One of the many ways mid-amateur golf is special is because for most of the players, golf is their passion and not their job. They have full-time jobs in fields such as banking, insurance and real estate, and play in golf tournaments whenever they can.
For Connor Doyal, golf is both his passion and his job. The 25-year-old is a full-time caddie at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island in South Carolina.
“I’m lucky enough that I can spend a lot of my time on my golf game,” Doyal said.
Despite not playing college golf, Doyal has had success in the early stages of his mid-amateur career. Last year he made it to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Mid-Amateur and won the Devil’s Elbow Invitational in the Dominican Republic. Doyal loves to compete, and he uses his experience as a caddie and his love of the game to do just that.
“I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder,” Doyal said. “Before I could play mid-am golf I had to show the boys who played collegiate golf that I’m better.”
While Doyal grew up playing basketball, soccer and baseball, he favored golf. He was on the driving range almost every day during summers.
“I would just have an excuse to run around, play golf all day and hang out with my friends,” Doyal said.
Doyal played competitive golf through high school and helped his team win a state championship during his junior year. However, he burned out during his senior year and decided not to play in college.
“I love golf,” Doyal said. “But I think I put so many expectations on myself because I always wanted to be the best. I hated losing.”
As he navigated difficulty with his own game, he started caddying. What started as a way to earn money became something he really enjoyed doing. Doyal loved meeting new people, both caddies and players.
“My favorite part is finding someone who is there to have fun,” Doyal said. “I love it when I have someone who really loves golf in their own right.”
He eventually chose to pursue an engineering degree at Auburn University, leaving him little time for golf or caddying. He would only play during school breaks and he stopped caddying after his freshman year.
“I sort of distanced myself from golf,” Doyal said.
Things changed when the COVID-19 pandemic struck during his junior year. With online classes, Doyal was able to play more golf. He also returned to competition, playing in the 2020 Alabama State Amateur where he shot 71-71-79-71 to finish T37. Doyal’s love of the game returned.
“That’s when I got the itch again,” Doyal said.
Doyal graduated in 2021 and moved to Atlanta to work as a consultant. But he wasn’t happy, and part of the reason was because he couldn’t play much golf. In 2023, he moved to Charleston, South Carolina, for a logistics job but also to play more golf. Just weeks after Doyal moved, he won the Charleston City Amateur. Nobody knew who he was before he shot a 64 in the first round.
“The tournament director came up to me the next day and told me, ‘Do you have any idea how many people have come up to me and asked who the hell is Connor Doyal? Seriously man, who are you?’”
Unhappy with his job, Doyal looked to some of his friends who were caddies at the Ocean Course. In addition to the surprisingly good pay, caddying would bring him closer to golf. He started full time in February 2024 and on his very first day one of his players made an albatross, the first one Doyal had ever seen.
“That was my moment where I thought, ‘Maybe I did make the right decision,’” Doyal said.
For Doyal, one caddie function is more important than all others.
“I’ve always thought of a caddie as someone who is a friend with you rather than an expert on golf,” Doyal said. “It helps to have someone who can judge the wind and read putts but whenever you get someone who can get you in the right headspace that will get you further.”
“I just have the magic about me where I just get in by the skin of my teeth and then I really start to make some noise.”
Connor Doyal
And it seems that being a caddie helps Doyal get into the right headspace for his own events. He tends to thrive under adversity. After qualifying for the 2024 U.S. Mid-Amateur in a 6-for-1 playoff by making a 20-foot putt, Doyal almost didn’t make it out of stroke play in the tournament proper. A 2-under-par back nine in the second round at Virginia’s Kinloch Golf Club placed Doyal right on the cut line and qualified him for a 14-man playoff for 12 spots.
“I just have the magic about me where I just get in by the skin of my teeth and then I really start to make some noise,” Doyal said.
And he did make noise. After surviving the playoff, he advanced to the quarterfinals after coming back from a two-hole deficit in his first two matches. He fell to eventual champion Evan Beck, but in that match he battled back from 3 down to even things before losing by one hole.
Doyal’s own caddies notice his perseverance on the course. At the 2025 Giles Invitational at Kinloch, Doyal’s caddie for the second and third rounds was Brian Spooner, a 62-year-old looper who also plays in senior-amateur events. Spooner watched as Doyal followed a 74 (+2) with a 67 (-5) to score a T6 finish.
“It’s such an easy walk,” Spooner said. “He’s well beyond his years for maturity. He hit a couple of errant shots but never let it get to him.”
Spooner believes Doyal has a long and successful amateur career ahead of him. However, Doyal says he isn’t setting goals like winning a USGA championship or making a Walker Cup team. He has one objective.
“My goal is to keep having fun with golf,” Doyal said. “To draw up a shot in your mind and to hit that exact shot, even if you’re playing badly that day, is extremely gratifying.”
E-MAIL EVERETT
Top: Connor Doyal made it to the quarterfinals in the 2024 U.S. Mid-Amateur.
LOGAN WHITTON, COURTESY USGA