Paul Stevens “the singing caddie”: Golf entertainer extraordinaire

IN his record 35 years on tour golf caddie Paul Stevens worked with many of the game’s greats.

There was a two year period with Greg Norman, as well as various stints with the likes of Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Sergio Garcia, Seve Ballesteros, Ben Crenshaw, Nick Faldo, Kel Nagle and Sam Snead.

His very last tour appearance was with a skinny 16 year old Northen Irishman named Rory McIlroy. At the time Stevens felt the young golfer would go a long way in the game.

In between there were many highlights, such as the time he was  caddying for Englishman Peter Butler at the 1973 Ryder Cup at Muirfield in a pairing that included opponent Jack Nicklaus.

At the par three 16th Butler wanted to play a 4 iron but Stevens strongly disagreed, telling his player exactly why he should hit a 3 iron. Butler conceded.

“Bingo,” Stevens says now. “First hole in one in Ryder Cup history.”

“The best thing is, Jack Nicklaus turned around and said: ‘Great caddying Paul.”

At that last appearance with Rory on tour, Stevens also realised it was time to agree with his body that it was the perfect moment to retire as a professional caddie.

Fortunately, as well as a successful day job Stevens had always dabbled as a singer and entertainer.

As a professional singer he was the lead vocals in several bands in the sixties, recorded songs at famous studios like Abbey Road for Columbia Records, and appeared on many television shows.

Since retiring from the tour Stevens, who is now living permanently in Australia, has been carving out a very successful niche as an after dinner speaker and cabaret artist at golf clubs.

He has lots of funny stories from all those years on tour with the golfing legends and would be perfect for any club or organisation with a big golf function coming up.

“As well as the after dinner speaking I am still available for my cabaret shows in golf clubs where I do the full evening comprising two spots of songs, comedy, golf stories and finishing off with a good dance spot,” Stevens told us this week.

We’ve also included below the very entertaining video of Steven’s recent appearance on the Fox Sports Golf Show.

Stevens can be contacted at thesingingcaddie@aol.com; on contact  numbers 02 9939 0023 and 0417776102

Also check out his website http://www.paulstevensentertains.co.uk/

Paul Stevens on Fox Sports Golf Show

[Also See: Veteran tour caddie Paul Stevens reckons having a friend or family member on the bag may not always be the best idea for leading pro golfers]