Is having a Caddy "Cheating"?

[Mark Bourgeois]

It's "cheating" but it's not cheating.

[MJohnson]

I certainly could have done with a caddy at Machrihanish Dunes. I hit a tee shot directly over a marker post only to find the ball in the right hand rough. Looking back to the tee, I could see that the marker was lined up for the white tee and not the yellow one I had used.

[Sean_A]

I certainly could have done with a caddy at Machrihanish Dunes. I hit a tee shot directly over a marker post only to find the ball in the right hand rough. Looking back to the tee, I could see that the marker was lined up for the white tee and not the yellow one I had used.

Here is a tip...nearly all marker posts in the UK are lined up for medal tees. 

Ciao

[V. Kmetz]

Apparently Alister MacKenzie thought golf should only be played with 6 clubs. If this number had become the standard would the number of caddies have declined drastically years ago..........and for that matter would the use of buggies and trolley's and the like be far less prevalent?
atb

I have a massive ledger with golf (and life), largely through the practice of caddying, so I'm glad history has turned the way it did; but boy do I think this would('ve) be(en) a great improvement for the game on both the everyday and elite level...which clubs would you chose?...would you eschew a putter... would you change out clubs for courses... This all would be fun. And the skill necessary to get the most out of the six clubs would mark players' games and yield another "feel" aspect of the game.

[Bill Shamleffer]

Apparently Alister MacKenzie thought golf should only be played with 6 clubs. If this number had become the standard would the number of caddies have declined drastically years ago..........and for that matter would the use of buggies and trolley's and the like be far less prevalent?
atb

I have a massive ledger with golf (and life), largely through the practice of caddying, so I'm glad history has turned the way it did; but boy do I think this would('ve) be(en) a great improvement for the game on both the everyday and elite level...which clubs would you chose?...would you eschew a putter... would you change out clubs for courses... This all would be fun. And the skill necessary to get the most out of the six clubs would mark players' games and yield another "feel" aspect of the game.

Wonderfully stated.  This former caddie fully agrees.

[Colin Macqueen]

Gentlemen,
I beg to differ! I think having a caddy amounts to cheating!


The golfer should always be prepared to shoulder the burden and "...accept upon his own broad back all the responsibilities..." that he/she has assumed when teeing off at the first hole. Leaning on a caddy for club selection, judging 2 foot putts, being dictated to as to how and where to hit one's golf ball strikes me as "lamentable"!


To me the only acceptable caddy is a wee lad or lassie who has escaped from the drudgery of the classroom ...... they will be cheap and almost certainly cheeky. To quote Sir Walter Simpson " ... the(y) are more scoldable and their criticism is less formidable.".


We golfers should, with zealotry, set sail alone with our limited skills, clubs at the ready and imagination rife, to conquer the field in front of us!


Apologies to VK and his ilk who have patiently, but alas vainly, attempted to steer me down the path of caddy glorification. The scars of caddying at Carnoustie and Panmure run too deep!


Cheers Colin

[Kalen Braley]

I think Caddies are perfectly acceptable in this context when compared to other sports.


Futbol, Football, Basketball, Baseball, Hockey etc,...the players all have access to some outside help/advice giving during the course of play.  The caddie provides same in similar fashion.


P.S.  Please no diatribes about how golf is different!! Every sport has commonalities like rules, scoring, field of play etc, having access to outside help is not a deal breaker.