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Tue 05 May 2007Balancing progress with practicalityCaddie's Role:With the recent bout of spring weather it is hard not to contemplate just what is happening with the world's climate. I played on my home links course last week, wearing shorts and a T-shirt and a liberal coating of sun-block. Last time I played in spring I seem to remember wearing my thermal underwear and a woolly hat. I also found myself in some thick rough on numerous occasions normally associated with summer conditions. Equally, some of the lies I got around the greens were bare enough to cause my knees to collapse under the strain of a delicate chip where the slightest contact with the ground before the ball would be disastrous.I watched some of the coverage from the much delayed Spanish Open played in Madrid last week. The players, when they eventually got out on the rain-sodden course, were wearing sweaters and rain gear. In Augusta Georgia earlier in the month, the temperatures dropped low enough for morning frost on the weekend of the Masters tournament. Meanwhile, back home the nation was enjoying warm walks on the beach.