This and that..

Its been a  busy 6 weeks for us in the Golf Shop and we have not had time to post to our blog as we would have liked.
Regardless, we hope everyone is enjoying the wonderful weather this summer.

Some thoughts on pace of play at our club...
At the previous Women's golf etiquette/rules seminars held in 2012 and 2013 it was suggested that when taking a Fore-caddy, the players should hold onto their own putters and NOT have the caddy carry them.  The reasons for this were discussed and it seemed like the members present accepted that it would be more efficient if they were responsible for their own putters.
Not surprising, this "new" notion that they are not "putter" caddies, never took hold.  Recently, we  found out that at least one local club is taking the putters from the caddies and enjoying a faster pace of play in doing so.
Think about it... How many times in the course of a round have you had to wait to get your putter and/or walked away from your ball to get it from the caddy?  This is a natural delay in play.
In addition, when the caddy  is carrying putters, he is less able to do other laborious tasks like picking up divots, raking bunkers and helping to repair ball marks. I cannot adequately quantify the times I have seen a caddy with one player struggling to be the last on the green, with the other players on the green unable to start their putting process. Interestingly, no one seems able to start reading their putts and preparing without the putter in their hands. I know I probably wouldn't.  There's something about the feel of it in your hands and the simple habit of having it when we bend over to look at our putts.
If the player furthest away on the putting green had their putter in their hands as they walked onto the green, they could start the putting process sooner, the group would be done sooner and the exiting of the green would not look like a twenty second Keystone Cops movie short.  It is truly amazing to watch the group handing off of wedges and putters to the caddy on the green.   Its better than paying for a comedy club act.
A "fore-caddy" is simply that,  a  FORE-CADDY.  They go ahead, as in "fore"...If you travel to higher end resorts, the caddies mostly do not carry putters. They'll hold clubs taken to the green by players, but they are true Fore-caddies.
Our caddies are not really being compensated for carrying one stick.. and that one stick, in their hands, is minimally contributing to a less efficient round of golf.

Keep it in the short grass.