We Tried Roda Golf's New Autumn Caddie Service for a Day

Roda Golf brought in caddies for the autumn season, so I booked a Tuesday tee time and paid the extra fee to find out if it's worth it. Short answer: it depends entirely on what kind of round you're after. Here's how a caddie round stacks up against going it alone with a trolley, hole by hole and euro by euro.

What the Autumn Caddie Service Actually Offers

The scheme runs Tuesday to Saturday through October and November, pairing you with a caddie who works the course year-round rather than someone drafted in for the season. Mine had caddied at Roda Golf since it opened and knew which bunkers catch a mishit approach on the 7th and which greens run faster than they look. That local knowledge is the whole selling point, and on my round it paid off twice, once on a blind tee shot on the par-4 11th and once reading a putt that broke far more than I'd have guessed.

Cost is €45 for the round, on top of your green fee. You can book through the pro shop or add it when you reserve online. Worth checking with the club about caddie availability before you travel, since slots are limited and autumn is proving popular with visitors staying at holiday rentals near Roda Golf who want a different kind of round.

Caddie Round vs Trolley Round: The Real Differences

I played the front nine with the caddie and the back nine pushing my own trolley, partly to keep costs down and partly to compare the two properly on the same day, in the same wind, on the same greens.

The front nine was noticeably quicker. No stopping to check a rangefinder, no debating club selection with myself, no doubling back for a wedge I'd left short. We were round in just under two hours. The back nine, trolley in hand, took closer to two and a half, most of it lost to me second-guessing yardages in that stiff September crosswind coming off the Mar Menor.

Scoring told its own story too. Three shots better on the front nine, and two of those strokes came directly from club advice I wouldn't have trusted my own judgement on, particularly into the wind on the par 3s. The back nine had me guessing distances and coming up short twice.

What the caddie round doesn't give you is solitude. If you play golf partly to switch off and think about nothing, having someone alongside for four hours changes that. My playing partner, who normally walks the course to clear his head after work, found himself making conversation on holes he'd usually spend in silence.

Where It Makes the Biggest Difference

Greens are trickier than usual right now with the autumn overseeding in progress, and that's exactly where a caddie earns their fee. New grass seed leaves patchy surfaces that run unevenly for a few weeks, and reading them from scratch cost me strokes on the back nine that a caddie would likely have saved. If you're visiting during overseeding specifically to play golf courses near Roda Golf, this is the strongest argument for booking one.

It's also worth it if you're new to the course. First-timers lose shots to blind approaches and hidden run-offs that a local caddie flags before you commit to a club. Regulars who've played Roda Golf a dozen times get less benefit, since most of that course knowledge is already banked.

Higher handicappers gain more than low-single-figure players too. My playing partner, off a 22 handicap, shaved four shots off his usual score with caddie input on the front nine. A scratch golfer in our fourball barely used his caddie's advice at all, preferring to trust his own eye.

The Verdict

Book the caddie if you're new to Roda Golf, playing during the overseeding weeks, or want a faster, lower-scoring round without the mental load of club selection in September wind. Skip it if golf is your escape from decision-making and company, or if you already know every blind spot on the course from years of playing here.

I'll book one again next time I bring visitors round who've never played the course before. For my regular Tuesday game, I'll stick with the trolley and the quiet. Either way, autumn's a good time to be out here, with the crowds thinner and the course in better shape than midsummer. For more on planning a golf trip to this part of the Costa Cálida coast, or for more course reports like this one, have a browse of the golf section of the blog.