On The Inside

On March 14^th, I had the good fortune to caddie for PGA Professional David Denlinger, from Lancaster, PA (who will soon be competing in his third season on the PGA Tour LatinoAmerica) at a Valspar Golf Championship Qualifier at Southern Hills Plantation Club in Brooksville, FL.  Southern Hills Plantation is a Pete Dye design, which played 7,557 yards with a Course Rating of 76.7 and a Slope Rating of 145. The Valspar Golf Championship’s final round is today (March 24^th) at Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, FL.

Fun Facts:

• At the age of 14, David was even par heading into the 18^th hole at the Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, PA, firing  a one over par round at a Junior event.
• On Friday, March 22, 2019, David carded a “27” on the back nine of Laurel Oak Country Club in Sarasota, Florida, with an eagle, seven birdies and a lone par.

On the eve of the Qualifier, after dinner, I thought it best to chat with David regarding his expectations, as we had not yet “worked together”.  After a long pause (or maybe it was a sigh), David was resolute with his commentary, stating the words “can’t” and “don’t” are not to be a component of any conversation during our round!  There was an additional brief conversation regarding my green reading skills for which my commentary was resolute as well, “My friend, you are on your own!”  My expectations of David, on the inside (non-verbal thoughts, coined by my life-long friend, Whitey) were reasonably straightforward; playing the weekend at the Valspar, a Matt Kuchar-like reward for my efforts, a television cameo or two, possibly with a yardage book in hand or sharing a wind direction, not to mention “Bad Golf Guy” branding on David’s bag, his golf shirts and our hats. Negotiations (on the inside) can be tricky, there are always concessions, however all-in-all, I thought things went well! 

Once we arrived home, I scrambled to assemble my Baltusrol Golf Club caddie bib (circa 1968) which was never located, a clean white towel, a spare battery for the range finder (permissible in qualifiers), my trusty Profile divot tool, a few tees to clean the grooves, golf shoes, socks, sunscreen and a hat.  I wasn’t sure if I should go with my panama style hat or a baseball style hat.  After some deliberation, I opted for the baseball style hat, not wanting to draw attention to myself.  I was packed and ready to roll!

We left the house the following morning at 7:18 hoping to arrive a little over an hour prior to our 8:50 tee time.  Upon arrival, David grabbed his bag out of his trunk, flung it on his back and we headed for the driving range.  I thought it a bit odd that David was carrying his bag on his back when I was his caddie.  Most likely it was an act of kindness as David is a very polite young man however a trace of doubt crept into my diminutive noodle, wondering if he was already compensating for his geriatric sidekick before our feet touched a blade of grass…hmmmmm!

As David warmed up with his wedges, irons, three wood and driver, I made haste for the water cooler to dampen my clean white towel, wanting to make certain David’s implements were spotless.  Our interaction on the range hearkened back to the days of Phil and Bones, with the possible exceptions that I never uttered a word and kept a respectful twenty-five yard distance from David’s hitting stall!  After a few rolls on the practice putting green, a brief but inspiring pep talk and a pat on the rump (both on the inside), I saddled up and we confidently strode to the first tee, clearly a team for the ages.

Near the first tee, we introduced ourselves to our playing partners, Dan, a friendly man in his mid to late 30’s, who had played on the Web.Com Tour, now a commercial banker in St. Petersburg and Paul, a pleasant young man in his late 20’s, from Scotland.  Dan opted for a cart while Paul carried his bag.

Once on the box, you could cut the tension with a knife; wondering where I should stand, should I have David’s bag on my back or should it be resting on the ground, was I far enough away, was I inconspicuous, was I going to drop something on the ground in the middle of someone’s backswing and so on.  After the first tee box jitters, we were on our way with my guy pitching a birdie on the first hole.

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All kidding aside, my objectives for the day were really quite simple; keeping out of the way, keeping up, attempting to anticipate David’s every need; pulling pins, raking the occasional trap, shooting distances, double and triple checking said distances, filling David’s water bottle and keeping in good cheer and speaking when spoken to.

David played well. Unfortunately, he did not qualify for the Valspar and other than a missing driver head cover between the 17^th green and the 18^th tee box, I would like to think I held my own.

As I reflected on the day, I was taken with the comradery between the players, the kindness between the players and the class and demeanor of the players, even when things weren’t going as planned…all that is good about our game!  I was thrilled to have had the opportunity to participate in the day and to watch amazing young men ply their craft.  More than anything, I was so proud to be associated with my friend, David Denlinger.

Although David offered, I wanted to finish the job, carrying his bag to the trunk!

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The back nine can only get better!