Bad Service And Useless Caddies!

[dogpoo]

Today we played Phuket country club( country course, tee times were booked yesterday, arrived at the club paid the green fee which was 2400 plus 300 caddie fee, all seems good, we go to the first tee, only 2 caddies and 2 sets of clubs, mate asks in Thai " where are caddies and clubs" answer "don't know" obviously in Thai, 30 mins still no caddies and still 2 sets of clubs missing, mate says "get our clubs, we carry" "can not do" I say "I can do" so off I go and get clubs, 45 mins in total caddies turn up, not happy but we are ready to tee off, caddies are totally useless, lagging behind, talking on phone and eating food, we have to get our own clubs, we have to do everything, 9th hole mate hits out of bunker and throws club up against his golf bag, caddie kicks it and mumbles something! Mate fuming and says caddies can <deleted> off, finish 9th hole where 2 caddies leave, Another 2 replace them, better but still useless, I am at a loss to understand these high price golf clubs where the service is poor, the courses are not up to standard considering how much the green fees are, not worth complaining as they would just laugh and mumble in Thai, fed up playing golf here with useless caddies and courses which are charging far to much considering the bad service, taking a break from golf, it's no fun playing here.

[Rsquared]

I hear you, and my pet hate is that it is compulsory to have a caddie.

I would be happy to pay the caddie fee, and then tell her to stay at the clubhouse and wait for someone else.

I can count on two fingers the number of caddies that I've had that I consider were an actual benefit to my game....reading putts, club selection and having respect for my clubs.

Unfortunately, golf is just considered a business for rich and stupid farangs over here (from a Thai's perspective).

Also I hate the fact that it is expected for us to "tip" the caddies after the game. They are paid from the caddie fees, and I have paid workers on my farm 200Baht for an 8 hour day, and they work hard and appreciate the 200 Baht.....whereas the caddies have it very easy, with the majority not having a clue what they are doing.

I'll stop now, otherwise I'll just keep on ranting.....but you get the picture.

Cheers.

[hanssimmer]

I know how you feel! You must play at Eastern Star Golf Course in Ban Chang/ Rayong! No management, no service, no information, extremely poor greens ( we actually call the "brownies"), a form for comments per e-mail in the clubhouse and the address does not exist, some of these so called golf courses are very poorly managed if at all. So I understand your frustration.

[kennalder]

I fully concur with dogpoo and Rsquared. Caddies are the biggest detriment to the enjoyment of expensive golf in Thailand. Last year I stopped playing for 8 full months partly as a protest for the escalating fees and the useless caddies. Eventually my love for the game overcame my displeasure. If I wasn't such an avid golfer I would just quit.

[dogpoo]

This is not the first bad experience at a very expensive golf course here on Phuket, played loch palm last week, 5000 bht in total to play, never paid that for golf in my life until now, never again! Breakfast before game, took ages to arrive, it arrived and was cold, small cup of tea, cold! Total price 160 bht for the cold breakfast, 100 bht for the small cold tea, again trouble getting a caddie, virtually all of the tees were on a slant, caddies were okay but not brilliant, course had a great lay out and was fun to play, the day was spoiled by the poor service!

There have been some great caddies and some great service, Black mountain was awesome, service was second to none, caddies were very good, green fee was cheaper than any course here on Phuket, the course was like Augusta!! My passion for the game has gone because of these things, a long break is called for away from the rip off golf courses here, tennis has no draw backs as I get to play for free, ranting over!!

Edited January 4, 2013 by dogpoo

[farangme]

Nothing worse to ruin a round than a glue sniffer caddy. Have had my share of dimwits who add no value. At my local in Udon, we get the mobile numbers of caddies we liked and call them ahead of time for subsequent rounds.

Here's my caddy review:

Good caddies - Siam CC, Santiburi, Banyan Hui Hin, Black Mountain.

Average caddies - Singha Park, Sritani Golf Forest, Victory, Windmill.

