[Hennybogan]

Can't believe that this thread has been dormant for so long. A true treasure trove of knowledge pertaining to playing the game as opposed to swinging the club.

Hoping Bennyhogan and Overkill (is that you nickname on tour?) still looks over us poor hackers, I will chime in with a few questions of my own.

1) How do you know that the chemistry with a player is gone?

2) If you are the first to detect it, will you seek employment elsewhere? (taking one for the team kind of approach)

3) Is crowd control more difficult at certain venues, or is it more depending on your status on the leaderboard?

4) If you have looped at a links course, how does it differ from a normal tourney?

5) Have you looped outside the US? How was that?

Kumabjorn,

1) Player struggling. Caddie and/or player loses faith in the other. You can't help him if he does not trust you (after the break-in period when you both make some allowance). It is a lot like dating....you know the old story...no matter how good looking she is, somebody is tired of her....

2) Complicated question. You might just talk to the player. Sometimes just airing it out helps. If it really is over then your just wasting your time (both). Different times of the year are more difficult to make a change (find a player).

3) Crowd control becomes more difficult as the beverages are consumed. I tend to be very direct and have had patrons removed (it is my job to control it as much as possible).

4) Links golf is fun to caddie. Any time the ball is bouncing and rolling, management difficulty compounds. You have to be prepared for the wind direction changes because a course like St. Andrews plays completely differently on different winds. Strategy is more complex and fun. The player must take on more of the actual shot because it is more intuitive than analytical (How do you caddie an 8 iron from 120 yards that rolls half the way?)

5) Carnoustie, St. Andrews, Lytham, Valderama (2), Metropolitan (Aus), few in Mexico, Canada. All good. St Andrews is awesome.

HB