Former Glade golf pro Kip Henley's recent success as a caddie on the PGA tour brought to mind another fine caddie with Glade ties.
Jeff "Squeaky'' Medlen, whose mother still resides in the Glade, became well-known by caddying for a number of players, notably Nick Price, who won the PGA and British Open, among other tournaments. Also, when Nick's wife was expecting, Jeff caddied for relatively unknown John Daly, and together they won the PGA Tourney at Crooked Stick, IN in 1991.
Jeff earned his nickname via his distinctive voice. He carried this label from childhood, according to his mother. The bond between Jeff and Nick was well known and, later on, when "Squeak" was stricken with leukemia, the relationship strengthened. Jeff would often sit with Nick's kids, preferring that to more social activities.
"Squeaky" spent the last few years of his life fighting his illness and, in spite of his mother's donations, once via a bone marrow transplant and later a stem cell procedure, Jeff died at the age of 44 and his funeral was in his beloved outdoors in Canal Winchester, Ohio. His father, Bill, worked at Druid Hills and he passed away four years later.
The change in golf "winnings" both for caddie and players is obvious when it was 1988 before the leading money winner on the tour won over $1 million. Nowadays this amount is often realized in winning one tourney. Jeff's mother recalled Jeff calling, after caddying for John Mahaffey in 1984, being pleased that he made $80 on the job.
As everyone here knows, Henley, following his winning "Big Break 2," and as a former local pro and Tennessee Open Champion, found great success as Brian Gay's caddie, and the bond they share is obvious. Kip's brother, Brent, caddies for Woody Austin, one of the tour's most colorful players. Although they deal with players of different personalities, both have had well-deserved success.
Caddying is not all glory and TV exposure. The work starts early in the week so family life can be limited. Judging from the number of changes in caddies, job security can be a possible problem. You must know the game and love the game, not to mention handling stressful situations by both caddie and player.
