bour, but I have often, after an
experience of the girl caddie, been tempted to wish that there were more
of them in the land, for they are uncommonly good. The little girl of
humble lot seems, nine times out of ten, to possess all those qualities
which go to the making of a good caddie--according to my standard of a
good caddie--in a remarkable degree. Unlike some of her elder sisters,
she never talks; but she always watches the game very closely and takes
a deep interest in it. She is most anxious--if anything too anxious--to
do her service properly and well, and to the most complete satisfaction
of the gentleman who will reward her for it at the finish. She never
keeps you waiting for your bag. The clubs are always there at your hand.
If it is obvious to this little girl's simple intelligence that you want
your brassy, she has it ready for you. If there is a doubt about the
club, she does not make the mistake of offering you one on chance, as it
were. She is too timid for that. She holds the bag before you and lets
you choose yourself and carry all the responsibility on your own
shoulders. The good boy caddie, whom I have referred to as my ideal,
does that also. I said he was always waiting with the club ready, but if
it is evident to him, as to the player, that it is a difficult question
of judgment as to which particular club should be taken in somewhat
puzzling circumstances, he allows the golfer to make his choice from the
whole collection in the bag, making no suggestion of his own either by
word or movement, unless invited to do so. Cannot every golfer recall
numberless instances of bad shots and holes lost because in one of these
moments of doubt, when his own inclination was leaning to the employment
of one particular club, his caddie thrust another before him? Feeling
that there must be something good in the caddie's recommendation, he has
been tempted in spite of himself to use it. How frequently are the
consequences disastrous in such circumstances as these, and how
unenviable are the golfer's after reflections upon his own weakness!
Yes, decidedly the girl caddie excels. I have seen her on many links up
and down the country, and she is always good. In one of my last matches
last season--at Luton--I had one to carry for me, and she was as good as
any. Perhaps it may be urged by some players that it is not a good thing
for girls to do this work. About that I have nothing to say. I only know
that they do their