Caddies in Thailand

You will find in Asia generally that you cannot play golf without engaging the services of a caddy. Their purpose is multiple, first to protect the course from you which is important when there are so many novices, then to assist you in your game by doing all the heavy work which is especially useful in a tropical climate and describe the features of course to you warning of OB, hazards etc.

In most cases in Thailand the caddies are female and most likely have never played golf themselves. Still they have seen a lot of play and many are quite expert at reading greens and advising on club selection after seeing you play only a few holes. The caddy will keep your clubs clean, hover around you with an umbrella and give you a deal of unwarranted praise.

Caddy fees are around Baht 200/250. The caddy gets most of this from the club. It is essentially mandatory to also tip caddies with a range of tips being Baht 200/300. Most clubs have a large roster of caddies who are not paid any base salary and rely on fees and tips. Sometimes days elapse between engagements in the low season so it is not a lucrative profession.

Some courses differentiate between highly experienced caddies and the general run of village young women and ladies who do the job. Experienced caddies usually have a ranking, say A class and can often provide you with helpful hints about your game and so warrant a better tip.

As mentioned elsewhere in this series of notes on Thailand golfing, some clubs encourage their caddies to play and perhaps establish a career in golf as well, as being more capable in their day-to-day work with golfers. Sadly this is an exception rather than the rule.

This job is usually done under quite harsh rules so if you're caddy requests you to observe some local ruling please do so as they can lose their job easily even if they have acted on your specific request.

After a time you get very used to having a caddy so much so that when I return to Australia I keep trying to hand off the club I used to my playing partners rather than putting it back in my own bag!

Thanks to my kind golfing friend Hugh for this article