By Stan Cole
 
Three decades can pass in a hurry.
 
On the same green where his future wife first questioned his read on a putt, 30-some years later Duane Bock is helping his son Alex prepare for a North Carolina Amateur qualifier at Keith Hills.  He points to a spot near the green on the third hole of the black course and shares one of his best memories.
 
Introduced to the game by his father, following his two older brothers into college golf, meeting his spouse, embarking on his dream career.  The game has led Bock all over world, by way of Buies Creek.
 
Over the last year, the 1992 Campbell graduate has traveled the world as caddie for Sepp Straka, the world’s 27th-ranked professional golfer.  The pairing is the latest for Bock, who has served as a caddie at golf’s highest level for the better part of two decades following a 12-year professional playing career.  The past year has included a win at the John Deere Classic, runner-up finish at The (British) Open in 2023, a Ryder Cup Championship for Team Europe in Rome, plus stops in all of the “majors” – Augusta, the PGA and most recently, the U.S. Open at Pinehurst. No. 2.
 
That’s quite an itinerary for someone who was not even recruited out of high school in a small village on the Eastern end of Long Island, N.Y.
 
How it started
Like his older brothers David and Darrell, Bock’s father gave him his start in the game.  The sons of a landscape business owner, none of the Bock boys were members of the private clubs that dominate the golf map in suburban New York. 
 
Duane first picked up a golf club at the age of four but didn’t own his first golf shoes until 10 years later.  He purchased his first “real” clubs at the age of 16, using the money he made while working as a caddie at the Maidstone Club.
 
By that time, he had been playing tournament golf for more than six years, starting first as a nine-year-old from the ladies’ tees, then playing up an age group with the 11- and 12-year-olds.
 
Not long after he made his East Hampton high school team as an eighth-grader, Bock knew that he wanted to follow his brothers into college golf, and ultimately make a go of it as a professional. 
 
But he wasn’t just a golfer.  Bock embraced the full high school experience.
 
“My dad wanted us to learn the game from the model of being an athlete first,” said Bock in June during an interview leading up to the U.S. Open.  “I played all the sports – baseball, basketball, soccer, everything except football, to be honest.  I was on the football field – but in the marching band.  I played the trumpet.”
 
When he wasn’t dribbling a basketball, singing in the chorus, or marching in a Christmas or Memorial Day parade, Bock was working on his golf game.
 
The professionals at the Maidstone Club – Dave Alvarez and Glen Farnsworth – began giving Bock lessons and teaching him how to practice, but also inviting him to accompany them to play some of the great courses in the area like Shinnecock Hills, Deepdale and Winged Foot.
 
“I grew up caddying at the Maidstone Club, working in the pro shop, picking up the range.  I was always around the game of golf,” said Bock.  “Maidstone also allowed the employees to play and practice after five o’clock and that’s where I fell in love with the game.”
 
When he wanted to play before the evening, Bock occasionally grabbed a few clubs, hopped on his bike and “ditched it in the woods” then looked for an open hole where no one could see him and played a few holes.
 
High school success and college opportunities
Playing in Met section tournaments prepared Bock for high school competition, where he became one of the best prep golfers in the state.  He won his county and conference tournaments, earned all-state honors and represented New York in the prep nationals as a senior.
 
Fueled by a competitive nature and with the knowledge that more opportunities would be available the farther South he looked, Bock began his search for a college program.  East Carolina, Florida Southern and Methodist provided walk-on chances, but no hope of competing during his freshman year.
 
“I really wanted to play,” said Bock.  “When I went to (visit) Methodist, my brother Darrell said, ‘since you’re here, why don’t you call up Coach Danny Roberts at Campbell just 30 minutes up the road?’  I remember sitting down with my parents and Coach Roberts said, ‘well, I don’t have any seniors, I have four juniors, I don’t have any sophomores and the rest are freshmen we are recruiting. If you’re good enough to qualify, you’ll play.’  He didn’t have any scholarship money, but the opportunity to play was there if I’m good enough.”
 
That was all Bock needed to hear.
 
He played in seven of the team’s 12 events as a freshman and finished fourth in the 1988 Big South Championship.  One year later, Bock again placed fourth when the Camels won their first Big South team title – this time at home at Keith Hills Golf Club. 
 