Poor caddies - Dancoon, Lao CC, Sea Games Laos.

My approach when I get a lame caddy, I ignore them, pull my own clubs, read my own yardages, etc., and usually won't return to that course again. Worst experience was at SEA Games in Laos or the time I got a bonehead katoey caddy who I sent back halfway down the first fairway.

Don't let it get to you. If you need a break, you can always go to the range and play a mental round, same as if you're on a course. Do have to say, 900 baht, including cart and no caddies at a nice Southern California course, does beat a 5000 baht round in TL when you get stuck with a clueless, glorified, club cleaner.

Sent from my PC36100 using Thaivisa Connect App

[dogpoo]

Nothing worse to ruin a round than a glue sniffer caddy. Have had my share of dimwits who add no value. At my local in Udon, we get the mobile numbers of caddies we liked and call them ahead of time for subsequent rounds.

Here's my caddy review:

Good caddies - Siam CC, Santiburi, Banyan Hui Hin, Black Mountain.

Average caddies - Singha Park, Sritani Golf Forest, Victory, Windmill.

Poor caddies - Dancoon, Lao CC, Sea Games Laos.

My approach when I get a lame caddy, I ignore them, pull my own clubs, read my own yardages, etc., and usually won't return to that course again. Worst experience was at SEA Games in Laos or the time I got a bonehead katoey caddy who I sent back halfway down the first fairway.

Don't let it get to you. If you need a break, you can always go to the range and play a mental round, same as if you're on a course. Do have to say, 900 baht, including cart and no caddies at a nice Southern California course, does beat a 5000 baht round in TL when you get stuck with a clueless, glorified, club cleaner.

Sent from my PC36100 using Thaivisa Connect App

It's just time for a break, seriously had enough of the bad service, you are right about finding a good caddie and keeping him or her, I can only afford to play once a month maybe twice at a push, so for me it is important that this one game maybe 2 games are a good experience, wasting my time, bad service, high prices and poor organization, throw in useless caddies and this is spoilt 99.9 per cent of the time.

[howzat]

How about caddy tips. I range from 200 to 300Baht depending on service but even with bad service the caddies turn their noses up if I tip low. Am I being a tight arse.

[dogpoo]

How about caddy tips. I range from 200 to 300Baht depending on service but even with bad service the caddies turn their noses up if I tip low. Am I being a tight arse.

Well first of all I am thinking most people do not want a compulsory caddie, unfortunately that is how it is here, you should expect these caddies to be trained by the golf clubs to know how to caddie correctly and provide a good service, a high percentage of golf club caddies here are totally useless with no interest in the game whatsoever, the clubs obviously do not care, all these clubs care about is tourists paying a high price for the golf, as far a I am concerned if a caddie is poor pay her what she is worth, in my opinion most of them are worth nothing maybe 20bht at a push, these caddies could always leave and get a job in the rice fields or on a building site, this would make them see how lucky they are to have a cushy golf caddie job!!

[keith101]

the service at the sirikit golf course in Uttaradit is always excelent and the caddies are usually very good and at 900bt inc cart+caddy fee you cant go wrong , the only problem is the caddies speak very little english unless theyve had farang bf or husband . i always enjoy playing there even if ive had a bad game .

[dogpoo]

the service at the sirikit golf course in Uttaradit is always excelent and the caddies are usually very good and at 900bt inc cart+caddy fee you cant go wrong , the only problem is the caddies speak very little english unless theyve had farang bf or husband . i always enjoy playing there even if ive had a bad game .

Play here and your experience will change for the worst!

[dogpoo]

It's not all bad experiences though, Black mountain was excellent and obviously run professionally, the caddies knew there stuff but could still have done better, amazing course in pristine condition, golf for me on Phuket is something I will not be doing much of in the future, a trip north to the courses around Cha Am a couple of times a year will be much more enjoyable.

[chuckd]

It's not all bad experiences though, Black mountain was excellent and obviously run professionally, the caddies knew there stuff but could still have done better, amazing course in pristine condition, golf for me on Phuket is something I will not be doing much of in the future, a trip north to the courses around Cha Am a couple of times a year will be much more enjoyable.

Why are you compelled to live in Phuket? If you own property there I can understand but if not, what is the attraction?

Why not move to someplace like Ban Chang where living is much cheaper than Phuket and golf is nearly reasonable with plentiful golf available?

The nearest golf course to me is 80 kilometers away and is the Loei Army course. Green fee is 250 baht, caddy is 180 and cart is not compulsory.

The course isn't maintained particularly well but I will guarantee you if you can maintain a low handicap on this course you can shoot decent golf anywhere. It is a 9 hole demon with water, jungle, sand and is built on the side of a mountain.

You might want to give some thought to moving to a more golf friendly location if possible.

[dogpoo]

It's not all bad experiences though, Black mountain was excellent and obviously run professionally, the caddies knew there stuff but could still have done better, amazing course in pristine condition, golf for me on Phuket is something I will not be doing much of in the future, a trip north to the courses around Cha Am a couple of times a year will be much more enjoyable.

Why are you compelled to live in Phuket? If you own property there I can understand but if not, what is the attraction?

Why not move to someplace like Ban Chang where living is much cheaper than Phuket and golf is nearly reasonable with plentiful golf available?

The nearest golf course to me is 80 kilometers away and is the Loei Army course. Green fee is 250 baht, caddy is 180 and cart is not compulsory.

The course isn't maintained particularly well but I will guarantee you if you can maintain a low handicap on this course you can shoot decent golf anywhere. It is a 9 hole demon with water, jungle, sand and is built on the side of a mountain.

You might want to give some thought to moving to a more golf friendly location if possible.

If golf was of vital importance to me I would definitely take your advice, there is no attraction to living on Phuket other than my gf works here and her daughter goes to school, I love golf but in small doses, I do not want to play everyday, once or twice a month is enough for me! Golf is so expensive here once a month is really all I can afford, would I play more if the green fees were considerably less, yes but being the person I am I would soon get fed up with playing often and give up for a long time until the desire returns, I would think the caddie problem exists all over Thailand, had enough if it so having a long break from the game!

[p_brownstone]

I never understand why people complain about "Caddies" in Thailand.

A true Caddy should be an experienced Golfer himself (or herself) who understands the game and knows the Course, but 99% of the time in Thailand you will never get that expertise.

You just have to accept that the basic concept of a "Caddy" in Thailand is simply a Bag Carrier - be realistic for heavens sake! How on Earth can you expect someone earning Baht 300.- a Round to be able to understand even the basic mechanics of the Game - Yardage, what type of Club / shape of shot is required on any particular hole - they have NEVER played the Hole themselves (probably never even held a Club in a real Round). As an simple example I'm sure every Golfer in Thailand has experienced the situation where you find yourself in a Fairway Bunker hundreds of yards from a Par 5 Green and the "Caddy" hands you a Sand Wedge. For most Caddies here that is the extent of their knowledge and thinking ("Nai is in Sand, must give him a Sand Wedge").

If you get a Caddy who can keep up with you on the Fairway, has good enough eyesight to at least give you some idea where your hooked / sliced ball ended up, clean your Club after each shot, mark your ball on the Green without stepping on your line and then cleans and replaces the Ball for you to Putt ........ be thankful.

If she's cute, squeezes your hand and tells you "tee geng" even as your ball screams off at an angle of 45 degrees to disappear into the bush - even better.

It's just a Game guys - enjoy.

Patrick

[dogpoo]

I never understand why people complain about "Caddies" in Thailand.

A true Caddy should be an experienced Golfer himself (or herself) who understands the game and knows the Course, but 99% of the time in Thailand you will never get that expertise.

