Tips From The Turf
(A Golf Caddie's Perspective)

With the experience of witnessing many hundreds,
even thousands of golf rounds, caddies are a valuable, 
dependable, and many times, colorful source of
information regarding many different aspects of golf. 

Some useful areas of golf information they possess
include: tournament  play, golf swing improvement,
mental  approach and up-to-date info on  types of 
golf equipment  players are using. Most caddies are 
usually good, if not great, golfers as well. In fact, there
are a number professional golfers who started as caddies.



 In this installment,  we posed the following
question to the caddies:
"A"-Game Golf - " What are some of the major differences
between the golf games of touring professionals and the
average amateur player?" 

*Note:  Full names have been withheld. 
  G. (9-year private golf club caddy)-
"I would have to say the biggest difference I see is around
the greens. Tour guys get up and down around the greens
almost routinely." 

 T. (6-year private golf club caddy)-
"Putting. The average amateur usually is inconsistent on
distance control and on starting the golf ball on line." 

 S. (5-year private golf club caddy, former collegiate player)-
"The tour players truly understand the "one shot at a time"
concept. They focus when they need to and turn it off when
they don't. Amateurs are trying to focus the whole time and
just burn out."

M. (4-year mini-tour player, 5-year private golf club 
caddy)- "Tour players control the distance they hit their
irons extremely well therefore they find themselves
closer to the hole consistently, and as good as they
are on the greens, they will convert a fair percentage
those putts. The average guy will take 3 or 4 shots to
get up and down around the greens while the average
player  on tour will take 2 or 3, or 1 if he cans it." 

 J. (7-year resort golf course caddy)-
"Decision making. Tour pros will play the shot that they
can pull off most of the time while the average amateur
will try to  pull off some crazy golf shots. Average golfers
on average, cost themselves strokes because of bad course management and bad decision making."

"A"-Game Golf - "What is the most common mistake you see while looping for a typical mid-to-high handicap golfer?"

J. (15-year golf caddy)-
"I'd have to say overestimating the yardage they can
hit any given club in their bag. Take more club folks, please."

K. (12-year private-club caddy)-
"Blaming the caddy for bad reads on the greens. Most
players I've seen over the years don't start the ball
where they think they do, often not even close. Most
of the time it comes from total hacks who should be
questioning why they ever started to play golf instead
of my green reads." 

 S. (8-year golf caddy-Over 1,500 loops at private golf clubs)-
"Most of the tracks I've caddied at have either a large 
number of bunkers or a lot of water, or both. I've
noticed people focus more on where they don't want 
to hit the golf ball than they do on their actual target.
They should focus only on where they actually want
the golf ball to go and not on the water on the left." 

 T. (8-year caddy/semi-private golf course)-
"Same old song and dance for most of my loops. 
The average golfer ridiculously-high expectations
for their level of game. They blow their stack if they
don't pull off a shot most tour players can't play.
I've seen guys snap clubs over their knee, whip
clubs down the fairway, you name it. Hilarious." 

  T. (7-year golf caddy) -
"Golfersdifference."

J. (6-year caddy/ private golf club)-
"Not starting the golf ball on line when they're
putting. Most of the mid-to-high handicap golfers
I caddie for have no clue if they are lined up
correctly or any real idea as far as the speed
of the putt. They don't make their targets small
enough, they're just happy being a few feet away
from the hole. So I guess lack of confidence is one
big problem for them. Of course a lack of
confidence applies to the rest of their golf game, too."


We hope you didn't miss the funny golf quotes . 

Click if you somehow missed the funny golf jokes .

Click to visit the " Talkin' Golf " forum.  using golf
equipment not fit for them or their level of play.
Leave the blades alone people, I can barely hit
them and I'm a solid 3-handicap."

R. (5-year caddy/resort golf course)-
"I see people line up their feet improperly all
the time. It's not uncommon for a golfer I am
looping for to be lined up 40 yards right or
left of their target line. I've seen golfers line
up 30 yards left and miss it 50 yards right,
UGLY. That one thing alone can make a huge
difference."