Fife golf course boss's caddie training course for ex-military 'is life saver'

Caddie School for Soldiers president David Scott, 61, of St Andrews, whose beautiful Clive Clark-designed course in Upper Largo most recently won the Top Emerging Golf Course in the UK prize to cap off an outstanding year of accolades featuring five awards, said: "I've been involved with this charitable organisation from the very beginning and we've helped over 50 soldiers thus far. Many of them have PTSD challenges from wars but are now out of the service and struggling to find their way in life.

"With our course you can train to be a caddie for four weeks then come out the back end of it with a new trade if they so wish.

"But the ultimate aim is for them to find their confidence again and feel a self worth.

"Can you imagine a soldier's life when they're always getting up at 6am, having breakfast at 6.30, getting their kit on at 7 and then going out at 7.30 to try and find the bad guys and shoot them?

"They later come back to civilian life, suffering PTSD and they've got no organisation in their lives. They just see the inside of their four walls and if they go to the supermarket and it's bustling and noisy, a lot of these noises remind them of the battlefield.

"They can’t go into busy places because it’s just too much for them. The suicide rate is horrific.

"I think in the US there are 21 suicides a day by former military, just because they can’t handle life outside of military service.

"So we’re giving them a light at the end of the tunnel and many of them have actually said that it’s saved their lives and some of them are taking up full-time caddying roles.

"There will probably be around 10 that are full-time caddies now and they are doing really well.”

Scott, who formerly spent 11 years working for the Kohler company who run St Andrews’ Old Course Hotel, added: “When Caddie School for Soldiers came about, I was still working for the Kohler company at the Duke’s Golf Course at St Andrews, which is where the base is for these caddies.

“So I’ve been heavily involved since then. As Kohler is an American company, we structured it so each course would teach six soldiers – typically two from Canada, two from America and two from the UK.

"Probably our poster boy is Scott Hale from Edinburgh who was a sniper with the British Army. He was in bad shape when he came to our first course in 2019. He was probably three stones overweight, sleeping two to three hours a night and drinking quite heavily because of PTSD.

"But he was a great student, learned really hard on the golf course about all the nuances you need as a caddie. And he is now working full-time at the Old Course St Andrews. He’ll be doing over 200 loops a year, he’s lost his three stones, he’s like a butcher’s dog and he’s sleeping six or seven hours a night and not drinking heavily.

"It’s all because he’s got a focus, he’s got his life back and he’s turned back the clock to happier times.

"It’s tear jerking when you hear some of these stories and how we’ve managed to turn people’s lives around and even saved marriages. It’s absolutely wonderful.”

Each year includes three of these caddie coaching sessions in Scotland and one in the US.

Scott, a Master Golf Professional who will become PGA captain this April, explained: "Caddie master Davy Gilchrist works with the soldiers five days a week over the four weeks, I go along on day one and help with the presentation power point and explain what participants can expect over the month. Then I’ll give them some tuition on their own games and explain some quick-fix swing tips to help their golfers on the course.

"I leave everything to Davy but I’ll pop in there a couple of nights every month for some dinners to see how they’re getting on.

"The first few days of the programme are intensive training on the Duke’s Golf Course with them all taking turns to be the player then the caddie, with the caddie master listening in.

"Then the caddie master will say: ‘You should have said or done that’.

"Week two will see six players from other local clubs come along and go out with six caddies in two matches. After the game the caddies get feedback around the table on how they did with reading putts, clubbing etcetera.

"It’s open, constructive feedback and at the end of the session, all six of them are really good caddies.

"Most of the golf is played at the Duke’s but they do have a few away days. They might play at Crail, Elie or here at Dumbarnie.

"The final day also has the Snyder Cup where six caddies and six players combine and it’s the winning caddie who gets the big trophy and not the player. It’s really great fun.”

For more information, please check out their website: www.caddieschoolforsoldiers.com