Duncan
I do not use Caddies, yes I believe that they have a place in the history of the game, originally to carry clubs for the rich, now they are meant to be a walking version of Google on a golf course.
The odd times I have taken a Caddie, and that adds up to less than five times in my life, mostly when I played with my father who has been dead these past 30 years.
As for Caddies, I am not against them but I feel they should remain for the purpose of only carrying ones clubs and should remain silent, not forgetting that like the golfer they WALK the course.
I understand why many use Caddies. Certainly if on a golfing holidays time is not with the player so playing with a Member or a Caddie allows the visitor some fast induction into the course he will not see again for many a year after the next day’s round. Nevertheless I am indeed against the transfer of information from an outside sources, be it electronic or by word of mouth, because IMHO it detracts from the pleasure that the golfer can obtain by discovering the wonders of the course for & by himself.
It’s like using Sat Nav in the car. Its takes from the awareness of the driver or the awareness that is needed to drive while viewing the surroundings. Knowledge and experience is learnt and accumulated by the individual actually working matters out for him/herself. The way the human brain picks up information not realised at the time is a wonder to behold. Alas if information is passed to us without that need to have our brain cells firing on all cylinders we miss, sometimes the obvious because we are allowing others (gadgets or individuals) to take away the very key to learning and understanding. Sitting on a cart on its defined track missing out on the GCA because your line of vision is no long focused on the course; utilising the little grey cell to plot the next shot, not just a simple range finder moment but the ability for the human eye and brain to absorb all including defining distance in just one or two looks, not forgetting that the brain pick up far more than just the distance reading which is the sole reason source of information generated by an electronic gadget; ditto information from a third party be it a Caddie or another player, that information is third hand so therefore of little help to one’s brain compared to having an open uncluttered mind searching for what it instinctively knows it needs to face the challenge of the game.
Its the level of involvement that defines pleasure, surrender some by utilising aids and you do yourself a disservice while at the same time weakens the overall enjoyment of what is a great experience and game.
As for the 19th Century Masters, they understood the real beauty of the game, that underlying enjoyment not yet contaminated by the lazy attitudes of our modern society. We have taken a great game and weaken it nearly beyond recognition because the vast majority are not committed to it in the first place. It has to be watered down to their level of activity and if golfers question this they are hung out to dry because in our modern society it is acceptable to cheat, well that is if millions of others do the same. A wrong no matter how many others agree is still a wrong, many instinctively know that but are too weak to fight, fearing being excluded from the group.
Spend a day on TOC, utilise a Caddy, learn from him, but miss out on the first time experience, that super magical learning curve. Using a Caddie will explain much which as a golfer I want to learn for myself, that is the point of playing golf, me, my senses against the land, Nature and the designer, a game of walking while thinking, alas it is becoming a game for automatons (mechanical legs i.e. carts; eyes i.e. electronic gadgets; and brains i.e. verbal caddies) encouraged by our governing bodies.
Hope I have given you the answer you seek
Melvyn
PS You do the Victorians a great disservice by believing them to be as weak as many today - remembers it was a massive trek to get to golf courses outside ones area, train if lucky, the pony and trap or walk. How many would follow golf today if they had to undertake that to watch a golf match, yet thousands of Scotsmen did just that, real commitment. Something lacking in today's society??