided to stay in the grass and off the cart paths as they were in rough shape. If you are getting ready to buy a stroller and want to take it out on the course, I will recommend finding a stroller that has bigger or “all terrain” wheels will make pushing the stroller so much easier. I do think the sound of the clubs rattling did help put the baby to sleep a few times. They didn’t quite have that same sound like you would get with a carry bag walking the course, but it was close. After the round, I won’t recommend trying to take the attachment off with the clubs still in the lots, I made that mistake so now you don’t have to. Take the clubs out then take the attachment off the stroller.

I have only used it on this same short course a few more times, all by myself. Each time it has held up great and given me zero issues. I haven’t taken it out on a full-length course yet, but I am sure it will work just fine. When comparing it to push carts I have used in the past, it performed just as well. Plus, it had the extra benefit of the cutest caddie in the world, although she needs work on her green reading skills. I have also taken it to the driving range down the street from my house and still it worked perfectly. An extra benefit that I realized after using it a few times was how much I was saving on walking rates as compared to riding, yes I did ride in a cart at a short course from time to time.

I can’t recommend this product high enough. It has helped me get a few more round of golf in when I didn’t think it was possible. It also allowed me to combine a sport I love to play and daddy-daughter time which I am enjoying more and more. If you are a golfer with young kids, this is a must have item. Get out and get some more exercise, spending quality time with your kids, and enjoy the game of golf.