As ususal, the entire spectrum of opinion represented on the caddie here.
Melvyn,
A caddie aiding a golfer IS being a good caddie. A good, experienced caddie will ask the player how much counsel they wish at the beginning of a round. The less experienced caddie should take care of the basic duties and limit what they offer to the scope of what they know and a less is more approach is best untill they are more seasoned.
Where you continue to amaze me is this constant complaining that working TOGETHER with a caddie to tack one's way around a course is somehow bad or cheapens the experience. Perhaps YOU feel that way, but I can tell you the thousands of rounds I've logged with players over 38 years...rarely left with that impression!
Most players NEED all the help they can get. Golf is a hard game they are trying to enjoy. ANYTHING healthy that adds to players enjoyment is a good thing. You seem to have some philosophical problem with anyone playing the game in a way other than you view it. Your family history in golf would be nothing like it is were it not for people who thought exactly opposite to you! Who would have taken your ancestors in the past if eveyone just took the course on themselves? Who would have taken a lesson from Old Tom if they should just figure it out for themselves? Hell, who needs a course architect, we'll just make our own course?
It's a sillly attitude and your not converting anybody to that mantra. If anything, you only lesson your reputation and possibility folks will respect other solid points and contributions you often make. I admire and applaud your praise and support for Askernish and your passionate zeal for the walking game, among other topics you highlight, but the continued slighting of caddie golf really negates so much of that positive feeling, ESPECIALLY since you OWE your standing in golf to caddie roots. It's heresy man, the way you speak about caddies!!!
V. Kemetz,
First, I wish to thank you for your many years of service supporting caddie golf!
While the percentages may vary, I agree with your evauluation of the caddie ranks in general. In my view, the inconsistency and poor caliber of some caddies is a major part of the problem if we want to sustain and foster caddie golf, Most folks only want something if it is good and is of value. A bag carrier, who adds little to the player's day, isn't worth much.
Now I understand that every one starts somewhere. No caddie ever was a superstar from day one. Given that it is properly supported by members, or management in the case of daily fee or resort situations, the structure, mentoring and dedication to the craft by those charged with running the caddie program IS THE KEY to it's success or struggles. If the program settles for marginal candidates, spotty training and lacks a team-based approach to grooming newer caddies...MEDIOCRITY is ASSURED! This leads to poor caddie experiences, which leads to fewer players wishing to take caddies, which leads to a program that dies!
Shivas,
NO CADDIE can work a double and beat his or her player to the ball EVERY time. When you share a caddie, work WITH the caddie. They AREN'T your servant. I strongly believe in a quick pace and promtness to get the player taken care of, but part of the "ART" of handling two players 'round a course is THE PLAYER understanding how to efficiently work with the caddie to ensure BOTH players are being taken care of.
To all,
While every player would want their own single caddie, in today's world, a caddie (adult) can't afford to carry just a single in most cases. They need to earn a living, however modest...and singles, unless they're getting crowned, don't make economic sense.
Despite the fact that the caddie ranks have provided the greatest, single source of golf's champions, teaching professionals, and differencemakers, the "reinvestment" in fostering caddie golf by the game, particularly the administrative bodies of golf, has been pathetic! Sadly, this reality is what today's caddie landscape looks like. The caddie dynamic is under tremendous pressure, as most in today's golf industry have no idea how to run a quality program and come up with excuses why they can't or won't have one.
Make no mistake, 95% of the golf courses today don't have the quality of architecture or financial ability to warrant trying to have one. That said, wherever financially viable, we need to support and foster caddie golf. Why you might ask?
Caddies, for centuries, have been the soul of the game. They still are and always will be. When caddie golf is dead...GOLF WILL BE DEAD! Think I'm wrong. How's the health of the game today? Not too good is it...neither is caddie golf. Coincidence, I think not. There is a certain passion for the game that those who find golf as caddies have. It's that way...worldwide! I can't explain it, but lets look at the trophy's of the Majors and then remove the names of every player who was a caddie or was taught or mentored by someone taught or touched by another person who caddied. PRETTY EMPTY SPACES would appear on those awards folks!
Let's go to the R&A and USGA and remove every artifiact from both that has a connection to caddie golf....some pretty barren space would remain there as well. Let's see what GPS, Sky Caddie, or Yamaha and Club Car have in the way of contributions to those places 50 years from now. How many clubs, lessons or rounds did those products pay for. How many buddies did they bring to the game. See, they aren't the enemy. It's the mentality that we must pay homage to profit centers FIRST...THAT mentality IS the enemy.
Need another example of the titanic impact of caddie golf...let's look at GCA! Our own Tom Doak has pointed fondly to his brief time looping at St. Andrew's as enlightening him on how all rank of player went around and contended with the challenges. Think these observations haven't served him well. Gil Hanse, like Tom a Dreer Award recipient at Cornell, also had a stint looping at the Old. Bill Coore caddied in his youth at Pinehurst, if I'm not mistaken. Ben Crenshaw was taught by Harvey Penick. who found the game as...you guessed it ...a caddie.
Those folks are doing as fine a collective body of work as is being done in GCA today. I believe every one of them would deeply convey how much respect and importance they have for all the tremendous contributions caddie golf has made to the game and in one way or another, impacted their own lives.
That is what we lose folks, when we turn our back, or find excuses... for not supporting caddie golf. There is no other sport that offers the opportunity to EARN AND LEARN like being a caddie. This is especiallytrue for youth and those of modest means. If we really reflect on how much caddie golf has given to the game...it's obvious...nothing else even comes close.
That is why, even if you've never taken one or haven't had the opportunity yet, at the very least you should respect the magnitude of caddie golf's rich contributions to the game!
Sincerely yours on the links,
Kris
