Ever since he was a 9-year-old caddie for his father, Jerry, at Woodmar Country Club in Hammond, Jeff King's aspirations were "to live on the golf course."
King, 42, has fulfilled his boyhood dream and has spent the last two decades as a professional caddie for the LPGA and PGA Tours, walking some of the most awe-inspiring courses and guiding some of the world's greatest competitors on some of the grandest of stages.
"It's very surreal," King said. "You grow up watching these amazing athletes on television and idolizing them, and one day you're hanging out with them and sharing your knowledge with them about a game you love."
King, who now resides near Dallas, is in Northwest Indiana for the BMW Championship, an event he compares to the NCAA's Sweet 16, to caddie for pro golfer James Hahn. Hahn hopes to advance to the world's top-30 players for the culminating Coca-Cola Tour Championship in Atlanta next weekend. It's in Atlanta where a champion will be crowned as this year's King of the Course.
"James is playing really well and we realize we have to finish in about the top seven or so to advance, but he's focused and ready to do this," King said.
King, a solid golfer in his own right, experienced much success as an amateur but turned his focus to being a caddie as he realized there were great advantages others had over him.
"I loved playing the game but I just realized that you have to play all the time to get better and I just didn't have some of the resources to take my game to the next level," King said. "There were guys who had the luxury of playing all year round. Growing up in the Midwest, that wasn't an option for me."
King has always appreciated the game as his career has taken him all over the world. He said he's been to Australia, Europe and to Asia more than 20 times, to name a few.
"I have been on some beautiful courses," King said. "I've been lucky to admire and be part of a game that I have loved since I was a kid with others who share the same passion."
King, 42, has fulfilled his boyhood dream and has spent the last two decades as a professional caddie for the LPGA and PGA Tours, walking some of the most awe-inspiring courses and guiding some of the world's greatest competitors on some of the grandest of stages.
"It's very surreal," King said. "You grow up watching these amazing athletes on television and idolizing them, and one day you're hanging out with them and sharing your knowledge with them about a game you love."
King, who now resides near Dallas, is in Northwest Indiana for the BMW Championship, an event he compares to the NCAA's Sweet 16, to caddie for pro golfer James Hahn. Hahn hopes to advance to the world's top-30 players for the culminating Coca-Cola Tour Championship in Atlanta next weekend. It's in Atlanta where a champion will be crowned as this year's King of the Course.
"James is playing really well and we realize we have to finish in about the top seven or so to advance, but he's focused and ready to do this," King said.
King, a solid golfer in his own right, experienced much success as an amateur but turned his focus to being a caddie as he realized there were great advantages others had over him.
"I loved playing the game but I just realized that you have to play all the time to get better and I just didn't have some of the resources to take my game to the next level," King said. "There were guys who had the luxury of playing all year round. Growing up in the Midwest, that wasn't an option for me."
King has always appreciated the game as his career has taken him all over the world. He said he's been to Australia, Europe and to Asia more than 20 times, to name a few.
"I have been on some beautiful courses," King said. "I've been lucky to admire and be part of a game that I have loved since I was a kid with others who share the same passion."
