There are many people fortunate enough to work in the golf industry who got their start as a caddie and were subsequently indoctrinated into the Rules of Golf. I personally received my start as a caddie (“pro jock”) at Glenmoor Country Club at the age of 15. It was a great summer job for a kid to have – wake up in the morning, watch the sun rise on the golf course and get paid money to spend four hours visiting with some great people and some interesting characters. But you have to be sharp, and know your responsibilities when it comes to the Rules.
There is an entire Rule (6-1) discussing the player’s responsibility for he and his caddie to both know the Rules (ignorance is not a good argument in this game), and that the player is responsible for his caddie’s actions/violations as well as his own.
I will never forget the first real mistake I made as a caddie – I was on the bag of one of the better men’s club players during a Saturday morning round when I decided to “tidy up” a bunker. The only problem was his ball was in the same bunker. Oops! Little did I know I was violating the Rules on his behalf and he would subsequently suffer the two-stroke penalty. What a horrible feeling. There have been a couple of recent Rules infractions involving caddies that I have witnessed in person and on TV that took me back to that Saturday morning at Glenmoor.
The first was at a recent US Amateur Sectional qualifier at Colorado Golf Club. While assisting players with spotting their tee shots on a relatively short par four I noticed a player in the subsequent group was in the greenside bunker with his caddie standing nearby. Before I could say anything the caddie committed the same violation I once did; he raked the bunker before his player made a stroke at the ball. In my case and the case that occurred at the recent US Amateur Qualifier, there was a violation of Rule 13-4 which covers prohibited actions when your ball lies in a hazard. This Rules states that when your ball lies in a hazard there are a number of things you are not allowed to do including;
–Test the condition of a hazard or any similar hazard
–Touch the ground in the hazard or water in a water hazard with his hand or club
–And, touch or move a loose impediment which is lying in or touching the same hazard.
The act of raking is considered testing the condition of the hazard and the player incurs a two-stroke penalty in Stroke Play or loss of hole in Match Play. There is a note at the end of this Rule which does allow for a player or his caddie to rake the bunker after he has made a stroke at the ball if he still lies in the bunker, provided that the raking or smoothing of the area cannot assist the player in subsequent play of the hole. For more on this review all of the decisions under Rule 13-4.
Another recent incident which brought to the forefront the fact that you can be penalized for your caddie’s actions involved Corey Pavin at this year’s PGA Championship. On the 6th hole Pavin faced a difficult shot from a greenside bunker and ended up flying the green. As his ball rolled towards the water hazard his caddie removed a rake that was in the balls path allowing the ball to roll into the hazard. In this situation not only did Pavin incur the penalty stroke for his ball in the water hazard (Rule 26) he also incurred a two-stroke penalty under Rule 24-1which states that “”¦while a ball is in motion an obstruction that might influence of the movement of the ball, other than attended flagstick or equipment of the players, must not be removed.” Because the rake is an obstruction by definition and is neither an attended flagstick nor the player’s equipment, Pavin was guilty of the infraction through his caddie’s actions and received the additional two-stroke penalty. On a side note, in a later group Tim Herron had a very similar situation but in his case his caddie left the rake alone which caused the ball stop short of the water hazard, saving Herron from the penalty stroke he was sure to incur.
Of course you cannot mention caddie rule violations without bringing up the most famous incident involving a caddie “not doing his job” and costing his player – Ian Woosnam at the 2001 British Open. Woosnam was in the lead after the first hole of Sunday’s final round–that is until he reached the second tee. It was at that time his caddie whispered to him “you are going to go ballastic”. When Woosnam asked why he quickly realized that he still had two drivers in his bag bringing his total count to 15 clubs. The Rules of Golf only allow 14 clubs and the player incurs a two-stroke penalty at each hole he carried more than 14 with a limit of four total penalty strokes. In this situation the opening hole for Woosnam was a par-3 so his caddie did not look at the driver until the second hole. It was then he noticed that Woosnam had both his usual driver and one he had been testing on the range. Although Woosnam (and others) blamed the caddie for this unfortunate event, it is still the player’s responsibility to count his clubs and he should have given his bag a once-over prior to teeing off and avoided the two-stroke penalty.
Caddies are an important part of the game of golf – a true link to the past and an integral part of the game today. If you have ever had the opportunity to play with a caddie you know what I am talking about, and if you have not you need to. Anytime you take a caddie remember to enjoy the company and the experience and make sure that both you and your caddie know the Rules!
