Mark’s Kaddy Korner

AT & T Championship – Champions Tour – San Antonio, TX

Albert Warren Tillinghast created Oak Hills CC in the early 20’s, back then it was perched on a hill about ten miles north of San Antonio. The city has grown up around it but his masterpiece is still one of the finest courses the Champions Tour visits. The traffic is horrific but once behind Oak Hills’ walls and shady oaks lining the tight fairways the golf is exquisite. The PGA Tour played the Texas Open on this short, shot-makers course until 1994 when it out grew the track and sponsors enticed the tour to move to LaCantera, a resort course most caddies despised.

Kaddy Korner – Administaff Classic – The Woodlands, TX

The day and half Houston drive was relaxing and uneventful; those new tires are nice now it’s time to get the air conditioner fixed. I was looking forward to the week at The Woodlands. Bob was playing good, I was going to shack up with Todd’s (Watson’s caddy) brother Paul, watch a bunch of baseball, and play our way in to the Schwab Cup tournament. Bob only needed about $80-90,000 for the top thirty money winners event and I liked our chances.

By the time I’d gathered my luggage and boarded the Houston-Hobby airport rental car shuttle bus my long sleeve t-shirt was drenched with sweat. Our rather rotund bus driver announced, “Don’t worry honey, you ain’t gonna havta worry about the heat, it’s fixin’ to get real cold this afternoon. I can’t wait; I’m tired of sweating this year.” She was right; Houston experienced some God awful weather the next five days.

The season is winding down. The PGA Tour finished up at Disney and Stephen Ames, the winner, wasn’t the happiest man in Mickey’s Kingdom, Nicholas Thompson was ecstatic after going low Sunday moving from 138 on the money list inside the top 125 and retaining his playing privileges for next year. Without that low round Nicholas would have been traveling the Nationwide Tour with a few stops on the PGA.

I was supposed to work for Willie Wood at the Nationwide Tour’s event in Chattanooga, Tenn., but he withdrew so he could watch his son’s last golf tournament of the year. Standing on the Black Creek CC practice tee late Wednesday morning unemployed, my chances for a job were waning, and I was hoping to line up something for the next week. My phone rang; I didn’t recognize the number, but for some reason I decided to answer.

“Hello, Mark, this is Tom Watson. Can you work for me next week in Houston? Ox can’t make it.”