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Get your goat: Oregon ranch trains goats to act as caddies on the golf course

February 8, 2018

A resort and ranch in Oregon has a new approach to golf’s long caddie tradition: swap out the humans in bibs. Swap in a beloved farm animal wearing a bag full of tees. The Retreat and Links at Silvies Valley Ranch in Silvies, Ore. promises “whimsy” to golfers who brave their new 7-hole challenge course, McVeigh’s Gauntlet, this summer, where they’ll be paired with a floppy-eared, hooved companion. The “professionally-trained” goat caddies were all born and raised on the ranch. Their unique packs are designed to hold tees, golf balls, drinks and clubs as they accompany golfers around the course. 

“Can you think of another course where its caddies were literally born, raised and fully educated on-property?” the ranch’s owner, Dr. Scott Campbell, asked in a press release on the four-legged loopers. “We will get you a caddie who really knows the course and won’t give you any bad advice – and they work for peanuts!”

The 7-hole course, designed by Dan Hixson, is set to open in July 2018.