When you’ve been caddying for nearly five decades, the job leaves you with stories to tell and experience to draw from.

Steve Williams had one of his own when he appeared on Dam Harvey’s podcast in March 2025, where he shared a story about nearly losing a caddie’s bible during a round.

"I did drop a yardage book one morning. It was in Florida, and it was a very hot morning. Fortunately, no one had been in the toilet.”

It happened in Miami, Florida, during the 1999 Doral Open, when Williams was caddying for Raymond Floyd and stepped into a portable toilet, only to drop his yardage book into the blue sanitary water. 

Williams recalled an incident from one morning in Florida, when he dropped his yardage book during play. He said he quickly fished it out of the toilet and then tried drying the pages by opening them one by one while walking in the morning sun.

Steve Williams also described the time and effort it once took to make a yardage book

“A yardage book is a memo with all the measurements on the green; it’s a caddie’s bible.” Steve Williams said during the podcast.

A yardage book is a pocket guide golfers use to navigate a course, showing hole layouts, key distances, and notes that help with club selection and shot planning.

Williams explained that a yardage book works like a memo, laying out a detailed diagram of each hole with exact measurements from the tee to key landmarks and onto the green. 

He said that when he first started caddying, yardage books were handwritten, which took hours and required meticulous work. 

As an example, he recalled visiting St. Andrews in 1980 and spending around 14 hours building a yardage book from memory. 

He added that today, caddies can simply buy these books, and tools like lasers and green-reading devices have changed how information is gathered.

In the 1970s and 1980s, caddies often drew yardage books by hand and paced off distances from landmarks like trees and bunkers. Today, books are built using GPS data, surveying tools, and drones for tighter measurements.

Older versions mainly listed distances to the front, middle, and back of greens, while modern “green books” include slope details and break guides.

Written by

Aditi Singh

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu