The Irish have always been well represented in the European caddie-shack. This year there are more of us than ever. Twelve of us caddie regularly on tour: four working for Irish players, two for Scots, two for Italians, two for English, one for a Frenchman and myself for a Kiwi. Traditionally it has been Irish caddies with Irish players, English with English and so on. This has changed due to the over-provision of Irish caddies and the surplus of Continental players. So in our own contribution to globalisation, a balance has been reached, with many of us working for foreign players.
We have converged on the fairways of Europe: some of us with an incurable wanderlust, a desire to travel; all of us with a sense of adventure and no fear of the unknown. The tour that I drifted into in the mid-1980s was much different to today's. Then there were gut-wrenching trips across the Irish Sea and never-ending overland trips through Europe. Now, in comparison, we travel in style. Most of us fly to every tour destination, and some of us use the tour travel agents to arrange trips.
Released from the dingy environs of an isolated bag room we now generally relax in the comfort of clubhouses. From the hitched rides to the golf course of past, we are now welcome passengers on the official buses that bring players from airports and hotels to the course. Often we are included when players reserve their courtesy cars. We no longer have to worry about ill-serviced public bus routes.
The more recent caddies to join the tour must have imagined that we were always treated as humans. This was certainly not the case 10 years ago. So when someone whinges about having to wait half an hour for the next courtesy bus, those of us who have been around for a little longer remind them that the public bus leaves twice a day and it's a mile and a half walk to the bus stop. Experienced Northern Irish caddie David McNeilly has a long list of famous names on his curriculum vitae. He worked for Nick Faldo, then for Nick Price in the United States. He returned to Europe where he hooked up with Mark McNulty for a few years before joining up this year with Padraig Harrington. David reckons that his present work situation was Mo Mowlam's idea. Working for Padraig is his contribution to improved all-Ireland relations. Dave came up with an innovative caddying tip a few years back. While the player was warming up on the range before play, the caddie should be going through his own pre-round routine. Make sure the balls are marked, grips are cleaned, there are only 14 clubs in the bag and you have your spare divot in your pocket. The stored divot was to ensure that when the first divot was cut on the course the caddie wouldn't have to go chasing after it. The smart cad has a replacement in his pocket. He would then scoop up the fresh divot and store it for the next iron-induced fissure. A good idea, Dave, but it never caught on, it must have been all that fertilised soil that accumulated in the caddies' pockets!
Owen Craig, also from the North, decided he had had enough of the fruit and vegetable section of his local supermarket and headed off to Agadir last year to look for a bag at the Moroccan Open. Tough competition with the local caddies at £10 a round. It took Owen a few more weeks of persistence before he linked up with Thomas Levet and has been with him ever since. If you were to trace the careers of Darren Clarke and JP Fitzgerald since JP beat Darren in the semi-final of the Irish Close over a decade ago, you would observe diverging paths. Darren has reached the heights as a professional golfer; JP has channeled his golfing knowledge to the other side of the bag. This is his second year caddying for Paul McGinley on tour.
John O'Reilly, with over 25 years of tour caddying behind him, can be considered as a pioneer amongst us relative newcomers. A veteran of the European fairways, he is responsible for beating a path for the rest of us toters through the undergrowth of early tour travelling. His first year was with Peter Townsend in 1973, and he is still going strong - this year he is working for John McHenry.
Ray Latchford from Clontarf has been caddying for well over a decade and has worked mainly for Irish players. His present employer is Des Smyth. Darren Reynolds from Bray is in his third year now and has devoted most of his time to Italy's Massimo Florioli. There must be some connection between the Byrne name and caddying on tour: there are six of us caddying.
Gerry Byrne contacted me earlier in the year and said that he was thinking of taking a break from the social welfare - he was working in the Letterkenny social welfare office. My only advice was to bring plenty of cash and be prepared to sit out at least a few events. After his debut in Madeira, he has worked every week since then, for Gary Emerson from England.
There are three Byrne brothers from Bray on tour. Miles can be seen most mornings at the course clutching a photocopy of the Daily Telegraph's cryptic crossword, which may be solved by midday if the programme of his boss, Peter Baker, allows.
Dermot Byrne has recently come out to work for Silvio Grappasonni. Brian works for Dean Robertson from Scotland and had a win with him in May at the Italian Open. Then there is myself, working for Greg Turner from New Zealand.
But the Cinderella Story of Irish caddying history involves Paddy Byrne, originally from Donegal. As he fried in the north African desert a Scot who was turning into something of a journeyman asked him to caddie for him in the Dubai Desert Classic. He went on to Qatar with him the next week and won in style. Paddy has been on tour ever since and just over a week ago his employer, Paul Lawrie, won the British Open championship.
