CADDIE'S ROLE:THERE WERE few signs of where in the world we were last week at the HSBC Champions event at the Sheshan club on the outskirts of Shanghai. The European-style mansions, the dense, transplanted foliage, the manicured fairways and the omnipresent red branding of the tournament sponsors all shielded us from any genuine sense of China.

But part of the impeccable course caresses the China many could conjure an image of when picturing how the real people live in this fascinating land. That is on the canal that runs alongside the short fourth hole.

The odd barge meanders by, oblivious to this capitalist game that has gripped an elite class in China, and as we played the hole last Saturday a single oarsman paddled a punt adjacent to the green, using a net to scoop up what looked like some sort of canal fruit on long, green stems. He gave a rustic, half-toothed grin by way of a greeting to the Vikings: Henrik Stenson, Soren Kjelsden and my boss, Alex Noren, as they reached the green.

It was a brief interruption to his foraging on the canal, which had more of the murky appearance of a sewer rather than a rich source of nutrition.

We were definitely in a cocoon both at the course and in the hotel a couple of minutes down the road, and apart from the odd communication difficulty we were largely oblivious to the Chinese world surrounding us.

But we were in China for golf after all, and not a cultural tour. The exclusive country club hosted the strongest field ever to compete on Chinese territory.

HSBC also hosted the fourth annual Caddie of the Year awards, a tradition that is fast gaining momentum as one of the liveliest events on tour.

The sponsors went to great efforts to improve the quality of the evening, with an extensive photo exhibition of the bagmen and their masters, along with a video compiled by Tour Productions of some of my colleagues describing their funniest caddie moments.

On top of an extensive buffet spread there was a free bar until 10pm, which was a brave gesture on behalf of the sponsors.

Richard Boxall, Sky’s quick-witted commentator, invited Lee Westwood on stage and struck up an amusing relationship with the Order of Merit leader with us porters the butt of most of the quips.

The awards are all tongue-in- cheek, apart from Caddie of the Year, which is the Harry Pitthouse trophy dedicated to the deceased employee of IMG who came up with the idea for the awards not long before he passed away.

As the awards become more established the more players seem to attend each year, which of course is a great endorsement for the event.

The “most conscientious caddie” went to Kevin Woodward, who had suggested this category for another caddie, alias Ronnie Corbett, who had spent 16 hours preparing for the previous event in Singapore and never got a bag. The advantage for us all was that Ronnie can talk, so Kevin’s speech was relatively terse.

The unfortunate Ross Fisher’s caddie has received the “best club of the year” award for the second year in a row. Apparently Ross ended up on the balcony of the clubhouse behind the 18th green at St Nom La Breteche during the recent Seve Trophy.

When Boxall inquired about his thoughts standing on the tee as he watched the ball clatter around the lunch tables on the terrace, his sharp retort was, “standing on this stage accepting the best club of the year award for the second year in a row”.

Fanny Sunesson accepted her award graciously and discussed the barriers she had to break in the 1980s in Sweden as she stood in line waiting to get chosen by a professional as a caddie for the Scandinavian Masters.

The players kept overlooking her because they all wanted male caddies. Fanny was a ground- breaker for putting women in the global professional caddie shack.

The Caddie of the Year award went deservedly to Billy Foster, Westwood’s bagman, who in July walked 90 miles from Loch Lomond to the British Open Championship at Turnberry with a golf bag on his back to raise funds for child cancer awareness.

He made us all aware of how fickle the business of bag-toting really is. About a year ago he felt like the worst caddie in the world, having been fired by Sergio Garcia, and 12 months later he found himself with the Harry Pitthouse trophy and the leading European golfer’s bag on his back.

It’s a weird and wonderful world on the golfing circus humping a sack across the globe for a living. You never quite know what is around the corner: a toothless oarsman or a comic, unexpected award in recognition of your existence.