Two more top-10s in league championships and four individual crowns followed for the former walk-on who finished his collegiate career with a school-record 44 starts, a mark that stood for more than a quarter century.  Bock’s 17 career top-10 finishes was a record that stood for more than a decade and still ranks fifth in school Division I history.
 
Bock still remains the only Campbell men’s golfer to finish in the top-10 at his conference tournament four times.  Only current DP World Tour member Jesper Svensson, plus Ray Kraivixien, Vaita Guillaume and Braxton Wynns have joined Bock as a four-time all-conference honoree in Campbell’s four decades of Division I league men’s golf membership.
 
“I loved the small school setting,” said Bock.  “I came from a small high school. I came from a small village where we all knew each other.  The family setting was dear to my heart, and that was something I fell in love with at Campbell.  Family is huge in my life and I knew Campbell would provide that family setting for me.”
 
Meeting a champion
Over one summer break during his college career, Bock had the opportunity to meet eventual two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen.  That relationship proved to be a pivotal one as the former Maidstone caddy transitioned from outstanding collegiate golfer to budding professional.
 
“(Janzen) just got his tour card and was friends with one of the assistants at Maidstone, Robert Waters,” recalled Bock.  “I was able to play a lot of golf and ask him a lot of questions about how to practice, what to practice and about the things I would need to do to get better to make it out on tour.  I drove the ball straight, but that wasn’t how I started beating people, it was from chipping and putting and from Lee Janzen telling me those things.”
 
A fashion “statement” leads to a most important encounter
Bock admits that an aversion to doing extra laundry may have led to meeting his future wife, Geraldine.  While visiting the snack bar at Keith Hills one day during his senior season, Bock’s fashion sense “impressed” a Campbell co-ed.

“Down in the valleys at Keith Hills, it could get pretty wet at the time and I made a habit of tucking my pant legs down into my socks, so it kind of looked like I hand knickers on or plus fours,” Bock recalled.  “I had saddle golf shoes on, and my pants tucked into my socks and was waiting in line behind (two young ladies).  “(Geraldine) didn’t know I was looking, kind of elbowed her friend April and pointed down at my shoes.  So, my New York “yankee” kind of came out in me and I asked her, ‘you got a problem?’ and she said, ‘no, your shoes remind me of the shoes we used to wear when we were cheerleading.’   We struck up a friendship from there.”

 

Geraldine, who would later caddy for Duane at times during his time on the Canadian Tour, was a newcomer to the game when she followed her future husband around Keith Hills during a tournament in his senior year.  On the third green (now the Black course), she watched Bock miss a putt and – according to her future husband – told one of his friends, “you’d think after four years, he’d know how that putt breaks.”

 

Little did Geraldine know at the time that pin locations changed from round to round and week to week on location. 

“She thought for four years I was putting to the same hole and same location,” recalled Bock with a chuckle.  “But now she’s gets it.  We have two kids who have played high school golf, so she’s watched a lot of golf in her career.  Some of my best golf tournaments on the Canadian Tour were with her caddying for me.”

 

A fortunate break?

Not only did Bock and the Camels practice at Keith Hills and other courses in the area, they also occasionally traveled an hour west to Pinehurst to practice.  An accident while visiting Seattle in the winter of 1991-92 might have just been the start of what helped Bock win one of the nation’s premier amateur championships the following summer.

 

While finishing his studies and serving as the team’s assistant coach under John Crooks in ’91-92, Bock traveled to Seattle for teammate Ken Wooten’s wedding.

 

Held at Pinehurst No. 2 since 1901, the North & South Amateur championship field has included multitudes of golfers who have gone on to distinguished careers.  A plaque bearing Bock’s name appears on the wall of the clubhouse alongside such golfing greats as Francis Ouimet (1920), Jack Nicklaus (1959), Curtis Strange (1975, 1976), Hal Sutton (1980), Corey Pavin (1981) and Davis Love III (1984).

 

“We played some golf out there (in Seattle), I slipped and dislocated my kneecap,” recalled Bock.  “I had surgery to clean up my meniscus, so I all could do that spring was chip and putt.  That practice of chipping and putting leading to the North & South that year was what helped me win that golf tournament.  I was not going to out-ball strike anybody. I was always a short hitter. My iron game wasn’t as good as anybody else’s, but I knew I could compete with my wedges and my chipping and putting because I put that extra time in.  You slip and fall and you’re in surgery, then you’re in a soft cast and you think it’s the end of the world, but at the end of the day, it was a blessing in disguise because of the time I had chipping and putting.”

