Mark’s Kaddy Korner

Hey all,    

 

You won’t see any of the current “Big Boys”, and I don’t think Steve Williams has ever caddied in a U.S. Open qualifier, but there’s definitely an interesting collection of great golfers chasing a dream. In our group we had a “young gun”, Jonathan Moore, and an unknown from Settlers Bay, Alaska, Ryan Sparks (Sparky). Jonathan’s going to be great, but an obnoxious cell phone triggered a snap hook during the six man playoff and kept him out of Torrey Pines. Sparky was just happy to be there, didn’t break 80 either round, and showed up with beer in hand on the nineteenth tee. In front of us, we watched Bob Tway caddy for his son Kevin, and they made it with room to spare.

 

Thirty six holes in one day is never fun, especially when you start great, fade a bit, make a rousing comeback, and then give it all away on the last two holes of the first round. Brookside, designed by a Donald Ross disciple, and the OSU Scarlet course, an Alister MacKenzie track unnecessarily tweaked by Jack, were a pure joy. Without that tournament adrenaline flowing, it was a long walk, about ten miles, but the weather cooperated and despite the outcome it was enjoyable.

 

Anyway, we missed and I was on the road for Memphis by 6:30. The plan was driving part way, getting a room, but the Cubs were on the West Coast so I listened and drove the distance, arriving about 2:15. I thought we’d take a break Tuesday but Robert wanted to meet around noon, and I was hurting. The 36 holes and drive took its toll, but we only played nine and worked with another putting guru, Kevin Weeks from Cog Hill. He showed us a drill using three stacked coins and reinforced a lot of the simple theories Murphy and Robert’s other instructors have been preaching.

 

We’re working hard on technique, maybe to hard, so Wednesday was a day off for me and Robert played in an off site Pro-am. Playing in these Pro-am’s over the years has endeared Robert with the tournaments, and made it possible for all our sponsor’s exemptions this year. I caught up on the every day chores I’ve been neglecting, and then walked the back nine after the Pro-am. We’ve been playing the Stanford St. Jude’s Classic at TPC South wind since the early ‘ 90′s, I know the course, but still need to take that stroll to feel comfortable every year.

 

In 2004 they changed the grass on the course, tweaked the greens a bit, and improved the playing conditions tremendously. Instead of bent grass, the TPC has zoysia fairways and Champion Bermuda greens, and it’s so pristine the guys aren’t bitching about the playing conditions any more. When I arrived on the tenth green Wednesday evening, the assistant superintendent was there with his grounds crew. We chatted awhile and I admired the work that goes into preparing a course for tournament play. There were at least 25 workers/volunteers, 6-8 tractors, and 4-5 mowers working diligently filling divots, raking traps, and mowing the fairway, rough, and green.

 

We bogied three of the first four Thursday, but hung in there and finished with a 73 on the par 70 track. Not bad considering the wind, hard and fast conditions, and our putting woes. Friday afternoon we bogied the first three holes on the back side, battled a bit, but the wind went out of our sails when we made the turn. Our threesome really struggled, Jay Delsing was ten over after the first six holes, but maintained his infectious smile. Our other playing partner, Tim Petrovic, missed the + 5 cut even though he had a lawyer on the bag. We come in all shapes and sizes.

 

Our gallery included Robert’s #1 & #2 fans, D. J. Gregory and Terri Campbell. D.J. has Cerebral Palsy and Terri has been confined to a wheel chair since a teenage car accident. They’re both writing books, Terri about the 1964 Cobton Appleknockers, and D.J. is relating his experiences on the Tour this year. I hope their smiling faces and positive attitudes rub off on us, because we sure need it right now. And, maybe our little chat in the parking lot after the round Friday cleared the air a bit.

 

A week off and we’ll be ready to go this next stretch. There’s quite a few tournaments coming up that Robert has had some success in past years. We’ll regroup, kick ourselves in the butt, and make a little money by the end of July, I promise you.

 

Take care.

 

Mark