CADDIE'S ROLE:It is a new beginning for aspiring young English professional Tom Lewis with this seasoned older bagman by his side

IT IS a new beginning for a couple of the stars from the Walker Cup in Aberdeen a few weeks back; Paul Cutler and Tom Lewis will tee it up as professionals in the Austrian Open outside Vienna this week.

If they play well they will get paid. Of course if they play badly they will get to go home early but empty-handed. They will be playing golf just like they did as amateurs, trying to get the ball in the hole as quickly as possible. Nothing really has changed, but realistically everything must be looked at in a different light.

I am going to play a part in one of these new professional’s quests as caddie to the 20-year-old Englishman Lewis. Another veteran bagman, my colleague Phil “Wobbly” Morby, will try to guide his new young boss Cutler towards full playing status for the European Tour next year.

It will be interesting to see how these young players find their way in the more cut-throat professional game.

The management companies have been courting the better prospective players since the beginning of the year and Paul, with his Irish connection, has opted for the Dublin-based Horizon Sports. My man Tom has stuck to familiar territory with IMG, based outside London.

Of course, choosing a management group is one of the biggest decisions these young novices have to make as they plot their entrance to the professional game. Who they decide to sign with will impact on their path towards a tour card. Naturally the management groups have developed relationships with caddies and will have been nurturing potential relationships with those of us armed with many years of tour experience.

It is important for a player to have a caddie they are comfortable with.

Wobbly and I have been around the golf scene since well before these kids were born. This should provide a lot of experience for Paul and Tom as they move on to the bigger stage.

The one aspect I am always conscious of with such an age gap is that we are more of a fatherly age than a contemporary.

One of the most important factors in a player/caddie partnership is having topics of conversation and some sort of connection.

So it will be a delicate process for us veteran cads to be on some sort of youthful wavelength but also step into the mentor and senior role even though the young men for whom we will be working are ultimately our bosses.

I met Tom in Dubai earlier this year when he joined my then boss Edoardo Molinari for a practice round. He had come from Australia and had lost in a play-off with the seasoned Australian Peter O’Malley in the New South Wales Open. With his amateur pedigree and his coach Pete Cowen’s connection with the Desert Classic, he had secured an invitation.

I had missed the cut with Edoardo and Tom made it. He had a mini-entourage with him, all trying to help and guide their very promising young talent through his first cut on the European Tour.

His caddie, a family friend, had felt somewhat inadequate in his temporary role and so they approached me to accompany Tom for the weekend. Ironically he performed better with his friend caddying in the opening rounds.

It was a refreshing experience for me to be involved with a young player who was excited about having an experienced old hand on the bag. Of course the danger is the novice will put too much faith in the bagman and neglect his duties as a player.

It was windy in Dubai and the Emirates course was drying out quickly over the weekend. I wanted to keep a minimalist role in Tom’s decision-making. He consulted me and I remember him clearly over-ruling me on a club selection on a par three with a tricky cross wind. He was dead right, ending up pin high. He made a deep impression on me not only with decisiveness like that but also with his attitude.

It would not have been unusual for a good-looking young buck who was riding high on the wave of a successful campaign in Australia to have been brash and arrogant. Tom was confident but respectful. He was attentive and inquisitive and almost bashful when I enquired about his recent feats. When he analysed his eye-catching performance at the British Open Championship during the summer he was inherently aware that although he did very well he didn’t win.

This is an indication of the desire of the son a golf professional from Welwyn Garden City, north of London. His father Bryan was backing out of his dalliance with the European Tour when I was dabbling with the idea of making a career out of caddying. He is driven by the realistic ambition to succeed. Finishing 13th in the British Open as an amateur is viewed as a good tutorial along the rocky road to a full-time education in the world of professional golf.

Tom is a talented and gracious young golfer and I am looking forward to imparting some of the knowledge I have gleaned from more time than I care to remember on tour in an effort to secure his playing rights for the European Tour next year.

It is a new beginning for two aspiring young professionals, Tom Lewis and Paul Cutler, with their seasoned older bagmen.