Book Review – An American Caddie in St. Andrews by Oliver Horovitz

An American Caddie in St. Andrews is a new book about a young man who goes to St. Andrews to caddie in his gap year before attending Harvard University. He then goes there every summer throughout his degree years.

Becomes close to his Uncle Ken, who was a squadron leader in the RAF during World War Two and now lives in St. Andrews. They have great dinners together and hang around Ken’s close friend Henry to discuss their passion of flowers, golf and gen.

The overwhelming majority of the 25,000 visitors that play the Old Course are Americans. Next come the English, Japanese, Canadians, Spanish, French and Germans. The author mentions that the Canadians are the worst tippers! JOKE: What’s the difference between a Canadian and a canoe? A canoe tips.

He discusses how difficult it is to be a new caddie and gain the respect of the old-timers. There are many great characters with snazzy nicknames. Jimmy Reid is “Hot Dog”, John Napier is “Dr. Who” and Alec Howie is “Vesuvius”. Caddies love using these nicknames.

The pubs like the Jigger Inn, Scores, the Dunvegan, Chariots Bar and Ma Bells the Royal and Ancient, the bakery shops. Learn about a rock bun and a deep fried Mars bar.

He secretly trains twenty five beautiful young ladies from university who are part of Model Caddies. They know nothing about caddying but are able to interest American golfers to have them caddie for them and charge a premium. He has to dance around Rick, the strong tempered caddy master who is a key figure in the book.

Inner caddie code is discussed like raising your club high in the air to let others know they are not enjoying their round and the golfer is lousy. The four cardinal caddie sins are mentioned.

Does a film documentary for Harvard on Old Course caddies focusing on the longest-serving full-time caddie, Jimmy Bowman. This is initially a tough sell for him to Rick and the other caddies who do not necessarily want their inside world opened up to the public. Interestingly Jimmy Bowman never hit a golf ball in his life.

Great lines: Okay, we’ve got a Lance Armstrong (on reading a putt): one ball left. Or, a pulled shot to the left is called a Abraham Lincoln: a Dead Yank.

He caddies for a young Welsh lady Lydia Hall who tries to qualify for the Ladies Open at St Andrews and speaks about his caddying with Huey Lewis