The extraordinary life and times of Edinburgh Jimmy

“Most of the stories about Edinburgh Jimmy you couldn’t print. There was one time when we just missed the bus back from the course and we had an hour to wait. So Jimmy asked the lady in the office about the possibility of a courtesy car, there was no love lost between them, and she answered with an abrupt ‘no’,” remembers fellow caddie David Kenny.

“Undeterred, Jimmy then asked her if the clocks went back that evening? ‘Yes Jimmy, one hour,’ came the reply and he said thanks as he walked out the office before adding ‘Unfortunately not long enough to take those wrinkles out your face.’

“He was the ultimate Daddy Caddie. A mother hen though he would never admit or realise it. He just looked out for the caddies and, if you were out of order, he let you know, no matter who you were.”

James Rae, aka Edinburgh Jimmy, died last week at the age of 66. For much of his life he worked as a caddie on the European Tour hence the enormous outpouring of tributes in the past few days from players and caddies alike.

He first started working with Paul McGinley in 1992 and they would work together on and off for 18 years, before that he was alongside the likes of Rob Lee and Mark Roe and he was with Ian Poulter for three years when he first made his way on the European Tour.

Such a sad start to 2020. One of Europeantour’s characters. Heavy Head as he always called me. James Rae (Edinburgh Jimmy) has past away. What a gentle giant. His bark was louder than his bite. One of the kindest caddy’s I have ever met #RIP 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🥃 You will be missed. pic.twitter.com/HO03maX0jH

— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) January 3, 2020

In his autobiography ‘No Limits’, Poulter remembers him fondly: “He was the most hard-nosed Scot I’d ever met. He didn’t care what he said or who he said it to. He was utterly ruthless when he was taking people down with his quips. I’ve seen famous golfers wince when they realised they were going to have to walk past Edinburgh Jimmy. You have to like your caddie and I liked Jimmy. He is probably the most generous, kind-hearted person I have ever met.”

Come the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles under McGinley’s watch, he acted as the caddymaster and entertainment officer in Scotland.

“He was cut from a rare, old cloth that is diminishing each season. He’ll be very much missed, for his acerbic takes on all players and caddies, his honesty, his smile and sometimes well-hidden warm heart. He was real and a true character.”

Caddie Dominic Bott first came across Rae at Moortown in the mid 80s and they remained friends ever since.

“He was always good to me and he watched my back, I’m lucky in that I was one of the few who could understand him. My daughter lives in the south so I would go and see Jimmy for an hour and we would go to Greggs in Egham and I would just listen.

“There was one time years ago when he was out with a rookie. The youngster asked Jimmy long he had been out here thinking he would say 30 years or something but Jimmy came back with ‘Two hours, same as you, so get a f-ing move on.’

“That’s how quick he was. Damian Moore was in that threeball and he rang me on Friday and that was his opening line. Back in the day he would call the three clubs for each player before they were even on a par 3 tee. He was one of the old school, a very good caddie, straight talking, good on the clubs and he could read the greens without bending down. He would drive players mad with what he came out with but they loved him as he could do his job. Any caddie who couldn’t and Jimmy would let them know about it.

Gleneagles , Ryder Cup 2014 and 2 very important Scots in our back room team ! #rip pic.twitter.com/sttzMUU4qp

— Paul McGinley (@mcginleygolf) January 5, 2020

“After McGinley stopped playing on the main tour he looked after Jimmy unbelievably well, he would take him up to Queenwood and Sunningdale and give him work a few days a week and he would go round to Paul’s house and slag him off about his wine selection.

“All year he asked me to collect as many hats as possible so he could get them signed and do what he wanted with them so I got them all together and met him at Wentworth. I opened up the boot and he looked at the black ones and said ‘What the f*** am I meant to do with them?’”

One recipient of Rae’s generosity, courtesy of Bott’s strenuous efforts, was Robert Coles who was playing at Wentworth in September.

“I saw him at the PGA and he gave me a load of caps for charity, I hadn’t even asked for them. One was Rory, he was phenomenal like that. He had so much front that he would go up to anyone and get them to sign things and I would be cowering behind him.

