The Auburn Am and Some Thoughts on Caddies
I played the Auburn Am recently and had a really good time. I scored the best round of golf so far at 9 under par. I had been 9 under once before at the same course but this was by far my strongest showing at an event. I did not perform as well for the rest of the event – I was surprised how well I did in the first round and tried a little too hard to match it. Time to have two really good rounds in one event.
I really like the events hosted by the Chain Zombies in Auburn, Ca. They almost always start on time. The players meetings are no nonsense and concise. They have well organized side events like CTP’s and mini-disc-golf – though I don’t personally play them. They almost always provide lunch and this year the sandwiches were delicious and exactly what I needed. They had a couple beer options for breaks – I had one but kind of wish I hadn’t as I lost some focus and energy.
The only complaint I have is that they allowed in too many players and had two ghost groups. I can’t recall the Zombies having this all too common problem before but it was a bit of a drag. My worst hole was 16, round three, when I hit the earliest tree, careened off another tree, and got buried in thorny brambles. I had to take an unplayable lie and re-tee. I had waited at least 20 minutes to tee. There were at least 15 golfers and their caddies watching my fumble. I’m not saying the wait caused the fumble but having an audience at that moment was unpleasant.
The wait did give me a few moments to think about the topic of this blog and the opportunity to ask some of my fellow competitors what they thought about having or being a caddie. I had been thinking about this since the Master’s Cup a few weeks prior, largely because of a comment my buddy Armando made, “I’ve decided I just can’t play with a caddie.” Here are Armando’s Pros and Cons of having a caddie from the Master’s Cup Amateur Weekend in Santa Cruz:
- You are less fatigued at the end of the day but this can also be remedied if you push a cart. In my case, I only carry 16 discs, which isn’t a lot, but my energy levels were much higher at the end of days 1 & 2. Caddies can provide words of encouragement, tips, suggestions, or even help you stay loose by talking about something else. This was evident with my Dad trying to cheer me up when things headed south. He urged me to be aggressive which cost me some strokes but also gained me some as well.
See the rest of Armando’s Pros and Cons with some further thought on having and being a caddie here.
hoey, 
trotter is discussing. 
NutSac: When you’re ready to go balls out.