 

As the world’s best players know, the Donald Ross design features undulating turtleback greens that require pinpoint accuracy on approach shots.  Bock’s attention to his short game resulted not only in his most notable victory, but also in a top-10 amateur ranking in the nation to end the year.

 

The next step

Following his North & South victory, Bock began his playing career with backing from members of the Maidstone Club.  He started his career playing in the South African tour, then competed on the Canadian tour and in other events for a dozen years.

 

“My first experience was down in South Africa,” recalled Bock.  “I was standing on the driving range and at that time Nick Price was No. 1 in the world, and Ernie Els and Retief Goosen had just won U.S. Opens, and here I am on the driving range with these guys and playing in the same tournament as these guys, and that’s when I got my first taste of it.”

 

As a rookie on the Canadian tour, Bock finished 11th on the money list and had a runner-up showing in Edmonton.  Among his fellow competitors were 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir, 3-time winner on the PGA tour Chris DeMarco and Ken Duke, who won the 2013 Travelers.

 

Time for a change

While Bock was able to earn enough winnings to finance his professional career for more than a decade, Geraldine was back home in Morganton, N.C., working full-time.  Shortly after the Bock’s welcomed their daughter Albany into the family in 2002, Duane realized that the grind of not only traveling and competing for 30 weeks out of the year, but practicing and working out while at home was just too much.

 

“I’ll never forget I was on the driving range up and Mimosa Hills Country Club and I just didn’t want to be there,” said Bock.  “I was just coming off the road for 4 weeks, and I’m home, but still not home. That day, I’d had enough.  (Geraldine) had sacrificed so much with me being gone and taking care of everything at home, paying all the bills, keeping the house in order.”

 

While Bock had always thought of coaching after his playing days ended, he came to realize that he could help “coach” his fellow competitors.  He also did not want to uproot his family from their home in Morganton.

 

“I decided to get in my car and drive to Lafayette, La., where the Nationwide tour was playing, sit in the parking lot and find a (caddy) job,” said Bock.  “My first job on that tour was with Jim Gallagher, Jr., just a one-week deal.  While I was there, I saw a lot of friends I competed with up in Canada, and one was Ken Duke, and he gave me my first opportunity to work with him.”

 

Bock and Duke partnered for three seasons before Duane had the opportunity to work with rising star Kevin Kisner.  Hired by Kisner for the 2009 Q-School, their collaboration lasted for 14 years, including four PGA tour wins, a runner-up at the British Open, a World Golf match play title and two runner-up finishes in the event.

 

“He’s been good to us and took care of me and my family for 14 years,” said Bock.

 

The partnership lasted until the summer of 2023 when Kisner decided to take a six-week break from the tour in order to spend more time with his family.  In the meantime, Kisner encouraged Bock to work for another golfer if he so desired.

 

Shortly thereafter, Bock was back in Pinehurst with his family to follow his son Alex, who was competing in the North & South Junior Amateur Championship.  He took a phone call from Sepp Straka, like Kisner a former University of Georgia standout, who needed someone to caddy for him in the British Open in two weeks at Royal Liverpool.

 

Less than 24 hours later, Bock was on a plane to Illinois, where he looped for Straka in the John Deere Classic.  Incredibly, in their first event, Straka won the tournament.  Then they headed to England and Straka finished in a tie for second at The Open.

 

It was Kisner who let Bock know that Straka was going to offer to make the job permanent and encouraged him to accept it.

 

The partnership took Bock and Geraldine to Italy last fall where the couple was welcomed into Team Europe for the Ryder Cup.  In addition to heading back to Scotland for the 2024 British Open, Bock was in Europe this summer serving as caddy for Straka, who represented his native Austria in the Paris Olympic games.

 

The caddy life

Bock and Straka are on the road for three-straight weeks before taking a week break from competition.  During that time, Bock returns home to Morganton.  As Albany and Alex grew up, they followed their father into the game.  Albany will be a junior this fall at Belmont Abbey, where she is studying nursing and is a member of the golf team.  Alex is heading to UNC Charlotte this fall on a golf scholarship.  Unlike their father, Albany and Alex grew up with the benefit of a club membership and never had to sneak on to Mimosa Hills to play.  They also had club pros looking out for them while dad was away.

