CADDIE'S ROLE: The start of the new season marks the beginning of a new era in European golf with the first event taking place in the increasingly important golfing venue of Shanghai, China.

The HSBC Champions event held at the Sheshan golf club outside Shanghai is the starting block of tournaments for the "Race to Dubai" which is taking over from the south of Spain as the grand finale to the season.

With the inclement weather in the south of Spain a few weeks back the race began at a heady pace with players and caddies plotting alternate routes to get them to China early enough to overcome the travel fatigue that such a long trip brings with it. Monday evening saw the earliest arrivals in the Meridian Hotel, about a kilometre from the golf course. The latest arrival was the winning caddie from Valderamma, he set a record of making his first appearance at the course on Thursday morning. Soren Kjelsden's win got him into last week's event. Getting a visa for China doesn't happen over a weekend night.

It is a unique week on tour where virtually everyone connected to the event stays in the same hotel. With the trials brought about by the second week in a row of torrential rain and constant delays the hotel was beginning to take on the appearance of a very luxurious prison. Such was the daily routine of 5.15am starts, all congregating for breakfast, transferring to the course, waiting till darkness fell just before 5pm and reassembling in the large dining area for the evening buffet before retiring before the 5.15am start again. This was the dreary routine all week long.

It was a rare opportunity for all different categories of Tour life from players, agents, organisation staff, PGA officials, sponsors and caddies to mix in a social gathering more than they have ever done throughout the year. How harmonious it all was, particularly given the frayed nerves by the weekend as the rain forced the tour to opt for a Monday finish.

We are creatures of habit on tour, sub-consciously guided by a seven-day location clock. Not only do we run out of clean clothes by Monday but also tolerance for what was by day seven becoming the place that we could never leave. With pressure being put upon the Tour to hold the prestigious HSBC Champions event over 72 holes, like all majors are, the tour, after consulting their players, decided to yield to the sponsors' wishes and extend the first race to Dubai from a sprint to a marathon.

There have, of course, been many delays over the years which have resulted in Monday finishes and sometimes the odd caddie has decided to opt for his original planned departure. I have never seen so many tour caddies heading home leaving their players in the delicate hands of the local female club caddies complete in red uniform and visored helmets for the completion of the final round yesterday.

There was going to be no deviation from their Dubai race plans. There was also no denying the reality of the strain of a long year on the road no matter how much the tournament represented the 2009 season, the hearts and minds of these bagmen were very much at the end of the 2008 season.

Indeed had the fourth annual caddie of the year awards been held next week I am certain those loopers who were part of the early exodus from Shanghai would have featured prominently as nominees in the "Mystery" of the year and "Best excuse" categories of the year. In the less flexible modern world of air travel changing plans is not a viable option any more for those on a controlled budget.

The caddie awards have quickly become a tradition of the Champions event. It is the brainchild of Giles Morgan, the head of sponsorship for HSBC, and it is he who had been instrumental in promoting the event. So despite the ungodly scheduled 6.45am starting times for Saturday due to the persistent rain Giles continued the tradition by opening and closing the free bar an hour earlier on Friday night than originally scheduled.

The awards are strictly for those with thick skin. Poor Ross Fisher's caddie won two awards on the back of his man ending up in the swilken burn at St Andrews in the play-off for the Dunhill Links Championship.

The caddie of the year trophy went to the hugely-popular Gareth Lord who admitted he could not have won it without the exemplary golfing of his very talented boss, Robert Karlsson.