Should caddies just be bag carriers?

[Orikoru]

I find it interesting how few coaches the players have as caddies. Other individual sports like tennis/snooker etc would absolutely have there coach giving advice if they had the chance. Admittedly unlikely Terry Griffiths would be carting round a 20kg bag.

Seems like theres alot more development to come in the role...

But they do say never make swing changes on the course don't they??

 

[drdel]

Caddies make a difference which is why they should restricted or banned. We have electric trollies so no bag carry effort needed and yardage books provide 'local' insight.

A professional should need less help than the normal golfer not more!

 

[Orikoru]

Caddies make a difference which is why they should restricted or banned. We have electric trollies so no bag carry effort needed and yardage books provide 'local' insight.

A professional should need less help than the normal golfer not more!

I think this is a good point. Caddies are a rather outdated notion rooted in history in many ways. These aspects of what they provide are arguably superseded now by technology - i.e. GPS and rangefinders rather than yardage books.

 

[jim8flog]

It would be very difficult to rule on.

E.G What would happen if it came in and the player had relatively poor eyesight?

What about the overseas player who cannot read whatever language the card etc is written in?

 

[Backsticks]

It levels things up a bit for the pros, where they cannot get away helping each other as would be common in the lower amateur ranks.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

It levels things up a bit for the pros, where they cannot get away helping each other as would be common in the lower amateur ranks.

Do you mean giving advice to playing partners?

 

[Backache]

Rules of just about any sport are necessarily somewhat arbitrary and a lot of the rules are due to how the sport evolved. Caddies are a longstanding tradition in golf , I see no reason why they should be banned anymore than a tee on the teeing ground.

 

[Imurg]

Rules of just about any sport are necessarily somewhat arbitrary and a lot of the rules are due to how the sport evolved. Caddies are a longstanding tradition in golf , I see no reason why they should be banned anymore than a tee on the teeing ground.

OMG..don't start that one......

 

[Backsticks]

Do you mean giving advice to playing partners?

Yes. The pros cant do that, and Im sure it doesnt happen in elite golf either, and of course the rules are against it. But casual advice along the lines of 'you really overswung on that one', 'best to aim well left down this fairway when the wind is this way', 'you would be better off dropping back in line' etc, or even more so when a pp is going well, 'take your time on this one, dont rush it' or 'nothing silly down the last here and you are in with a chance', etc. would be common enough. People helping you along in a very slight well meaning way, even if its not the full on unrestrained help that a caddy can give.

 

[phillarrow]

It would be very difficult to rule on.

E.G What would happen if it came in and the player had relatively poor eyesight?

What about the overseas player who cannot read whatever language the card etc is written in?

1) Specsavers?! ?‍??
2) Google translate. It's really not hard to translate info on a scorecard and I'm fairly sure the PGA could manage to translate them.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Yes. The pros cant do that, and Im sure it doesnt happen in elite golf either, and of course the rules are against it. But casual advice along the lines of 'you really overswung on that one', 'best to aim well left down this fairway when the wind is this way', 'you would be better off dropping back in line' etc, or even more so when a pp is going well, 'take your time on this one, dont rush it' or 'nothing silly down the last here and you are in with a chance', etc. would be common enough. People helping you along in a very slight well meaning way, even if its not the full on unrestrained help that a caddy can give.

2 shot penalty?

Say those things to a decent player and they’ll tell you to F off

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Yes. The pros cant do that, and Im sure it doesnt happen in elite golf either, and of course the rules are against it. But casual advice along the lines of 'you really overswung on that one', 'best to aim well left down this fairway when the wind is this way', 'you would be better off dropping back in line' etc, or even more so when a pp is going well, 'take your time on this one, dont rush it' or 'nothing silly down the last here and you are in with a chance', etc. would be common enough. People helping you along in a very slight well meaning way, even if its not the full on unrestrained help that a caddy can give.

All examples of advice and not allowed under rule 10-2 https://www.randa.org/en/rog/2019/rules/the-rules-of-golf/rule-10#10-2

I wouldn't want anyone to do anything that you suggest and you'll get penalised each time

 

[Backache]

Yes. The pros cant do that, and Im sure it doesnt happen in elite golf either, and of course the rules are against it. But casual advice along the lines of 'you really overswung on that one', 'best to aim well left down this fairway when the wind is this way', 'you would be better off dropping back in line' etc, or even more so when a pp is going well, 'take your time on this one, dont rush it' or 'nothing silly down the last here and you are in with a chance', etc. would be common enough. People helping you along in a very slight well meaning way, even if its not the full on unrestrained help that a caddy can give.

Sounds more like gamesmanship in match play than anything I hear in a medal.

 

[sunshine]

2 shot penalty?

Say those things to a decent player and they’ll tell you to F off

Say those things to any player and if they don’t tell you to F right off they will be thinking it ?

 

[sunshine]

What kind of sport is it ok to employ a servant to carry your luggage around for you and perform menial tasks (like clean your clubs or measure distance). It’s not a good look in the modern world.

 

[Backache]

What kind of sport is it ok to employ a servant to carry your luggage around for you and perform menial tasks (like clean your clubs or measure distance). It’s not a good look in the modern world.

I don't think its that incomparable to other sports
In motor racing you have people to fill your car change your wheels etc. In cycling the best hope in each team essentially has a lot of other riders pandering to their every need.
In tennis you don't even have to pick up your own balls.

 

[Jason.H]

The only thing that i thought was not right was when a caddy last week was doing the aim point reading of the green and getting within a few feet of the hole. I know caddies take the flag ect but aim point is not the caddies job just putting extra footfall around the hole.

 

[AussieKB]

I find it interesting how few coaches the players have as caddies. Other individual sports like tennis/snooker etc would absolutely have there coach giving advice if they had the chance. Admittedly unlikely Terry Griffiths would be carting round a 20kg bag.

Seems like theres alot more development to come in the role...

Jason Day did a lot better when his coach was on the bag, but now days a coach has several pro's to look after and they make a ton of money, so no need for them to do extra work.

 

[sunshine]

I don't think its that incomparable to other sports
In motor racing you have people to fill your car change your wheels etc. In cycling the best hope in each team essentially has a lot of other riders pandering to their every need.
In tennis you don't even have to pick up your own balls.

Fair points.

I suppose the equivalent would be Xander Shauffele putting before Dustin Johnson to help give him a read on his putt, because they are both team taylormade

Although motor racing is really an engineering competition so it's a team game.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

What kind of sport is it ok to employ a servant to carry your luggage around for you and perform menial tasks (like clean your clubs or measure distance). It’s not a good look in the modern world.

They are part of a players "team" along with coaches, management, fitness etc. They are hardly poorly paid (unless you grab Kuchar's bag as a local bagman)