 

“I’m on the road competing 28 to 30 weeks a year, but there’s a solid 22 weeks when I’m home.  That time is spent with the family,” said Bock, who introduced the game to his children, much like it was presented to him, as a way to have fun.

 

His typical week on tour includes three full days of preparation for a 72-hole event that begins on Thursday.

 

“Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday is a grind; it’s a lot of work individually without your player learning the golf course,” said Bock.  “I spend a lot of Mondays walking the golf course by myself. You know what your player’s tendencies are, you know exactly how far he hits his drive, so you’re trying to find the right line off the tee for 3-wood, driver. Doing a lot of work around the greens. You know the areas where they’re going to put the pins.  It’s all about preparing for the next shot, the best opportunity for getting up and done for pars.”

 

For a tour caddy, the responsibilities don’t end with carrying the bag, cleaning the clubs, providing yardage, making club suggestions and dealing with weather conditions.

 

“Caddying is a very easy job when things are going well,” Bock admitted.  “When things aren’t going well, it’s very difficult.  The mental side is the hard part and the relationship you have with your player is extremely important. You’ve got to know when to listen and know when to tell your player to snap out of it and move on. Successful teams you see that have been together (a long time) they are really good at that.”

 

While the benefits of life as a full-time tour caddy include world travel, competition at the highest level and the financial rewards that follow success (a caddy is customarily paid 10 percent of his player’s winnings), it does have its hardships, according to the veteran looper.

 

“The toughest part is time away from home,” said Bock.  “What people don’t realize… you think it’s glamorous, traveling the world, and in beautiful spots. I’m blessed to be able to do what I do.  But you miss a lot at home and make a lot of sacrifices to do it,” said Bock.  “Everybody needs a strong support system and I have that in my wife and my kids. Everybody around me understands what we’re doing. That’s the hardest part.

 

Still, there’s nothing like the feeling of competition and reaping the rewards of hard work.

 

“The adrenaline you get when you’re coming down the stretch and trying to win a golf tournament, when you cross that finish line and you do it, it’s the highest of highs,” said Bock.  “I’m blessed and fortunate enough to be able to provide for my family. We’re in a situation now where I can provide. The first 15 years of my career, my wife was home providing for me.  Having the lifestyle we now have is very gratifying.”

 

Gratitude

Throughout the course of his conversations Bock constantly refers to all the people that have played important roles in his life’s journey.  From his parents, David and Elizabeth to his brothers, his teaching pros, coaches and his teammates, to his family and support system and employers through the years, he repeatedly praises.

 

He also recognizes the part that Campbell University played in his path to success.

 

“My professors worked with me; they knew I was trying,” said Bock.  “Coach John Crooks, Coach Wendell Carr, my teammates. I’m who I am today not only as a player, as a caddy, as a husband, as a father, it all comes from the experiences, from what I learned at Campbell. I don’t think I would have gotten that from any other university. It was just a perfect fit for me. God put me there on that campus for a reason. I am who I am because of Campbell.”

 

Q&A with Duane Bock

Hometown

East Hampton, N.Y.

Resides

Morganton, N.C.

Wife

Geraldine

Children

Albany & Alex

Alma Mater

Campbell ’92 (Physical Education)

Occupation

PGA TOUR Caddy (with Sepp Straka, formerly Kevin Kisner and Ken Duke)

Playing Career

12 years professional golf; 1992 North & South Amateur Champion; 4-time top-10 finisher in Big South Conference tournament; 1989 Big South team championship; All-State (East Hampton HS); represented New York in high school nationals.

Ideal 4-some

If my dad was still alive, it would be my dad and my two brothers. One of the most special moments after I won the North & South, we went back a couple years later, and I was able to play No. 2 with my dad and my two brothers, that’s something I’ll never forget. Nowadays, I just love playing with my kids.  It’s all about family for me.  I want to be with my family.

Most difficult course I’ve played

Shinnecock Hills.

Favorite course

Pinehurst No. 2.  I’d love to be able to play it every day.

Favorite club

Putter.  It’s the great equalizer.

Best piece of golf advice I’ve ever heard

Practice your short game and putting. Two-thirds of your practice has to be chipping and putting.