In this new GolfWRX feature, called the “Caddie Corner,” we’ll be firing off questions to a different caddie every week on the PGA Tour.

Caddies, or “loopers,” as some call them, are the too-often-overlooked people who actually have a huge impact on players every week on the PGA Tour. They’re tasked with many objectives – everything from carrying the bag, raking bunkers and getting yardages, to playing psychologist on the golf course as their player competes for millions.

If you’re curious to learn more about the caddies, as well as their stories, lifestyle and insights, then welcome to the “Caddie Corner.”

In previous editions, we’ve talked to Shannon “Shan” Wallis (caddie for Jonas Blixt), Gerald “G.W.” Cable (caddie for Kevin Chappell) and Derrell Aton (caddie for D.A. Points).

This week, we peppered Reynolds Robinson (caddie for Joseph Bramlett) with a bunch of questions. Hopefully you enjoy this week’s Caddie Corner as much as we did!

First one is really easy. What’s your name, who do you caddie for, and who have you caddied for throughout the years?  

My name is Reynolds Robinson, and I currently caddie for Joseph Bramlett. First bag on tour was Marco Dawson back in 2008 and since then I’ve caddied for multiple guys: Skip Kendall, Paul Stankowski, Steve LeBrun, Parker McLachlin, Brett Stegmaier, Notah Begay, Will Claxton… I’m trying to remember them all…there’s going to be some that I leave out. I caddied a tournament for Ryan Blaum, but there’s a bunch more man. I can’t remember them all right now.

How did you end up being a caddie on the PGA Tour and what’s your career progression been?

I’ll try to make it as quick as possible, but, before this I was a corporate accountant, so I did financial operational audits for Price Waterhouse Coopers and Honeywell, and I hated it. So, I got an opportunity to caddie for a guy in a Monday qualifier and I knew I wanted to caddie after I did that. I moved the family from Philly to Florida and started caddying at the Grand Lakes. My first professional bag was at the Final Stage of Q-School at Orange County National back in 2007. Miguel Carballo took me and we missed Tour by 1, but he asked me to go out on the Nationwide Tour with him. And from there, it was just a matter of networking with players and getting out here.

Just working your way up.

That’s it, man.

What’s the best restaurant where you go during a PGA Tour season where you’re excited to get to that event just to go to the restaurant?

It’s the Waste Management actually. I go to Snooze, an A.M. Eatery. It’s a breakfast spot all over the Phoenix area. Snooze has great breakfast, and I’ve also found it now at the Houston Open, it’s in La Jolla, at Torrey Pines. So wherever I can find Snooze, I eat breakfast there.

What’s your go-to snack on the course?

Whatever is on the tee. But normally like granola bars or some type of orange or apple, something like that. I try to be healthy.

What’s your favorite sport aside from golf, and what are some of your favorite teams and favorite players?

Basketball is my favorite sport outside of golf. Honestly, I haven’t watched it a ton in the last decade or so. I have two kids, 20 and 18. But my favorite team, once upon a time, was the 76ers. I had season tickets during the A.I. (Allen Iverson) era, so I got to go the finals when they played the Lakers, and I got to experience all that good stuff. If I watch now, I just want to see a good game. I don’t care who wins.

Love it. What’s on your music playlist right now?

Everything. Everything from gospel to Tainted Love by Soft Cell. I like Lil Wayne a lot, so I’ll listen to a lot of Lil Wayne. And Roddy Ricch is probably one of my favorites right now. But it could be anything for me.

Roddy’s great, a hot new up-and-comer. What’s been the most important lesson you’ve learned along the way about caddying, or golf in general?

The first thing that comes to mind is to always speak your mind with your player. The biggest regrets I’ve had caddying are not the things that I’ve said, they’re the things I’ve failed to say.

That’s deep. What’s your take on the slow play issue in golf if you think that there is one?

Sometimes I think there is a slow play issue. I think, from what I’ve seen, is that college kids are becoming a lot more deliberate and they’re being taught to take their time by coaches to go through their routines and even in situations where they might need to pick it up, they’re sticking to a certain routine and they’re going through it regardless of the circumstances.

