Mark’s Kaddy Korner

Transitions Championship – Innisbrook – Tarpon Springs, FL           

The Transitions Championship (a few other sponsors also) has been coming to Innisbrook since 2000 and prior to that the Mixed Team PGA/LPGA was held here in the late 80’s and early 90’s. It was a lot of fun back then, still challenging, but it was the off season and a chance to make a little Christmas money. Now the course has been redesigned (1999), lengthened, and toughened up enough that a major could be staged here.

My Hero-Wish he was Around Today

A Fan’s Lament – The Fleecing of Sports Fans

Growing up in central Illinois I was a diehard Cubs fan, the Bears and Bulls were my favorites but I didn’t live and die with them. My first game was a 1969 Wrigley Field Cub-Cardinal doubleheader, Billy Williams Day, helping my hero celebrate his continuous game streak and watching him hit for the cycle in four straight at-bats. Whatever sport was in season my instincts followed but my heart was always with the Cubs and baseball. I couldn’t wait for my Sporting News subscription every Saturday morning; it was all about baseball back then.

This article was just published in Australian Golf Digest as Show up, Shut up, and Keep up – A Veteran Caddy’s take on Tour Life. The article definitely looks better in the magazine, they added some great pictures and made my writing look good. 

Aussie Players and Caddies on the PGA Tour

In 1988, my first year on the PGA Tour, there was a handful of Australian golfers on the tour. Norman was dominating, “Elkie” was an up and comer, Wayne Grady was steady, Ian Baker-Finch could find fairways back then, and David Graham showed up occasionally. They were all great players, Greg had Steve Williams on the bag, the rest of the crew used American loopers.

Former PGA Tour caddie Greg Rita and his family were robbed in a home invasion on New Year’s Eve in Jacksonville, Fla., firstcoastnews.com reported Tuesday.

According to a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office report, three men broke into the Rita home through an open garage door about 6 a.m. Police said Rita’s wife awoke to the men “standing at the foot of her bed.” One of the suspects hit her in the head with the butt of a gun.

According to the report, Rita’s wife was taken into the living room while Rita was left in the bedroom. The couple’s 4-year-old son remained asleep in his room.

Changes in the Caddie World

The boys are out in Hawaii playing golf and I’m back here scraping windows, picking dog poop out of the snow, and adjusting the thermostat on a regular basis. It doesn’t seem right but that’s the nature of the business at the moment. After talking with a bunch of my caddy buddies last week, it seems like there are a lot of folks in the same boat. According to a couple of informal surveys conducted last year on the Champions Tour almost half the players were using friends or family members, MCI caddies we call them. In fact, I just got a call from Peter Jacobsen last night confirming he had a buddy working for him in Florida.

Tiger’s Effect on a Fan

First of all, I’m a golf fan, not just a Tiger fan. I’ve admired the game for a long time, especially the players’ character at the highest level. The PGA Tour doesn’t have an extensive criminal dossier for its members like the NFL or the NBA. The PGA Tour advertises with the high end of society; Rolex, Accenture, Tag Heuer, Cadillac, etc. are all after the upper class dollar, and to have a squeaky clean, racially mixed, photogenic spokesman has filled their advertising needs, not to mention the PGA Tour’s vaults and Tiger’s pockets.

PGA Tour Viking Classic – Madison, MS

It was a long drive for a Monday pro-am and watching a divots all week. I caught the 11 0’clock ferry Sunday morning and pulled into Annandale CC about 10:30 Monday morning. The pro-am went off as scheduled with carts on path only because of wet conditions; it was the only thing that went off as scheduled all week. We decided, well Willie decided, to walk the course. I was a tired puppy when I showed up at my in-laws by marriage, Brad and Joni Garrison, that night.

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.”

Everyone remembers where they were when JFK was shot; when the Space Shuttle exploded; and, 9/11. October 25, 1999, the day Payne Stewart’s plane made that eerie flight across the Midwest, every golfer and fan turned to the TV, hoping the news wasn’t correct. We had just finished the Kaanapali Classic in Hawaii, and were relaxing on a boat off the Maui coast. A day of sun, fun, snorkeling, and fishing was disrupted by the news from PGA Tour headquarters.

First Round Senior PGA Championship

We’ve been around the course twice and feel like we’re ready. The mental preparation is over now it’s time to go out and play. I showed up at the course about 6:30 for our 8:20 time but didn’t see Tom till about forty-five minutes before tee time. Every player has his routine and Tom does a lot of stretching in the fitness trailer before hitting balls. I did all my prep work and waited on the practice tee for about a half hour. There were a lot of questions about Ox’s health, Tom’s regular caddy, and few questions about how I got the job. Players and caddies always like to know what’s going on.