It’s not a level playing field anymore for caddie tents. Not after what LevelwearGolf has done at the RBC Canadian Open this week at Hamilton G&CC.

Just in front of a large tent that houses caddie registration and a host of tables for meals and hanging during that eternal wait that caddies do, there stands a handsomely decked-out outdoor activity area. Having taken around 80 man-hours to piece together, the Leavelwear Caddy Lounge is equipped with everything from physio and massage therapy tables to a foosball table, ping pong, darts and sitting areas with outdoor TVs to keep an eye on the tournament and other sporting events. Hell, there’s even a hair dresser there for three days during the event.

“And on the Friday night before the concert we’re going to do a surf ‘n turf dinner for them,” notes Vitalis Gomes, president and CEO of Oregon-based IrishSky Consulting, whose partners include Levelwear.

Best known in Canada as Nike Golf’s longtime marketing boss years back, Gomes conceived of a special caddie area last year at Glen Abbey, but plans fell. “So we saved it until this year and decided to really blow it out.

“It began as a shipping containers concept,” Gomes notes. “But then we conceived this idea of building the ultimate backyard for caddies. These guys are instrumental to the Tour players’ success. But they don’t get enough respect at many Tour stops. We’re also giving them merchandise—they all get a LevelwearGolf polo, a mid-layer and a cap. This enhances our partnership with Golf Canada. We’re the official apparel provider for Golf Canada, so this was a natural extra activation. We also have a T-shirt toss and are handing out paper helmets at The Rink hole. We think it helps to elevate the tournament. We had the PGA Tour though here too, and they were impressed.”

“Tournaments have stepped it up over the years, but nothing like this,” says one caddie walking past.

“Everyone’s stoked,” adds Neil Jorgensen, carrying for Canada’s Albin Choi this week, as he shows off his swag, which also includes a pair of shoes from FootJoy for each caddie. For Jorgensen, who spends almost all his time of the Web.com Tour, this is Christmas. “This is the first time all year I’ve seen the word ‘caddie’ without the word ‘volunteer’ right next to it, because we usually share a tent on that tour. And the food set-up’s really good here too. It’s all a huge help for us.”

Aussie David Sullivan is looping for two-time PGA Tour winner George McNeill this week. “This is pretty unique—the outdoor area with clothing, and even a barber is pretty special.”

Has Don Donatello ever seen anything like this? “Not for the caddies. I don’t know if I’ve even seen a set-up like this for the players!” says the 21-year Tour vet, who began his career working with seven-time winner Chris DiMarco and is with Jim Herman for the RBC Canadian Open. “It’s pretty awesome to treat us with this much respect. Once the players realize we’ve got this, they’re going to want to come over and hang out.”

Gomes and Levelwear are taking the Lounge on the road to Detroit and the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic later this month.