You just have to accept that the basic concept of a "Caddy" in Thailand is simply a Bag Carrier - be realistic for heavens sake! How on Earth can you expect someone earning Baht 300.- a Round to be able to understand even the basic mechanics of the Game - Yardage, what type of Club / shape of shot is required on any particular hole - they have NEVER played the Hole themselves (probably never even held a Club in a real Round). As an simple example I'm sure every Golfer in Thailand has experienced the situation where you find yourself in a Fairway Bunker hundreds of yards from a Par 5 Green and the "Caddy" hands you a Sand Wedge. For most Caddies here that is the extent of their knowledge and thinking ("Nai is in Sand, must give him a Sand Wedge").

If you get a Caddy who can keep up with you on the Fairway, has good enough eyesight to at least give you some idea where your hooked / sliced ball ended up, clean your Club after each shot, mark your ball on the Green without stepping on your line and then cleans and replaces the Ball for you to Putt ........ be thankful.

If she's cute, squeezes your hand and tells you "tee geng" even as your ball screams off at an angle of 45 degrees to disappear into the bush - even better.

It's just a Game guys - enjoy.

Patrick

Yes it's just a game and a very expensive game in this country, you are wrong there are caddies here that make the effort to learn at least the basics of the game, I have had fantastic caddies who know what club to give you and how far you are from the green etc so it is possible for these people to caddie well, the trouble is that most of these caddies are lazy and expect to be tipped at the end of the round even though they are useless, they are on the course for an easy meal ticket, it's great that you enjoy the game even though your caddie is useless, there are many golfers who try to enjoy the game but this laziness is a problem, why should I put up with this when I have paid a fortune to play the game? Just because this is Thailand do my standards disappear, do I expect and except people to treat me with contempt, my friends are here from the UK they were speechless at the how lazy and in one instance how rude his caddie was, yawning, lagging behind, eating and talking on the phone, he told her to <deleted> off politely and was replaced by another similar lazy but more cheerful caddie, is this acceptable? we complained and as usual all we got back was a shrug of the shoulders and some uneasy smiles!

I for one and I am obviously not alone do enjoy the game of golf, I would like the choice to have a caddie or not to have a caddie, I expect a caddie to keep up, I expect a caddie to know a little about the game, I expect my caddie not to eat, talk on the phone or be rude, if they can not do this and in a lot of cases can not be bothered they can get a job in the rice fields or on a building site doing hard labour for a lot less than what they are earning on the golf course!!

Your ending quote is its just a game guys, enjoy! Yes we would enjoy the game a whole lot more if we were given someone who at least made the effort to be good!

The problem here is that you are not given the choice, you are forced to have a caddie, the golf clubs make no effort to train these people which amounts to poor customer service, they assume we as foreigners will just except what we are given, I can assure you I and many others will not!

I will play again for sure, if I again get a caddie that is lazy and can not be arsed I will make sure she knows this buy tipping her appropriately!

Enjoy your game guys we are just foreigners with too much money who are to be taken advantage off!!

Edited January 5, 2013 by dogpoo

[QED]

Sorry 'dogpoo', but your last rant just shed a lot of light on why you have so many caddie problems. They do not get 300 baht, the club keeps half, and they can only get one round per day normally, sometimes none at all.

If you actually tried treating them like human beings, and god forbid had a bit of a laugh and a joke with them, you might find a completely different experience.

As said before they are bag carriers, don't expect professional caddies for 3 pouns or 5 USD

[dogpoo]

I never understand why people complain about "Caddies" in Thailand.

A true Caddy should be an experienced Golfer himself (or herself) who understands the game and knows the Course, but 99% of the time in Thailand you will never get that expertise.

You just have to accept that the basic concept of a "Caddy" in Thailand is simply a Bag Carrier - be realistic for heavens sake! How on Earth can you expect someone earning Baht 300.- a Round to be able to understand even the basic mechanics of the Game - Yardage, what type of Club / shape of shot is required on any particular hole - they have NEVER played the Hole themselves (probably never even held a Club in a real Round). As an simple example I'm sure every Golfer in Thailand has experienced the situation where you find yourself in a Fairway Bunker hundreds of yards from a Par 5 Green and the "Caddy" hands you a Sand Wedge. For most Caddies here that is the extent of their knowledge and thinking ("Nai is in Sand, must give him a Sand Wedge").

