The classic caddie job description - “Show up, keep up, shut up” - seems pretty cut and dried. But to judge from an incident involving a caddie for Edoardo Molinari on Friday, further explanation may be needed.
As in, “If you can’t keep up, do not try to catch up by taking a ride in a golf cart - especially without giving your player a heads up.”
According to a tweet by Molinari, the Italian golfer was disqualified from the European Tour’s Shenzhen International in China on Friday because he failed to call a penalty on himself after his caddie hopped on a cart between the ninth and 10th holes. It should have been a two-stroke penalty, turning his 75 into a 77. But because he signed for a 75, he was DQd.
Here’s how things played out, in Molinari’s own Twitter words.
Got DQ because my caddy jumped on a buggy between the 9th and the 10th hole yesterday. I didn't see him unfortunately as I was 20 yds ahead.
— Edoardo Molinari (@DodoMolinari) April 16, 2015
It would have been a two stroke penalty had I found out yesterday, DQ because I signed for the wrong card (which didn't include the penalty)
— Edoardo Molinari (@DodoMolinari) April 17, 2015