Sangay Choden wakes up early to do her regular physical exercise. Her job demands that. She is one of the 18 female caddies selected to take up the job. They took up the responsibility for the first time during the last tournament.
Sangay is a class XII drop-out and she says it was difficult for her to find a job. Now that she is able to earn and support her parents she is happy with the job.
Even her parents are happy. “She won’t be staying idle anymore,” says her mother, Tshewang Dema.
Like Sangay, most of the selected female caddies have never been to a golf course before. However, they seems to be doing well according to the Manager of the Royal Thimphu Golf Club, Rinzin Bidha.
“I am impressed,” she says, adding that they are more generous towards golfers. “They are trying their best to learn the rule.”
“The girls did very well. We need caddies and girls need job. So it’s perfect fit,” says another official, Palden Tshering.
The new caddies were selected by the Royal Thimphu Golf Club from the lists submitted by the labour ministry.
“I got a call and they were asking whether girls can come. I said we don’t discriminate between girls and boys,” said Tshering Wangchuk, a committee member of the Royal Thimphu Golf Club
Their service will be regularised based on their performance and interests.
Meanwhile, Sangay is looking forward to the next tournament. She is now confident that she would be able to do better than the male caddies.
