You can call him in advance and reserve him, by calling 011-44-13344-74913 When in the UK, call 013344-74913. Sometimes his wife Kate answers when Dave is on the course. They don’t have an answering machine.

Dave has been there for 30 years. His grandfather was a St. Andrews caddie. Dave can take ten shots off your game with his reads, club selection and target strategies. He also has a great sense of humor and is fun to be with. You might have to ask him to repeat himself sometimes because his Scottish brogue is very thick.

If Dave is already booked, then ask him to get you Jimmy Reid the second best caddie that they have. Next best after Jimmy is Willy Stewart. The other top caddies are: Bruce Sorley, John Cochran, Nick Finley and Jim Bowman.

All of them have caddied for famous golf professionals or famous people like Bill Clinton. The stories that they have about rounds with these people are delightful.

If you get one of these caddies give them a big tip. The minimum pay for a St. Andrews caddie is 30 pounds plus tip. The tip for a good caddie is at least 20 pounds—50 total. They give 5 pounds back to the Links Trust (See related articles in this section). The top caddies listed above typically get 60 pounds for a round and they deserve it. Some delighted foreign tourists have paid them 100 pounds.

If you have not used these caddies in the past, you probably won’t get them by asking the caddie master. He has his own assignments for people that have not used a caddie in the past. You likely will get a trainee who could be from China, Germany, or America. Avoid that experience if you can.