I often consider myself one of the luckiest people in golf to have Royal County Down as my home course. I often ask myself, what are the chances of me living a mile away from one of the best golf courses in the world? I then chuckle at what I estimate the answer might be.
Not only has Royal County Down provided me with an unbelievable place to play (mostly bad) golf, it’s also provided significant work opportunities for me since a young age.
I have caddied at Royal County Down since I was 11 years old. Now 26, I still caddie during the summer when my work schedule allows and have a lot of fun doing so. I’d estimate I’ve looped over 1,000 times around the Championship links – and I’ve seen some unspeakable things.
Snapped drivers, snapped putters, breaking golf bags, players falling into bunkers… I’ve even caddied for an Australian who started playing golf two weeks before he came on the trip – that didn’t end well, but these are stories for another article.
So, in my 15-year experience of caddying at one of the greatest links courses in the world, here are five mistakes amateurs make all too often...
Take your medicine
I understand that when visitors take a caddie, some of them simply want a bag carrier. That’s totally understandable – you don’t HAVE to listen to my advice, it’s truly optional.
Now, as a single-figure handicapper who has caddied at this very course for 15 years and played it for longer, chances are you SHOULD listen to me.
If the ball is in a bad lie, my mind automatically thinks ‘where can we lay up’. This is with the sole intention of taking double bogey out of play. The reason I am a fluctuating 4/5 handicap is because I make one or two doubles a round – doubles RUIN good rounds.
If your ball is sitting down, take your medicine. Chip out to a nice yardage and give yourself as easy a third shot as you can. Who knows, you can make an unlikely par which will feel like a birdie which is enough to kickstart your round.
Visitors who come to Royal County Down and demand a 5 iron out of the rough when I’ve said to chip out sideways with a wedge tend to enjoy the course a lot less than players that follow the advice!
Stop getting angry
When I was younger I decided that I would try a mentality change with golf. I played a lot of competitive golf as a juvenile and, like a lot of other youngsters, had a bit of a hot head. Clubs were slammed, shafts were snapped – looking back it’s all a bit embarrassing.
So one day I said, heck, let’s just chill out a bit. Why am I getting so emotional over bad shots but show no emotion over good ones? It was totally counterproductive, so I switched my mentality.
If I hit a bad shot, damn, if I hit a good one, great. My handicap went from an 11 to a 6 that summer through the simplest of mental changes.
Getting angry achieves nothing – I say this to every player I caddie for who gets annoyed.
Think where your feet are and forget about the bad shot you played 15 minutes ago. RCD is a course that humbles the majority of guys and girls that I caddied for, and the guys that got angry played a lot worse than guy who remained composed.
Don’t fixate about your score
There’s nothing worse for me, as a caddy, than to hear “I want to break 80 today Conor!” from my player while walking to the first tee – likely a 12 handicap, 57-year-old from Ohio playing his 14th round of golf of the year in mid-August.
Chances are, even with my help, you’re not going to break 80 today my friend. Having Ted Scott on the bag might not help you break 80.
This point is especially relevant to those playing a new course for the first time, don’t go with expectations of how to play! If you shoot a score, great! That’s a bonus.
If you don’t play great or hit your target score it’ll likely negatively impact a potential trip of a lifetime to a bucket-list golf course. Focus on enjoying the occasion most of all and don’t put yourself under unnecessary pressure – golf is hard enough as it is.
Play the shot the course requires
The number of visitors that come to Royal County Down for an authentic links golf experience, only to then use a lob wedge when 3 yards off the green is infuriating!
Stop hitting lofted wedges on tight lies around the green, we aren’t playing at your beautiful lush green country club today pal, here's your putter.
Learn how to play bump and run shots, low pitch shots, even dial in with the putter off the green. Learn how to hit a low one from the fairway into the wind, or a trusty weather-proof fairway finder off the tee.
This is easier said than done of course, but hitting stock shots can only get amateur players so far - no matter what course you’re playing.
Less driver, more putter practice
Drive for show, putt for dough – as the cliché goes.
We use the putter more than any club in the bag, so being good with it can have big benefits. Practicing putting is boring in comparison to ripping 50 drivers on the range, but it’s worth your time.
As long as your drives are straight(ish) around RCD, you’ll have a good day – distance doesn’t matter as much as people think - but putting does.
Part of the reason I’m a relatively average single-figure handicap is because I have the clubhead speed of a 75-year-old off the tee box. I make up for this on the greens, and am thus a difficult player to come up against in match play.
Dial in on the greens – finish out from inside ten feet, draw a line on your ball and work on your alignment and set-up, practice long distance putting. Taking a three-putt out of play will slash your handicap and make you some money in matches against your friends.
Also, do you know how satisfying it is to hole a 25ft bogey putt for the most unlikely half in a match against your buddies?
