CADDIE'S ROLE:One principled bagman is demanding the right not to have to don a sponsor's cap, writes COLIN BYRNE.

IT IS difficult to imagine any hardships in the world when you enter the tranquil surrounds of the Wentworth Estate in the stockbroker belt of Surrey. Mature cedar and pine trees hundreds of years old, dense rhododendron bushes and the twittering of contented birds in their thick foliage all conceal the elegant dwellings of the wealthy inhabitants of one of the most beautiful places to live in Europe.

It would also be difficult to tell that either the contestants or their caddies in the PGA Championship, the flagship event of the European Tour, were finding the going tough. The West course is cut through the lavish mansions of the estate and, once on the course, you could be oblivious to the outside world, it is like a cocoon of contentment.

The caddies’ lot has improved dramatically recently. A couple of weeks ago in Ireland we were housed in an ample marquee and fed two hot meals a day. In Wentworth, BMW seemed to be going for one-upmanship with their all-day cheese platter, and they even added afternoon tea to their hospitality service.

It was only a couple of years ago we were queuing with the public for some frozen burgers and greasy sausages, which was totally inadequate sustenance for a day’s looping around the demanding Burma Road.

Many of us bagmen, pleasantly shocked by the quality of the caddie hospitality, extended our gratitude to those responsible for our plush conditions in the European Tour and at BMW. Not that we have been immune to the general financial malaise worldwide over the past six months, but the world golf tours have been somewhat sheltered from the harsh realities of it. Of course, this cannot go on forever.

So when we did say our individual and collective words of thanks to the authorities, I got a humorous reply that we should enjoy it while it lasts, because we’ll probably be back to the burger stand next year.

We have already had a hint of times to come with the belt-tightening of the manufacturers manifesting itself at the start of the year. There are some faces missing from last year’s extensive posse of the manufacturers’ support service, and despite many players still resembling swinging sandwich boards with the amount of branding their patchwork clothing bears, I get the feeling in the next few years we will be able to see more of the fabric.

The European Tour car-park is a good economic indicator when it comes to unemployment figures. Casting my eyes over the players’ car-park in Wentworth, through the gleaming windscreens of the Bentleys, Maseratis and Lamborghinis, I spotted about 10 porters shuffling in anticipation of a potential employer emerging from one of the flash motors. No repossessions yet in the players’ car-park.

The club-makers have been operating in an extremely competitive market for years and they have tried many different angles to maintain their market share. From employing avionic experts to design more aerodynamic balls to marketing gurus who know how to make their latest offerings look indispensable to the gullible, no stone has been left unturned in the battle for sales. Some of the manufacturers have come up with a system that obliges the caddie of a contracted player to sport the company logo on his cap or visor.

Despite much muttering in the caddie-shack over the years about the legality of such a condition and just how the obligation affects the relationship between player and caddie, little has been done to challenge the system.

At a time when there are far more caddies around than available players, it would seem like a petty argument for a caddie to reject a player and employment because of the principle of respecting his choice to wear or not to wear a logo on his head.

But there is such a case looming where an extremely principled bagman, who has already left a player this year because of the obligation to wear a manufacturer’s visor, is facing a similar problem with his current employer.

The same caddie has been consistent throughout his career and has indeed rejected some top bags because of the obligation to wear a sponsor’s cap. He emphasises it is not a question of money, but purely a right to choose. He has since found himself a sponsor of his own in Amnesty International. It will be interesting to see what happens over the year if what seems like a suspect arrangement between players and manufacturers concerning their caddies will be challenged legally.

With the Magna Carta having been signed about 800 years ago just a few of miles from Wentworth in Runnymede, recognising the rights and privileges of the barons, church and freemen, maybe it is time for bagmen to exercise their freedom to choose, too.

As I cast my eye across the patchworked fairway of the third hole on the West course at Wentworth last week, I was alerted to the reality of recession even in such a leafy haven. There were a considerable number of “for sale” signs on mansions about the place. We are not, after all, impervious to the wicked world beyond, even in the plush Wentworth Estate.