If you get a Caddy who can keep up with you on the Fairway, has good enough eyesight to at least give you some idea where your hooked / sliced ball ended up, clean your Club after each shot, mark your ball on the Green without stepping on your line and then cleans and replaces the Ball for you to Putt ........ be thankful.

If she's cute, squeezes your hand and tells you "tee geng" even as your ball screams off at an angle of 45 degrees to disappear into the bush - even better.

It's just a Game guys - enjoy.

Patrick

Yes it's just a game and a very expensive game in this country, you are wrong there are caddies here that make the effort to learn at least the basics of the game, I have had fantastic caddies who know what club to give you and how far you are from the green etc so it is possible for these people to caddie well, the trouble is that most of these caddies are lazy and expect to be tipped at the end of the round even though they are useless, they are on the course for an easy meal ticket, it's great that you enjoy the game even though your caddie is useless, there are many golfers who try to enjoy the game but this laziness is a problem, why should I put up with this when I have paid a fortune to play the game? Just because this is Thailand do my standards disappear, do I expect and except people to treat me with contempt, my friends are here from the UK they were speechless at the how lazy and in one instance how rude his caddie was, yawning, lagging behind, eating and talking on the phone, he told her to <deleted> off politely and was replaced by another similar lazy but more cheerful caddie, is this acceptable? we complained and as usual all we got back was a shrug of the shoulders and some uneasy smiles!

I for one and I am obviously not alone do enjoy the game of golf, I would like the choice to have a caddie or not to have a caddie, I expect a caddie to keep up, I expect a caddie to know a little about the game, I expect my caddie not to eat, talk on the phone or be rude, if they can not do this and in a lot of cases can not be bothered they can get a job in the rice fields or on a building site doing hard labour for a lot less than what they are earning on the golf course!!

Your ending quote is its just a game guys, enjoy! Yes we would enjoy the game a whole lot more if we were given someone who at least made the effort to be good!

The problem here is that you are not given the choice, you are forced to have a caddie, the golf clubs make no effort to train these people which amounts to poor customer service, they assume we as foreigners will just except what we are given, I can assure you I and many others will not!

I will play again for sure, if I again get a caddie that is lazy and can not be arsed I will make sure she knows this buy tipping her appropriately!

Enjoy your game guys we are just foreigners with too much money who are to be taken advantage off!!

Too end this I will say this, one of the people I played with the other day is the resort manager of a large 5 star complex, do you honestly think he would recommend this golf course to any of his customers? He is my friend and after the game he said he will no longer be advertising this course within his resort, this course has now lost a substantial monthly income! Businesses survive and thrive on recommendations, I will not recommend it neither will my playing mates, the sad thing is the people that manage and run the golf courses here have no idea how to organize and make there business something that people will return too time and time again, what is it they say in this country, " up to them"

[dogpoo]

Sorry 'dogpoo', but your last rant just shed a lot of light on why you have so many caddie problems. They do not get 300 baht, the club keeps half, and they can only get one round per day normally, sometimes none at all.

If you actually tried treating them like human beings, and god forbid had a bit of a laugh and a joke with them, you might find a completely different experience.

As said before they are bag carriers, don't expect professional caddies for 3 pouns or 5 USD

I treat them like human beings and mostly have a great laugh with them, sorry is it my problem how much they earn? Is it my problem if they only get one round a day? I pay my green fee and I am forced to have a caddie, they don't have to work at a golf club do they! What we should expect from these caddies are, keeping up, at least try to make out they know something about golf, are these people thick? If they caddie well they will receive a good tip, if they caddie badly they will receive a poor tip, they are mostly lazy, useless people who do not want to work, golf caddying is better than doing hard labour!

