🪬3 Major Takeaways from U.S. Open Qualifier

Last week, I caddied in the U.S. Open Qualifier at Walnut Creek in Westminster.

It was the first professional tournament environment I have been a part of.

After the experience has had several days to settle in, I wanted to offer some insights that it delivered. I will state the headlines and then expand on each.

Every player has his own process and desires different information from a caddying relationship.
Wind, temperature, and green speed can dramatically change performance, even for the best players.
Not a lot of people like the CGA.

During a practice round with my player (where we were both playing our own game), I asked him several questions regarding what he would like from me during the competitive round. For the most part, he wanted to go through his process/routine and just have me clean clubs, balls, etc. Other than that, I would just go about analyzing things on my own and he would ask me any questions if he wanted another POV. One thing he did want, though, was to have us both get the yardage via our respective range finders, since his was glitching on him in recent rounds. Mine also, however, has had issues, but more data points gave us increased confidence that we were looking at the right yardage. There was one instance during the round that we both got the wrong distance repeatedly, and it was costly. More on that in point 2. Over the course of the round, as we got more comfortable together in the caddy-player relationship, I noticed him leaning on me a tiny bit more in terms of debating club selection and overall strategy for the hole. One thing he took complete ownership over was putting, going through his routine to get speed and line right based on his own extensive practice at Walnut Creek's facilities in advance of the round!
Ah, the wind. The gusts got to at least 35 and I think up to 45 mph at times throughout the round. Some drives ended up >430 yds. >270 yd. 8i. 185 yd. 5i. It was a wild ride with the wind. Temperature variations also played a factor, especially starting at 8 am, vs. later in the day the ball was clearly jumping more off the face. Greens were rolling at a 13, I don't know that I've putted on anything that fast before. As it is, holding a green would have been extremely difficult. Add to that a tail wind, and it was a pure guessing game - or a game of luck and timing. One example of this phenomenon in its extreme: hole 13 at Walnut Creek is an uphill, 613 yard par 5. And on this day, it was into the jaws of the 25+ mph wind. So, it was playing close to 700 yards, maybe 750, maybe 800. Driver, 3w, 5i. For the 5i, this is where we had a mishap. We both were getting 200 yards on the range finder, but in reality it was about 170. My player hit a flush 5 iron and we thought it was going to be right next to the flag. It was barely long of the green, and it was puttable. So, he did. When he did, we both thought the ball was going to get caught up in the fringe. It did make it onto the green, and it was at this moment that the wind picked up, downwind now, and ended up blowing the ball OFF the front of the green and down into a collection area, begetting a chip shot for his 5th, and a subsequent 2 putt to result in a double bogey 7. Absolutely brutal. The whole day was like this. And it was like you couldn't do anything about it. But someone could have, which brings us to...
The CGA. They did suspend play on Tuesday, which was when the event was supposed to be, but on Wednesday it seemed to be a decision of "well we just have to get this done," rather than deeming the conditions appropriate to play in. One player 7-putted on Tuesday which (I believe) was finally what caused them to suspend play in the face of the brutal wind conditions. The following day truly wasn't much better, if at all. Many people were not happy with the way it was handled, and there seemed to be an overarching sentiment of displeasure with how the organization handled it. Many people withdrew from the event, either due to their own play/lack of chance to win, or simply with the unwillingness to put up with the conditions.

I have attached a video of the wind on Tuesday 05/07, immediately before it was called off. We had gotten through exactly 1 hole up to that point! Hope you enjoyed the report. A final point: COMPETITIVE GOLF IS REALLY REALLY HARD!!! Sticking with it is admirable, and not for everyone. Blessings to all!

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