By Dave, The Carnoustie Caddie. On the bag since 1998. Updated 10 September 2026.
No. Caddies are not compulsory at Carnoustie. They are highly recommended. You’ll score better with one, and you’ll see the course instead of just surviving it. Blind bunkers, two burns that cross you where you don’t expect them, and greens the wind lies to you about. The local knowledge is the difference between a card and a story. First time here? Take a caddie. £80 a bag, about $108, plus a gratuity, booked through the Links.
The caddie fee and the booking rules are Carnoustie Golf Links’ own, from their caddie services page. Correct at 14 September 2026.
What does a caddie actually do at Carnoustie?
Keeps you out of the bunkers you can’t see. Tells you where the burns really are. Reads the wind before it reads you.
There are 112 bunkers here and you can see most of them, which is the scary part. Your caddie knows the ones hiding behind the ones you can see. He knows there are two burns, Jockie’s Burn and the Barry Burn, and that the Barry snakes through the course and comes back at you when you think you are past it. He knows the 13th flag tells you the truth about the wind when the others lie. He knows the 8th looks like water and isn’t. That is not a yardage book. That is a lifetime.
Is a caddie worth the money at Carnoustie?
If you have flown across an ocean to play one round here, yes.
£80 a bag, about $108. Against a £360 green fee, £450 from 2027, a flight, a hotel and a lost dozen, it is the cheapest thing on the trip and the only thing that lowers your score.
How do you book a caddie at Carnoustie?
Through the Links. Email caddies@carnoustie.com or call +44 (0)1241 802288. The details are on their caddie services page, and they ask for at least 24 hours’ notice, and the same if you need to cancel.
Book a lot further ahead than that in summer. A good caddie is spoken for weeks out.
Can you request me?
You can, and plenty of people do.
Caddies are allocated by the caddie master, so nobody can guarantee you a particular name on the day. What I can tell you is that requests are taken seriously here, and the caddie master will do their best to grant them. Put my name down when you book your caddie with the Links, and email me at thecarnoustiecaddie@gmail.com as well, so I know you are coming. I answer my own email.
What does it actually cost, all in?
£80 a bag is the fee, plus a gratuity.
Caddies at Carnoustie are self-employed and paid cash in hand at the end of the round. Not on your card, not on the green fee. Bring notes.
The unwritten rules of taking a caddie
Leave the tour bag at home unless you are actually on tour. Take the head covers off the irons. Bring pounds, not dollars. Be on the tee ten minutes early, organised. And walk to the bunker with him. He is not your butler, he is your partner for four hours.
The full chapter, the one no other golf book has, is in The Carnoustie Caddie: How the Course Really Plays.
Quick answers
Is a caddie compulsory at Carnoustie? No. Caddies are not compulsory at Carnoustie. They are highly recommended, especially for a first round.
How much is a caddie at Carnoustie? £80 per bag, about $108, plus a gratuity. Paid in cash at the end of the round.
How do you book a caddie at Carnoustie? Email caddies@carnoustie.com or call +44 (0)1241 802288, at least 24 hours in advance.
Can you request a particular caddie at Carnoustie? Yes. Caddies are allocated by the caddie master, who will do their best to grant a request, though it cannot be guaranteed. Ask when you book with the Links. If it is me you are asking for, email thecarnoustiecaddie@gmail.com as well so I know you are coming.
Why take a caddie at Carnoustie? There are 112 bunkers and the ones that cost you are hidden behind the ones you can see, Jockie’s Burn and the Barry Burn cross the course in places you won’t expect, and the wind on the greens is hard to read. A caddie’s local knowledge lowers your score.
Caddie fees and booking details are Carnoustie Golf Links’ own, from their caddie services page, and can change. I am an independent caddie at Carnoustie and this site is not affiliated with Carnoustie Golf Links. Caddies are allocated by the caddie master, not booked through me.
Before you play Carnoustie
The Carnoustie Caddie: How the Course Really Plays is all 18 holes the way I would give them to you on the bag. The wind, the bunkers that actually cost you shots, where the burns sit, and the club to hit standing on the tee.
Signed copies, posted from Carnoustie, inscribed to whoever you want. Or get it on Amazon.