Are you saying you would except a caddie to kick your golf club? Are you saying you are happy to be given a caddie that has no motivation, no knowledge, yawning, eating and talking on the phone whilst you are trying to play golf? I am thinking you are one of many that do, there are many that won't!

I treat people the way people treat me, in future I will reflect this in the tip I give! caddies who make the effort to learn about golf are snapped up by people who want a good caddie every time they play, these caddies are booked in advance, these caddies earn good money, these caddies are intelligent and can see by being good they will earn well!

It amazes me that there are people in this world that accept what they are given even though what they are given is poor quality!

Edited January 5, 2013 by dogpoo

[farangme]

How about caddy tips. I range from 200 to 300Baht depending on service but even with bad service the caddies turn their noses up if I tip low. Am I being a tight arse.

Not being a tight arse. Tip according to level of service. Poor service = poor tip.

Sent from my PC36100 using Thaivisa Connect App

[dogpoo]

How about caddy tips. I range from 200 to 300Baht depending on service but even with bad service the caddies turn their noses up if I tip low. Am I being a tight arse.

Not being a tight arse. Tip according to level of service. Poor service = poor tip.

Sent from my PC36100 using Thaivisa Connect App

Correct, there are many caddies that leave after a game with very little! I wonder if they discuss with the other caddies why this is? There are obviously many people who just accept what they are given, they still tip 300 bht or more, you can understand why most of these caddies can not be bothered when they get good tips for being useless!

Edited January 5, 2013 by dogpoo

[chuckd]

I have had regular caddies over the years at Navatanee, Krungthep, Siam CC, Pattaya CC, Bangphra and Plutaluang Navy course that were all quite good. They helped read the greens for me and gave me distances and knew their business. They learned very quickly to let me mark my own ball and not give me club advice and I seldom had problems with any of them.

I have had some bad caddies at a few other places but have only sent one back to the clubhouse. She didn't like me at first sight and the feeling was mutual so I sent her back halfway down the fairway of number one.

The best caddies I have ever had were in Scotland with the best being at Carnoustie. I have had very good ones at St. Andrews, Royal Dornoch, Gleneagles and Old Prestwick as well. Some of these guys are really good but I tipped more than 300 baht when I got a good one.

[Khonper]

I have had regular caddies over the years at Navatanee, Krungthep, Siam CC, Pattaya CC, Bangphra and Plutaluang Navy course that were all quite good. They helped read the greens for me and gave me distances and knew their business. They learned very quickly to let me mark my own ball and not give me club advice and I seldom had problems with any of them.

I have had some bad caddies at a few other places but have only sent one back to the clubhouse. She didn't like me at first sight and the feeling was mutual so I sent her back halfway down the fairway of number one.

The best caddies I have ever had were in Scotland with the best being at Carnoustie. I have had very good ones at St. Andrews, Royal Dornoch, Gleneagles and Old Prestwick as well. Some of these guys are really good but I tipped more than 300 baht when I got a good one.

And what was the caddie price at Carnoustie?? And tip 300 thb?

[dogpoo]

I have had regular caddies over the years at Navatanee, Krungthep, Siam CC, Pattaya CC, Bangphra and Plutaluang Navy course that were all quite good. They helped read the greens for me and gave me distances and knew their business. They learned very quickly to let me mark my own ball and not give me club advice and I seldom had problems with any of them.

I have had some bad caddies at a few other places but have only sent one back to the clubhouse. She didn't like me at first sight and the feeling was mutual so I sent her back halfway down the fairway of number one.

The best caddies I have ever had were in Scotland with the best being at Carnoustie. I have had very good ones at St. Andrews, Royal Dornoch, Gleneagles and Old Prestwick as well. Some of these guys are really good but I tipped more than 300 baht when I got a good one.

