Caddies are part of playing golf in Japan. So it is often with relief that Japanese golfers find they are allowed to negotiate a course without strangers in their midst when they play abroad.

This also frees them from having to listen to someone admonish them in a foreign language for not heeding advice they hadn't understood in the first place.

However, one group of Japanese golfers found themselves deeply indebted to their caddie during a round at the Elephant Hills Club in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe -- and not just for tips on which iron to use.