Mark’s Kaddy Korner

FIX YOUR SLICE NOW!!!Click Here!WITH VERY LITTLE EFFORT!!!!

My brother Dan, caddying for Tamie Durdin this week, moaned about the greens, rough and weather. The long hitter “Durds” was struggling in the practice rounds but fired a two opener and made the cut tied for 36th. “There’s no reason for the standard bearers to carry any red numbers after the first day” he said. “Absolutely the toughest U.S. Open track he’s ever been on in his 25+ caddy years, someone could hurt themselves out here,” he sighed.

The PGA of America chose the Colorado Golf Club for the Senior PGA less than two years after it officially opened. I’m sure there are some folks regretting that decision. The course is magnificent but a bit difficult for spectators. Someday there will be an opulent 30.000 square foot clubhouse but this week there are open receptacles, the dining area is unfinished forcing the players and families up the dusty path to a small cottage with few tables. Usually folks like to see a little grass around the clubhouse but the sod was taken back after bills went unpaid. With the high winds this week it has actually been dangerous walking around the clubhouse area. The blowing dirt and gravel permeated my old skin a few times.

It’s very frustrating leaving a tournament site when you arrive with high expectations. Birmingham held a lot of special memories, Jim had been working hard, plus his best friend and instructor were planning on a little celebration Sunday night after the win. The best I could do was laundry Sunday evening and then a long rainy drive home Monday. There were no special plans for the week off and when I left Jim he wasn’t sure if was playing the PGA the next week. Sunday afternoons are like that after a smooth 79.

The Regions Charity Classic played at Ross Bridge Resort and Spa used to be the Bruno’s Memorial Classic at Greystone Country Club and back then it was the strongest field with the largest galleries on the Champions Tour. These days the field is weak, the fans gather around the four or five holes surrounding the resort hotel and rarely venture out on the course, and there isn’t the buzz around Birmingham like there used to be. There were a lot of “remember when” stories about Greystone floating around the practice tee; everyone would love to go back.

The Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic was added to the schedule last December, nobody knew much about the area or the course we would be playing, Fallen Oak. All we knew was the course was about twenty miles north of the Gulf Coast in the middle of nowhere plus the local casinos were offering players and caddies special room deals. That’s usually not a good omen for some caddies but there were no reports of anyone reporting M.I.A and only a couple reported late for duty.

Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf

Whispers, the first tee starter, greets every player and announces to the crowd, “Let’s give them a sweet Savannah welcome” and everyone does just that all week. Savannah opens its arms, homes and restaurants, the hospitality is unbelievable and the Liberty Mutual Legends of golf has been coming here since 2003. Doug Tewell was the defending that year and it was nice to be back together, the golf wasn’t very good but the reminiscing was fun.

Another week off but a lot going on and I tried to follow the Tiger parade through Augusta as much as possible. The cabin was still intact, Zach chased a few critters from the shed, and when we left on Thursday snow was collecting on the deck. Everywhere I went folks wanted to know my thoughts about Tiger. How would he finish at the Masters? What was going on in his personal life? Would Stevie keep his job? What did you think about the press conference on Monday?

Masters Preview from Kaddy Korner

When Arnie and Jack hit the ceremonial first drives Thursday morning hopefully all the Tiger trash will be over. The Monday press conference could drag on into Tuesday morning and nobody is worried about the golf yet. A lot of the players are gearing up for the press onslaught, the reporters will have a lot of down time and they’ll be looking for someone to talk to besides Tiger.

Punta Cana- Cap Cana Championship

The Dominican Republic sports numerous challenging golf courses including Pete Dye’s incomparable Teeth of the Dog and the Champions Tour has been coming to Punta Cana for the last four years. Jack Nicklaus designed a challenging tract with eight holes directly touching the stunning blue Caribbean waters and a layout weaving around ancient underwater ocean formations. The first and second tees are perched on limestone cliffs, once submerged but now overlooking the Cap Cana Oceanside resort, the Caribbean, and on a clear night the lights from Puerto Rico.