Mark’s Kaddy Korner

In the late 80’s dirt roads surrounded the small party at TPC. Back then you could hear the coyotes yipping and roadrunners skittered across the fairways. The wildlife has changed, the golf has almost become secondary to the party, and the attendance rose drastically. The tournament the Thunderbirds reluctantly took over in 1939 under Bob Goldwater’s tutelage now claims bragging rights as the PGA Tour’s largest party and has contributed $65,000,000 to local charities.

The Thunderbirds, majestically roaming the course in pants only Ian Poulter can appreciate, have created a social event everyone wants to attend. Raucous ASU students, corporate execs, sorority coeds, cowboys, and families are all golf fans this week. When Johnny Miller was destroying Phoenix Country Club and Evel Knievel parked his “Chuckles” eighteen wheeler by the lake it was all about golf. In fact, now, the tables are turned and we spend a lot of time watching the gallery between shots. Players and caddies don’t talk, watch, or think much about golf this week, they focus on the fans; the stories in the caddy wagon and locker room are mostly about the goings on outside the ropes.

The cool, crisp, oft-times frost delayed morning tee times were welcomed after intoxicating evenings at Greasewood Flats, Eli’s Sports Bar & Grill, Downside Risk, Teepee Tap Room, and of course The Nest with Duck Soup. The putting green hillside overlooking the Nest was often lined with players and caddies when Sam Irwin fired up the band, the tables were turned, it was our turn to watch the crowd. Those high heels prancing around all day weren’t there for golf and we appreciated the distraction.

There were rumors about all sorts of risqué behavior around the Nest but nothing was ever officially documented. Kind of like UFO sightings, you notice something in the night, not quite sure what it is, but there were some unique indentations on the greens and fairways the next day. Someone or something had left their mark the night before; we could only speculate, go about our business and try to put a good read on the putt. Concentration, focusing on the shot at hand, was always difficult at Scottsdale’s TPC.    

Only two par threes on tour worry you before the round, the 17^th at TPC Sawgrass for strategic purposes and the 16^th here for acoustic reasons. If you’re teeing off late the crowd starts churning early, their chants and roars reverberate over the practice tee, and everyone questions the finishing groups. “How’s the crowd on 16? Are they behaving? How long is the back up?” Many times players would back off shots during their round while sixteen was erupting; the short par three affected you throughout the day, not only when you were standing on the tee box.   

Usually players and caddies want to know wind conditions, firmness of green, pin placement, but the sixteenth amphitheatre forces a player’s mind to focus on one thing – the middle of the green – and hopefully two putting then slinking quietly to the seventeenth tee.

The local favorites Mark Calcavecchia, Billy Mayfair, Phil, Tom Lehman, and Andrew Magee feed off the crowd’s energy while others have fought the party atmosphere over the years. Most guys have adjusted dawning ear plugs, blinders, ASU caps and sweatshirts, before they enter the tunnel, but nothing is more critical than hitting that green, making par, and getting the heck out of there.

There have been sixteen aces at the Phoenix Open, seven at sixteen, and Tiger’s 1997 hole-in-one produced the largest roar ever heard on a golf course. Omar Uresti and his brother Hoss paired with Tiger said it “physically shook them”, Fluff just shakes his head when you ask about it, and Andy North announcing on the front side at the time said it was deafening all the way over there.

Justin Leonard bird saluted the 16^th gallery and David Duval had an unfortunate incident with some fans but over the years the raucous gallery has been manageable. Usually we’re admiring the scintillating beauties and don’t spend a lot of time controlling the crowd. A couple of cowboys, following Justin’s lead, flipped off a caddy once when he was politely trying to stop them. The caddy, patience probably worn thin by a long intoxicating desert night, started under the ropes after the culprits but cooler heads prevailed and the players coaxed him back inside.

Moving the rock at thirteen, Tiger created an enormous reaction also, not among the fans but the players and caddies. Only a few mentioned cheating but there were many references to special attention and “only he could get away with that.” The size of his crowd allowed him the opportunity, no other player’s gallery was large enough to move a boulder — sorry, I mean, loose impediment.     

The Weiskopf – Moorish layout has created some great golf, especially that unique collection of finishing holes. Andrew Magee aced seventeen one year, the only par four hole-in-one in PGA Tour history, and three time winner (Palmer and Littler also won three) Calc destroyed the design in 2001 with 32 birdies and a 28 under score, shooting one of the three 60s in tournament history. Roars can be heard all over the course but usually emanate from fifteen through eighteen and are just as distinctive as those at Augusta. The type of roar telling exactly what is going on where.

In 1990 Tom Pernice made double eagle on fifteen, Doug Tewell’s caddy dropped his yardage book in a port-o-john behind the same tee box. It had a decent lie, was easily retrieved, but the odor kept player and caddy apart down the stretch. Anything can happen on those last four holes, each provides a chance for heroism or disaster and you have to be prepared, especially when you walk onto the sixteenth tee. 

A party with a golf tournament going on, NASCAR invades the PGA Tour, whatever you want to call it, most players and caddies have adapted to the atmosphere plus the Thunderbirds make it exceptional for all. Seventy-five years is a long time, and for awhile it looked like the crowds may get out of hand, they should be commended for guiding the Waste Management Open through all the transitions. The little “Nest” tent next to the putting green now encompasses a few football fields across the street; daily crowds exceed other tournaments weekly figures yet maintain their golf decorum for the most part; and, the top players still show up looking forward to the week.

We couldn’t handle this environment every week, once every February it’s a very special place on the PGA Tour, and creates enough stories for the rest of the year. A lot of practice range conversation starts, “Remember that time in Phoenix? …”. Thanks for all the memories and hospitality.