Mark’s Kaddy Korner

Hey all,

 

Another all night drive, three hours sleep in a Dennys parking lot because Motel 6 wouldn’t let me check in till 7:00, and a Monday Pro-am at 10:10 was about all I could handle. Zack, my Terrier/Beagle mix puppy added a little twist, but we survived and made four new friends.

 

The Travelers is a tournament on the upswing. Years ago it was one of the best stops on tour with all the top players and celebrities making an appearance. Sammy Davis Jr. was the host and all his cronies would stop by for a few days. Arnold and Greg won here, Peter Jacobsen won his last event, and 80,000 fans would line the amphitheater setting around the finishing holes every weekend. The tournament was almost lost, Travelers Insurance took over sponsorship, and now I wouldn’t want to miss the event.

 

They take such good care of everyone, including us (they do our laundry, no charge!), and the VFW outside the main entrance has an afternoon crowd that bends over backwards for you. I hadn’t been here in 15 years, walked in there Wednesday afternoon and it was like I’d never left. Pickles, Smitty, and the boys put me under their wing and now I’ve got free home-cooking next year, a baby-sitter for Zach, and new UCONN swim team cheerleaders for my daughter, Cassie. 

 

You all know we’re struggling but we’re not giving up. The TPC at River Highlands is a great par 70 golf course but this year’s soft conditions didn’t suit our game. When a course plays hard and fast that’s to our advantage, but the rain soaked fairways and greens took accuracy out of the equation, and brought every one into the game. The cut ended up -3 with the leaders at -9, and usually the cut here is +2 or so. No wind, pristine conditions, soft fairways and greens, allow those missed shots some leeway.

 

We were first off Thursday at 6:50, bogied the first hole birdied the third, and then flared our drive into the water on the par 5 thirteenth. Not the start we wanted but he hung in there and finished at 72. We hit the practice tee and discussed a few things, Joe Pesci of all people, told us the day before. He said, “you’ve got to have fun in this game or it’s not worth it.” I think that’s going to be our new mantra. Joe’s a golf fanatic, not very good, but he knows and appreciates the game.

 

We had it going early in Friday’s round but made stupid bogies on five and six. There was little banter coming of the seventh tee, but before our second shot I said a few things to make sure our head was still in the game. Robert was still focused and we brought it back to -1 going into the reachable par 4 fifteenth hole. There was a long wait on the tee, Robert enjoyed a cigar, and I talked with Dudley Hart about the Tim Russert’s death. Don’t know about you guys, but for some reason his death had a huge effect on me.

 

Anyway, when the green cleared about 290 yards away, Robert approached the ball with 3 wood in hand. We had discussed the shot thoroughly, decided 3 wood was best, but just before he was ready, Robert asked, “you still like this club?” Sometimes a caddy should just agree with the player even when they don’t, and sometimes a bad shot should just end up kind of bad, but I said, “I like driver”, we flared it to the right, hit a cart path, and the ball bounced up the hill, unplayable in the brambles and briars, dashing our hopes.

 

Walking out of the bushes, a spectator got in my face and said, “Dr. Livingston, I presume?” I quietly looked him the eye and said, “Smar*%ss, I presume.” Sorry, I couldn’t help myself, and some fans just don’t get what we’re going through out here. We did birdie the last hole but it wasn’t enough. Oh well, there’s next week.

 

Some of my so-called Champions Tour buddies called to give me a hard time Friday night, and since they were just up the road at Nashawtuc CC, I visited them Saturday before heading to Flint, MI. It sure was nice seeing some old faces, relaxing in a cart, and feeling like you’ve got some friends. On the PGA Tour the other caddies are only concerned about your health when they don’t have a job and looking for a bag. There were hugs and handshakes all around from players and their wives, caddies, tournament officials, and volunteers. I did a little networking and may work the August West Coast swing, if I’ve got some time off.

 

Take care.

 

Mark