Q&A with this month’s #PlattProfile, Jonathan Papp.
Papp speaks about his first time caddying at Trenton Country Club.
(This interview has been edited for clarity and length.)
Q: How old are you?
A: I am 22.
Q: What school are you currently attending?
A: Cabrini University.
Q: When do you graduate?
A: I will be getting my MBA mid May of 2023.
Q: What is your major?
A: I graduated with a marketing degree and my MBA will be in marketing.
Q: How did you decide on that major?
A: I like a little bit of everything and I think marketing has that whether it is advertising or social media or sponsorships. Not having one specific job or duty intrigued me.
Q: Do you participate in activities in school? Clubs?
A: I am on the golf and tennis team here and I am also an RA.
Q: Do you have any hobbies?
A: I like to play video games, go for a walk, stay outside, and obviously I play golf.
Q: What golf club do you caddie for?
A: Trenton Country Club.
Q: How long have you been caddying?
A: Five years.
Q: How did you start caddying?
A: I watched a lot of golf on TV, my dad knew the caddie master and my dad thought that it would be a good summer job.
Q: What is your favorite thing about caddying?
A: The connections that you can make. Since I play golf, I like the golf side of it but meeting new people and finding out more about them that they wouldn’t have shared anywhere else.
Q: How did you hear about J. Wood Platt?
A: Trenton Country Club has a sign where the caddies are, and it piqued my interest.
Q: What are your long-term goals? Think 5 to 10 years
A: My long-term goals in the next 5-10 years are to find my career path along with being financially stable enough to own my own house, be a member of a country club, and give back to the J Wood Platt as much as I can.
Q: What is something that happened to you while caddying that you will never forget?
A: Something that happened to me while caddying that I will never forget is my first ever loop where my group was a voucher group that had never played golf before and I had to help them get around a course that I was not familiar with. Their first nine holes took two and a half hours to play and they quit after that and still paid me in full.
Q: What advice would you give your younger self as a caddie or a new caddie just starting?
A: Advice that I would give to my younger self would be to be more confident and act as if I belong. I was nervous my first couple of years and was shy. I was not the best caddy that I could have been because of those nerves.
Q: How has J. Wood Platt changed your life?
A: The J Wood Platt has changed my life in a lot more ways than just the scholarship. In the short few months that I have been a J Wood Platt scholar, I have met Kevin Negandhi, found a mentor, and been a part of setting up events. I have learned and gained a lot of real-life experience and I am forever grateful for every opportunity that the J Wood Platt will give me.
J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship Trust
The Trust’s mission, which has remained constant since its inception in 1958, is to financially aid deserving caddies in their pursuit of higher education. The J. Wood Platt Caddie Scholarship Trust was created by GAP through the efforts of then President Walter A. Schmidt; Leo Fraser, President of the local section of Professional Golfers Association of America; and Albert Keeping, Golf Professional at Gulph Mills Golf Club. It was named in honor of Philadelphia’s premier golfer of the era, J. Wood Platt. Not only was Mr. Platt an accomplished player, but he was also the Trust’s co-founder and first contributor.