I think you have hit the nail on the head, you have to get through the useless, lazy no nothing caddies until you find a good competent one, book her by taking her number and arrange to call her a few days before you intend to play, this was the case when I used to play the local 9 hole course, don't play there anymore as I now prefer to play one of the better courses but because of the cost I can only do this once and at a push twice a month. I wish there was the choice to have a caddie or not to have a caddie, I would even be prepared to pay 300 bht not to have one!!

Next time I play I will suggest that I pay the caddie 300 bht before the game and pull the trolley myself!

Edited January 6, 2013 by dogpoo

[chuckd]

I have had regular caddies over the years at Navatanee, Krungthep, Siam CC, Pattaya CC, Bangphra and Plutaluang Navy course that were all quite good. They helped read the greens for me and gave me distances and knew their business. They learned very quickly to let me mark my own ball and not give me club advice and I seldom had problems with any of them.

I have had some bad caddies at a few other places but have only sent one back to the clubhouse. She didn't like me at first sight and the feeling was mutual so I sent her back halfway down the fairway of number one.

The best caddies I have ever had were in Scotland with the best being at Carnoustie. I have had very good ones at St. Andrews, Royal Dornoch, Gleneagles and Old Prestwick as well. Some of these guys are really good but I tipped more than 300 baht when I got a good one.

And what was the caddie price at Carnoustie?? And tip 300 thb?

As I recall, it was 1988, and I paid UK 50 for 36 holes and tipped him an additional 20. Prices are considerably higher now.

The first round I ever played at The Old Course I paid UK 2.50 and a caddy fee of UK 5. That was 1976

[Forethat]

I have had regular caddies over the years at Navatanee, Krungthep, Siam CC, Pattaya CC, Bangphra and Plutaluang Navy course that were all quite good. They helped read the greens for me and gave me distances and knew their business. They learned very quickly to let me mark my own ball and not give me club advice and I seldom had problems with any of them.

I have had some bad caddies at a few other places but have only sent one back to the clubhouse. She didn't like me at first sight and the feeling was mutual so I sent her back halfway down the fairway of number one.

The best caddies I have ever had were in Scotland with the best being at Carnoustie. I have had very good ones at St. Andrews, Royal Dornoch, Gleneagles and Old Prestwick as well. Some of these guys are really good but I tipped more than 300 baht when I got a good one.

And what was the caddie price at Carnoustie?? And tip 300 thb?

As I recall, it was 1988, and I paid UK 50 for 36 holes and tipped him an additional 20. Prices are considerably higher now.

The first round I ever played at The Old Course I paid UK 2.50 and a caddy fee of UK 5. That was 1976

Price now are about £40-50 per round, so twice what you paid. Prices haven't changed much the last 5 years.

[canman]

I have only had 2 rounds in Thailand, both at St Andrews south of Pattaya. For what it's worth the caddies we had both times were excellent. The course is layed out in a valley and the greens are very deceptive, we had a single digit handi capper with us, after the game he said he could not believe how hard the geens were to read and that that his caddy called each put correctly. It took him a few holes before he could trust her but after that no more 3 puts!

[LarryBird]

my guess is , the busier the course, the better the caddies as a general rule.

[mixdup]

I am not a serious golfer and coming from Australia, this caddy experience is definately a new thing to me. I keep getting the old ugly ones which really pisses me of but they seem to know what club for me to use from certain distances. especially since everything is in yards here and not metres. But like I said I'm a major amatuer and I'm sure there is a lot more the caddy should be doing.

[Dorkers]

I play a couple of courses regularly and have regular caddies, I think that is the key. You have to have a caddy so make sure if you have a good one hold on to them. I ring them the day before the game to check if there is a tournament or topsoil. They also are on the case understanding to go to the quickest tee. One of them always brings me fruit to take home.

Had an interesting experience at Bangphra once, group of 3 , all of us were chopping it, caddies were very sour. Found out a few holes in that they were having a bet with each other on who would have the best score, hence the sour faces!