“He had a stroke a few years ago and he was in hospital so I rang him up and said I’d put a bet on for him at Cheltenham to give him something to follow and look forward to. He then starts having a go at me and says he’s not sharing his tips with anyone!

“Not that long ago someone tried to mug him and they came off a lot worse. He had a tough exterior and it didn’t matter who you were, if he approved or not then you would know about it but there was such a big soft side to him and when I lost my card he would ring to see how I was.

“When I started in 1996 I played with McGinley in Czech Republic and Jimmy was already legendary. He had been involved in a big car crash where a fellow caddie had died and, when we were working together, he would speak about him a couple of times a week.”

American Peter Teravainen played on the European Tour for over 15 years and won once in the Czech Open in 1995. He had Rae as his right-hand man that week and recalls him getting excelling at the business end of things, something that Coles also got to benefit from.

“As a caddie he was brilliant, very measured. I was third with him in Morocco and as we got nearer the end of the tournament he was under control all the way. That’s when you realised how good he was and when he came into his own. It was very reassuring to have such a dominant character next to you; there were no ifs or buts, if it was a 3-iron then you hit a 3-iron.

“We later did Q School together and he rang me and said it was the flattest course in the world so for me to bring as big a bag as I liked. When we got to Las Colinas there were hills everywhere and he was 50 yards behind me going up the 1st, in the end we had to buy a little bag for him from the pro shop!”

Waking up to the sad news that the golfing family has lost one of it’s great characters. Edinburgh Jimmy is a man I’ll remember so fondly. As a young pro he was the scariest man I had ever met! Getting to know him he was the kindest with a wicked sense of humour. RIP my friend

— Thomas Bjorn (@thomasbjorngolf) January 3, 2020

The last story comes from another Adam Drummond who shared this on his way to Joburg for this week’s South African Open, a trip Rae would have done himself countless times.

“Edinburgh Jimmy was never a fan of walking 50 yards to a back tee when the hole clearly asked for a driver. Most of us are the same as a week goes on and things become apparent. What more could a caddie add?

“Jimmy, with maybe one exception, was the master however. Never the fittest, but very savvy, you’d find him walking more across a course rather than the length of its holes, enjoying a rest. He might’ve been lacking in the ‘keep up’ part of the caddie mantra but he was nailing the ‘shut up’ part through sheer avoidance.

“So in 2008 at the Madeira Island Open I was working for a young, very talented Swede named Alex Noren. Level par through two rounds got us through the cut line. It’s a test like few others with huge elevation changes, funny holes and impossible-to-read winds. A caddie nightmare. The 7th (par 5) and 9th (par 4) holes are severely uphill with a short downhill par 3 squeezed between them. The course is brutally undulating and this point of it may be the most taxing.

“After a par on 7, Alex flipped a wedge onto the green on 8, and took the putter and driver for the next tee shot and let me walk forward to the driving area on 9. I couldn’t grab the opportunity quickly enough to take a little comfort break and avoid some more hills. I slowly made my way up the right of the 9th. While I was tinkling away a bag was dropped on the ground five yards behind me. The caddies in my group were on their way down the 8th so I had no idea what was going on.

“It was Jimmy. He was in the group behind, working for Englishman John Bickerton. He’d wobbled his way up to the 7th green, given Bicks the putter, driver, 3-wood (just in case), 9-iron, pitching wedge, lob wedge (just in case) and avoided the 8th all together, the 9th tee shot and a lot of walking.

“Here, ye mighta bein oot ere fora few years un think ye ken caddyin’, but you’ve got a lot ta f***in’ learn!”

“I telt him, ‘Hut that green and start makin’ sum f***in’ burdies ye useless ****!’

“He never was afraid of speaking his mind. He’d get the most out of a player by telling him his shortcomings, not being a sycophant or yes man – Bicks made a heap of birdies on the back nine that day. He probably wouldn’t fit into a ‘team’ but there’s no doubt that he could caddie.

“He was cut from a rare, old cloth that is diminishing each season. He’ll be very much missed, for his acerbic takes on all players and caddies, his honesty, his smile and sometimes well-hidden warm heart. He was real and a true character.”