First week of the season. Hooray?
Remember those mornings when you were in eighth grade and you pulled the covers over your head and said, "Five more minutes, Mom!"
Some of y'all might still feel that way every morning before work.
This week we throw in a golf course (Silverado Resort and Spa's North Course for the Frys.com Open) that is in only its sophomore year on the PGA Tour, so it doesn't have much history with players or caddies.
Rub the sand from your sleepy eyes, Mr. Caddie, and give us the inside scoop on this track before you go to work.
Here's this week's Caddie Confidential.
Collins: At a course like this, with not much history, what's the hardest thing for the caddie to learn?
Caddie: Just the spots to miss it. Familiarizing yourself with where you can miss it and where you can't. Most of the courses we play year after year after year, you pretty much know ... this hole you can't be long on, or this hole you can't be short on. So getting comfortable knowing exactly where to miss it.
Collins: If there was one hole on this course that you could blow up, which one would it be?
Caddie: I don't really dislike holes at all. You know, to me, you gotta play 'em all, so I don't really look at any hole to be worse or better than the other ones.
Collins: So there isn't one hole? If you were designing this course, there isn't one hole you'd do different?
Caddie: I don't think about it. I mean, I ain't the designer, dude. So whoever designed it ... it is what it is. I just try and find a way to put ourselves in position to score. A lot of guys like to do that. You know, redesign a hole. I don't do that. I don't think that way cause I ain't the designer, dude. I'm a caddie. So my job is to look at it the way it is and figure out the best way to play it.
Collins: We always hear from the players about how short the offseason is. What's the hardest part for the caddie with this quick turnaround?
Caddie: I think that once you finish the FedEx Cup, it's kinda like, "OK, cool. I don't have to travel for a while." I can go home. I can relax. I don't have to be on the grind anymore. And three weeks later, they're [the PGA Tour] like, "OK, let's go!" [laughs] I'm like, "C'mon, man. I just sat down!" ... Travelling is hard, man. I would say traveling can be more challenging than caddying once you know what you're doing.
Collins: Is there any part of caddying that can get rusty? After a long layoff, do you need to practice raking or something like that?
Caddie: Yeah. I would say the mental part of how fast it moves. For me, my mind works differently when I'm out here than when I'm home. Like when I'm home, I'm relaxed. People tell me to show up [to golf] at 1 o'clock, I show up at, like, 12:59 and just go tee off or whatever. [laughs] It's like, "I ain't on your time!" But out here it's a different story.
Everything is so regimented and you always have to be on your toes ... and so just getting back in the mode of being ready when it's your time, paying attention to all the details. You know a good caddie is very detail-oriented. Crossing his t's and dotting his i's with everything on every hole. So I would say that's probably the one part -- you gotta refocus and really pay attention to all the small things as a caddie.
Collins: Back to this week's golf course. Is there anything people at home should know about this track that they might not see or hear on TV or radio?
Caddie: The greens are a lot firmer than they look. And they're pretty quick.
Collins: Which hole will cause the caddie the most problems because of wind or elevation?
Caddie: No. 2 is a 240-yard par-3. [evil chuckle] But they may play the up tees one day. ... From the tips, even with a firm green, you're hitting 5-wood or, into the wind, 3-wood! All the par-3s on this course are very challenging. No. 7 is a 3-iron. No. 11 is at least a 6-iron, and No. 15 is at least a 6-iron.
Collins: What'd be a good score this week?
Caddie: I'd take minus-2 every day. Yup. I think minus-2 every day will put you top-15 at the least, no doubt ... yeah, I'd take 8 under all day.
Collins: For the caddie, which hole is the most fun on this course?
Caddie: [curses at me laughing] The last one!
Collins: So No. 9 or No. 18 on Friday? [insinuating he's going to miss the cut]
Caddie: [more laughing and cursing] The most fun hole is the 18th on Sunday when you're unscrewing the flag from the flagstick. That's the most fun hole. Hey, make sure you write that down!
I might have said something back at him, but the tape recorder cut off so... ; )