It's High Noon for Jim as Sam Torrance's caddie

after being made redundant at Leith Docks

FROM THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Jim Noon started to do a bit of caddying work at Muirfield to earn some pocket money. Now he's travelling all over the place carrying the bag of one of Scotland's greatest-ever golfers.
Noon and former Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance have been friends since they were aspiring young professionals. They were re-united through their sons a few years ago before another chance meeting led to Noon becoming Sam's full-time caddie."My boy, Ross, played Daniel, Sam's son, in the Scottish Boys' Championship at Southerness and that's where we bumped into each other again," revealed Noon, who, unlike Torrance, was unable to sustain a career in the paid ranks and got himself re-instated as an amateur.
"We met again when the British Seniors' Open was held at Muirfield two years ago. Sam didn't know I was caddying and he asked me to give him my telephone number. We started working together around the Dunhill Links Championship later that year and I've been on his bag now for almost two years.
"I really enjoy it and the highlight so far was when Sam won the European Seniors' Tour Championship out in Spain towards the end of last year. This season he's lying third on the Order of Merit behind Mark McNulty and Ian Woosnam but it's likely to be a fight between Sam and Woosie for the top spot and, at the moment, we're not far behind Woosie with five events to go."
While Noon, who played most of his golf as a youngster at Monktonhall – he now lives just outside Dunfermline – had to give up his own dream of becoming a star in the paid ranks, he's delighted to be still involved in the game.
"I played on the European Tour for about six years and Sam and I started off our careers together. I'd won the Scottish assistants' championship at Dunbar in the mid-70s and played well in some British events but I began to struggle with my putting and, in the end, I was spending my own money to be on the Tour.
"It's great to be back out there as a caddie, though, and the most important thing for me is that Sam trusts my judgment. We get along well and have a good understanding but, at the same time, we've had our fall-outs as well."
Earlier this week Noon was on the bag when his boss played in the D J Russell invitational pro-am at Archerfield Links. They've now moved on to Woburn for this week's Travis Perkins Senior Masters with trips to Spain and the Czech Republic on the cards between now and the end of the season.
"I've also been over to America with Sam but, although the money is a lot better over there on the Champions Tour, he doesn't like to do too much travelling and prefers to be back home on a Sunday night," said Noon.
"This year has seen a few events fall from the European Seniors' Tour schedule due to the economic downturn but working for Sam is a continuous job and, as always, he's managed to have a few good finishes so far this season."
It's certainly a far cry from the casual caddying he started doing at Muirfield after being made redundant after nearly 20 years as a project manager for a firm in Leith Docks.
"I got a reasonable package and only turned to caddying to make myself some pocket money," said the 57-year-old.
After being re-instated as an amateur, Noon did pretty well, winning the South East District championship among other titles, picking up four gold medals in the Scottish area team championship with the Lothians and getting close to a full Scotland cap at a time when Colin Montgomerie was starting to emerge on the scene.
"I play off two these days over at Leven, the long game is pretty solid but my short game has suffered, and I was delighted to go back to Monktonhall earlier in the year to win the seniors' open there with a 71," he revealed.
"It was great to see my son win the club championship at Craigielaw this year, too. He's off scratch but it is so competitive at the top level these days and I don't think he's good enough to make it in the pro ranks. Thankfully, he knows that himself and is doing a degree in business and finance."
+++The full article appears in today's Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.