What caddie is the most fun to be with on tour, whether it’s on the course or off the course?

Wow. Kip Henley. That’s an easy answer.

What’s the hardest course to walk on the tour?

It was Montreux, in my opinion. I’ve not yet been to Kapalua, although I hear Kapalua is the hardest one the walk. I’d like ot learn that one day, but Montreux for me in Reno was the hardest because of the thin air and the elevation and some of the holes were uphill all the way from the tee to the green so it was hard to breath and catch your breath on a lot of holes.

Caddies are known for having the best stories. Without incriminating yourself too much, what’s the funniest story you have about caddie life?

You gotta gimmie a second for this one. It might not be really that funny, but I don’t know (laughs). Nothing jumps out at me that might be funny for somebody reading. That’s a tough one on the spot…OK, I got one.

When I was caddying for Steve LeBrun, it was kind of funny, but not. I was caddying for him for 3 years, and we had a tournament once where he was striping the ball. He was hitting the ball inside of 12 feet all day long but he was making nothing. Like, it was one of those frustrating rounds where we could have been 8 or 9 under, but we were even par. We got to a hole and he was in between 6 and 7 iron, and we were talking, and he was like, “What do you like?”

I was starting to explain, and he was like, “Ah, it doesn’t matter. If I don’t hit it to a foot it won’t matter.”

So he just pulls a club and hits it. Then 3 holes later he calms down and asks me again what club I like. I was like, “Well, whichever one you can hit to a foot.”

He said, “I knew that was gonna come back to bite me.”

In terms of player-caddie banter, that’s one of my favorite stories.

That’s pretty strong right there. What’s your biggest “Uh oh, I messed up” moment of your career?

Ohh. Um, for me that’s a hard one because I don’t think in terms of “I messed up,” I think in terms of “I need to get that better for next time.” If that means anything.

Positivity…

Positivity. But I think the one – it was Steve LeBrun again – I was like “Sorry, dude.”

I was walking and talking with the caddies in the other group and players got to the ball, I walked and went to the sprinkler head and walked back to the ball, and instead of adding I subtracted. And so, we had the number and he hits this club and we were like, “Man, that is all over the flag…nope, that’s not all over the flag, that’s 20 yards long.”

OK, and I just turned and look at him and I’m like, “****, sorry man. I actually just subtracted that instead of added it.”

He was like, “Whatever dude. I’ve been with you for 3 years and you’ve never done that. So let’s go get it up and down.”

I’m surprised that doesn’t happen more often, honestly. If your player is a bit nervous going into a first tee shot or on the 72nd hole of a tournament, what’s something you might say to him to calm him down?

I say it before the round. Like with Joseph when we were trying to get his card in 2019. I told him we were going to go with the three P’s. Every shot was going to have a purpose, we were going to be patient, and that we were going to be persistent. So if we start getting to a point where he was tight, I would just recite one of those. “Alright, what’s our purpose here? Or OK, be patient.”

So I’ll usually do that before the round, just something so that he knows it beforehand so when I start saying it, he already knows what I’m trying to do. There’s no quirky things during the round, like I’ll say it before. This is what we want to do, so if we get into a tight situation, let’s remember the three P’s.

What’s your favorite tour stop to caddie at, whether it’s the perks or the clubhouse, or something like that?

My favorite course to caddie at is Pebble Beach. And Torrey is a really close second. They’re both right there. I love water and water views. Both of those places are just heaven on earth as far as I’m concerned. And plus, the coastal feel when you go to eat, or just when you go to hang out. Off the course is as much fun as on the course.

Yeah, it’s a great vibe out there. Last question. Based on working so closely with tour players, what advice would you have for amateur golfers trying to improve their games?

Play within your means. Don’t try to hit the hero shot, just focus more on course management than you do on spectacular shots. If I had the swing to go with the knowledge I had now, I’d be a hell of a player. I just don’t have the swing these guys do. The one thing I learn from these guys is that even though they have the shots, they’ve learned how to manage their way around the golf course when it’s not looking good. They won’t take the hero shot. They’ll make the smart play. So for amateurs, play within yourself and don’t make the hero play, just manage the course and you’ll probably save a lot of strokes over the course of a round.