How much difference would a caddie make?

How much effect would a caddy have?

  • Make me worse

    Votes: 2 5.0%
  • No effect

    Votes: 9 22.5%
  • Lose 0-5 shots

    Votes: 23 57.5%
  • Lose 6-10 shots

    Votes: 5 12.5%
  • Lose more than 10 shots

    Votes: 1 2.5%

  • Total voters
    40
Well I am caddying for one of our club's better players in a county pairs matchplay comp tomorrow so I'll let you k ow how it goes!

Turn up; Keep up; Shut up! is the standard 'rule'.

Unless you have done it for him before, I'd suggest you simply carry the bag and let him do his own thing for a while. Work out/ask whether ye wants you to read the putts or do it himself. Do the read anyway so you can confirm instantly if/that his is correct. Better, imo, that the player is confident than to change his line by an inch!

And the same message goes for irons into greens. If he mulls about selection and/or shot, make sure that once he has decided, he is confident that "that's the club/shot".

And if he smashes a Driver too far and into the junk, simply remember Edinburgh Jimmy's classic to Paul McGinley who was left holding the errant Driver--- "I foo-in tol yer hit the foo-in 3-Wood yer foo-in foo-wit!"! :rofl:

Oh. Enjoy yourself!
 
Edinburgh Jimmy - :rofl: that's hilarious!

And yes, I don't see myself offering a constant stream of advice - more the bag carrying/club cleaning approach I think!
 
Had a caddy at St Andrews and it was invaluable. Plotting a safe passage without one would have been impossible. I don't think it would make a big difference on my own course but depending on the level of caddy I think up to 5 shots on a course they were familiar with, particularly the greens isn't too optimistic
 
Personally, a tour caddy on a decent course, probably between 0-5 shots better off, a mate on the bag at mine- none. However it could depend on your handicap, I've caddied for high and scratch guys and the way they see the game is completely different. First time I caddied for a high capper, I said to him before we went out , this is your game mate, il keep my mouth shut and let you do your thing unless you ask me otherwise, he asked me to read a putt for him on the 8th, but I really just want to give him the confidence so I asked him what he saw, he said a 2 foot break or something and I'm looking at it and thinking Jesus mate there no a 2 foot break in the whole green. So for him I could probably save him a good few shots
 
Well I spent most of the morning foursomes just watching, cleaning the chosen club and lining up/confirming the line on the occasional putt. Not much value add from me but I got a lot out of it in terms of seeing where the top guys save shots. And surprise surprise, it's from 100 yards in and on the green. They kept it simple, no dramas and just made pars where needed and the occasional birdie when the opportunity arose.

In the singles after lunch, I had a better idea of my players yardages and thought processes so was able to call some shots. Highlight for me was own the par 3 13th: in the morning he'd hit a 6 iron and just made the front edge of the green, leaving an uphill putt of 20/25 feet and fancied the same club in the afternoon round as he didn't want to go through the back into an awkward bunker. However I'd noticed that the wind was stronger and more against us on this hole compared with earlier so I insisted that a 5 was the club and explained why. He was convinced, hit a glorious shot over the pin to 4 feet and holed the putt to level the match. Massive momentum shift and we then went on to win the next 3 holes for a 3&2 victory!

So yes, I really do think a caddy can make a big difference and can help a player shoot lower scores.
 
I can't see a caddy making any difference to me, he wouldn't swing my clubs and I rarely take on a shot I cannot make and my mistakes are from bad shots rather than bad decisions mostly.
 
I can't see a caddy making any difference to me, he wouldn't swing my clubs and I rarely take on a shot I cannot make and my mistakes are from bad shots rather than bad decisions mostly.

Would have made on heck of a difference for me yesterday over the hills of Tyrells Wood. Somone to carry my clubs and tell me where to hit the ball off the tee would have been bliss...
 
My ball rarely goes where I intend it to go, so it's unlikely to go where someone tells me to put it. As a relatively inexperienced high handicapper I think it would make my game worse by being conscious of someone watching my every move.
 
My ball rarely goes where I intend it to go, so it's unlikely to go where someone tells me to put it. As a relatively inexperienced high handicapper I think it would make my game worse by being conscious of someone watching my every move.

Ahh, see I'm the opposite of this! If someone is watching, like the pro, I find I hit the ball much better! I relax and just hit it, as I assume they will point any issues out, rather than trying to overthink it in my head!
 
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