In My Caddie I Trust

Being a golf pro in Fayetteville NC would not be looked upon as the greatest job in the world but it does have its redeeming qualities. Firstly, the people are great but more importantly you could be on the first tee box at Pinehurst #2 in 45 minutes. Trust me, in my eight years living in Fayetteville, I took full advantage of it.

My dear friend Jim and I went to tee it up on Pinehurst #2 on a Tuesday. It was a week after the Payne Stewart victory in the US Open. Supposedly the course was set up the same as it was in the final round so we were fired up to get out there. Jim never had the opportunity to play #2 before and had never had the luxury of playing with a professional caddie. I’ve played #2 a few times and this would be my 2nd caddie experience.

There was nobody on the course so Jim,myself and our two caddies strolled up to the first tee. The first thing the caddies asked us was “How far do you hit an eight iron”. These guys could pretty much club us for the entire round by using this tidbit of information. My friend is the assistant in the golf shop and he told me earlier that these were the best two caddies out there. He said that they had actually carried for touring pros the week before. We get out on the course and I begin to notice that Jim is repeatedly ignoring the advice of his caddie. Realizing that these guys have made hundreds of loops around #2 and knew every break on every green, I did what ever my caddie suggested.

Toward the end of the front nine I was holding my own, about one or two over. But poor Jim was hovering around 7 or 8 over and still ignoring his caddie. Then it happened. Jim had about 185 yards to the pin and his caddie told Jim to hit 4 iron. Jim kept insisting it was a 5 iron, again vetoing his caddie’s advice. This time the caddie had made up his mind to make a statement. While Jim was addressing the ball the caddie put his shadow on the ball. Jim looked him like “Have you lost your mind” and the caddie said,  “Mr. Jim, sir. It’s  a 4 iron not a 5.” Jim hits his 5 iron anyway and comes up exactly one club short. Go figure.  Jim had left himself 45 ft from the hole. His caddie told him it broke 4 ft right to left and Jim thought it broke 4 ft left to right. Ok, at this point I’ve had enough. I told Jim to listen to his caddie and if this putt didn’t break right to left then he could ignore him for the rest of the round. Jim listened and proceeded to roll that 45 footer in like a homesick gopher. From that point on Jim’s game got better and he actually started having fun.  After that, Jim’s caddie could have told  him to drop his pants and poop on the green and he would have!

On a serious note, I suggest that everybody needs to make it point to visit the Pinehurst Resort, not just for the golf but also for the village itself. Everything about Pinehurst oozes golf history.

Fairways and Greens

Robert Rowe

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