Dubai : While watching the top professionals at Emirates Golf Club this week, spare a thought for their ever-present sidekicks - and unsung heroes - the caddies.
Rain, shine, hail or searing heat, these guys are always there. And if you thought lugging a tour golf bag weighing 20kg-plus around is hard enough, then the caddie's job encompasses a whole lot more, as I found out first hand during the Invitational presented by Abdullah Al Naboodah at Dubai Creek Golf Club last week.
The event is established now as a major charity pro-am during the current "Desert Swing" and some 50 European Tour pros were taking part.
So it was with some trepidation that I stood at the driving range waiting for the French professional, Christian Cevaer, to arrive. I had been invited to carry his bag for the day, and with it receive a unique insight into life "inside the ropes" with a top tour pro.
Cevaer arrived and was soon hitting wedges on the range. "Clean the wedge for me," he said as he handed me back the club. "Make sure you do it well, huh?" before moving through the clubs and eventually pinging off a few drivers. I made sure.
As we moved off to the putting green and then first tee, I got my first shock - the weight of the bag. At least twice as heavy as my own.
if that's light...
Cevaer was amused. "Listen, that's light today. There's no umbrella, no wet weather gear, no extra sweaters, hats and gloves. That's the nice thing here. You can throw all that stuff out."
With my back groaning, we were soon at the first tee, and I was making my first mistake - forgetting to pick up the sheet with the pin locations marked.
But strolling through the lush fairways alongside fellow pro Gareth Maybin and his professional caddie David Jones, himself a former European Challenge Tour player, I started to get a feel for the enormous weight of responsibility on the caddie's shoulders.
"This is not an individual sport this is a team game," said Cevaer. "It's vitally important. And I'm not even talking about golfing skills yet. I'm talking about all the things that have to be done away from the golf course.
"I call it intendance [stewardship] in French.
"It's looking after the equipment, bag packing, the time we need to be at the range, making sure transport is organised. And this is all before we even get here. Then how long I like my practice routine and warm-up to be and allowing enough time to get to the first tee."
If it sounds at this point as if a caddie is nothing more than a glorified bell-boy, it is on the course they come into their own. And with Cevaer playing Dubai Creek, a track I know like the back of my hand, I finally felt able to contribute to "the team".
By four or five holes I had a good feel for how far Cevaer hits each club and at the par-three fifth the six-iron I suggested instead of the seven-iron he reached for nestled just eight feet away from the pin.
But my well-intentioned advice on another hole belied my inexperience at this level. "All the trouble is down the left," I ventured. "Including the out-of-bounds."
"You know," said Cevaer, with a smile. "That's the kind of information I never want to hear from a professional caddie. I just want to know where I should hit my ball to. Not where I shouldn't. Especially on a course I have never played before. I don't know what's out there and I don't want to know. A golfer needs to have only positive thoughts."
Lesson learned. What else is a caddie responsible for on the course?
"The caddie's role in the team is to deal with everything else to enable the player to focus on one thing - the next shot.
"He cleans the clubs and ball, works out the yardages, wind and slopes. Advises where to position the tee shot to attack a pin. Rakes the bunkers and holds the pin.
"And he needs, especially out here in the desert," said Cevaer eyeing his almost empty water bottle, "to make sure there is always enough to drink in the bag." Hint taken from this ever-amiable man, I made sure he was well topped up on the next tee.
There are two other things a caddie needs, apart from being fit enough to carry that bag for up to five hours in the heat.
"He has to keep his player as comfortable as possible. Be lucid, you know," said Cevaer. "Keep him relaxed but focused. A caddie has to be good under pressure too. It's no good if a caddie gets edgy and adds to the tension.
He added: "Companionship is so important too. You need to be able to chat between shots. You cannot focus on golf shots for five hours. It's impossible. So you need to be able to switch on and switch off, so to be able to talk is important.
"Most players don't like to chat to each other much during a round. "So a good caddie needs to be a good companion - and also needs to know when to shut up!"
Most professional caddies are good players in their own right - low-handicappers or scratch players. But of Cevaer's own caddies during 17 years on the tour, who has stood out?
"When I was rookie [1993], I had a very good caddie, Brendan McCartain. But he got an offer to join Ronan Rafferty who was a big name on the tour then, even though he was coming to the end of his career. You know good caddies are spotted and made offers. You can't blame anybody for looking after their career.
"Unfortunately for him they only stayed together for five tournaments.
"But I told you he was good, right? Well he went on to win the Masters with Jose Maria Olazabal in 1999. That's how good he was."
The invitational
The Invitational, hosted by Abdullah Al Naboodah, at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club was won jointly by Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood who both carded eight-under par 63s.
50 European Tour pros took part in the pro-am event including Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia and Ross Fisher.
Westwood and Clarke shared split first and second place prize money to raise Dh187,500 each for their respective charitable foundations.
A gala dinner and charity auction following the tournament raised more than Dh250,000 for Dubai Autism Centre.
A caddie's lot
European Tour caddies are paid a fixed fee or "retainer" of around 1,000 euros per tournament by their player out of which they must cover their expenses, which can eat up to 25-50 per cent.
If their player makes the cut then they will usually receive five per cent of his prize money, seven per cent if it's a top 10 finish and 10 per cent for a victory.
In 2006, Tiger Woods' caddie Steve Williams earned $1.3 million, which would have put him in the top 75 earning golfers on the PGA Tour and made him the highest paid sportsman in his native New Zealand.
Tiger also bought Williams a $140,000 Ford GT for the win at Doral in 2005.
