They are supposed to act like flies on the wall. And may hear or see no evil and just go about carrying a golf bag, clean the balls and clubs, rake the bunkers and sand traps and wait for their pay.

Yet they say a top golfer is as good as his or her caddie. And so, what or who is a caddie?

According to various sources the word caddie derives from the French word ‘le cadet’, meaning ‘the boy’ or the youngest of the family.

In later years as golf developed a cady, caddy, or caddie was used to describe a person who made a living by doing odd jobs.

That was then. Today, being a caddie is honourable. On the golf course, a caddie advises a player on the best club for every shot, where to aim, and what one is doing wrong.

“We play a very important role in a player’s career,” Siali Anyonyi, Indiza’s 61-year-old caddie says.

“It is not just about carrying his bag. We bond and try to learn a player’s character and attitude so you will know how to handle him or her on the course,” he adds.

A caddie should know the game in and out – understand the rules. In short, he must be a golf player anyway.

“There is no way you can be a caddie if you don't under the game. And when they win we all win. When he loses, it is our loss,” Elias Indeche, David Wakhu’s caddie offers.

“A time comes during the game when pressure sets in. You have to know how to handle your player. Some lose their heads. You are there to advise the player in a calm manner as possible,” Indeche told Standard Sports.

Philip Ndlovu, a South African caddie, says being a caddie wasn’t paying before.

“In South Africa, a caddie’s job belonged to blacks but today even the whites have taken to it. It pays. I really enjoy it,” Ndlovu said at Karen Country Club.

“Besides, you get the opportunity to travel the world over doing what you love. It is my life,” he said.