Like aspen, elm and oak trees, caddie programs never have bloomed in the desert. For the most part, the game in the East Valley always has been golf cart-driven.

Oh, sure, there have been some private courses in Scottsdale such as Estancia, Mirabel and Whisper Rock that have offered the service. And depending on whether you view The Boulders as private or public (technically, it’s a resort course with a private membership), yes, The Boulders tried it, too.

But no strictly daily-fees public course in Arizona has ever ventured into the caddie amenity full-time until now. That will happen on Nov. 1, when the Tournament Players Club of Scottsdale institutes a full-fledged, bag-toting program.

That’s right, “the home of the FBR Open’’ won’t just have caddies for the week of the tournament. It will be a seasonal perk from November through May, complete with “traditional services’’ like carrying clubs, shot-selection advice, raking bunkers, spotting wayward shots, reading greens, tending pins, cleaning golf balls and getting yardage, “in addition to educating golfers on the history and heritage of golf and the PGA Tour.’’

Forecaddies also will provide the above services with the exception of carrying your bag. Both forecaddies and full caddies should speed up play and make for a more memorable experience, say those behind the program.

According to Bill Grove, the general manager at the TPC of Scottsdale: “We are very excited about launching our new caddie program, which will help elevate the enjoyment of the game for golfers, as well as help them experience what it may feel like to be a Tour player competing on the Stadium Course during the FBR Open.’’

My first question: How much will these caddies cost? Or how much will they cost beyond the $248 peak-season green fee?

The answer, provided by the TPC’s marketing guru, Russ Norris, is $100 for a full caddie or a “complimentary’’ forecaddie being an “optional’’ $20 per player, “or whatever the golfer thinks the forecaddie deserves.’’

“The TPC Sawgrass started the program last year, and it really took off,’’ explained Norris, referring to the PGA Tour’s home course in Ponte Vedra, Fla. “It’s more of a PGA Tour-type experience, and we’ll be the only high-end, daily-fees course in the Valley to offer such an experience.’’

The TPC of Scottsdale’s new caddie program will be managed by Caddie Master out of Pinehurst, N.C. That’s the same company that runs caddie programs at premier golf clubs like the TPC Sawgrass, Pebble Beach and Augusta National. That means that the caddies at the TPC of Scottsdale will wear white bibs complete with your very own name on their backs. (Seriously!)

“The PGA Tour’s Golf Course Properties (division) is trying to elevate golfers’ experiences at its facilities, with the TPC of Scottsdale and the TPC at the Canyons (in Las Vegas) being the latest to do so,’’ Norris said. “Personally, I think it’s going to be awesome.’’

For most out-of-town visitors, I would agree. Getting the local golfers to go along with it, however, might be more of a reach. Like I said, when you’re used to the cart it’s hard to put it before the “horse.’’

Then again, never doubt the PGA Tour and its TPC network of 25 courses.

If anything, they have been the benchmark for success in the world of high-end public golf.

If the truth be known, the new caddie program at the TPC of Scottsdale is probably just part of a new directive from the PGA Tour, which is zeroing in on the booming vacation-packaging industry. According to my sources, and even though neither Grove nor Norris said so, the Tour likes Scottsdale a lot.

In fact, a “secret memo’’ I recently reviewed, entitled “PGA Tour Experiences,’’ is targeting numerous Scottsdale courses and hotels as part of its push to “leverage and integrate existing TPCs with PGA Tour marketing assets.’’ And why not, as golf-specific travel now exceeds $26 billion a year.

Making the TPC of Scottsdale bigger and better is a no-brainer, and certainly the new caddie program is part of that. So is the $10 million renovation of the TPC of Scottsdale’s Desert Course, which is earmarked for 2007.

Yes, my friends, the TPC of Scottsdale is a-changin’, and like Dylan once crooned: “You better start walkin’, or you’ll sink like a stone.’’ OK, so I altered the lyrics slightly, but you get the point.