A Day in the Life of a Caddy on the LPGA

It's an odd day in my life when I have to get up earlier than my usual time to get up for work for anything, but that was my situation on Monday morning, the 18th. Because of the heat, I didn't sleep much on Sunday night, so by the time 5:45 AM rolled around, I was a zombie right after getting up. But I had to be at the course at 6:45 AM to check in.

As part of my employment with the bank, they pay for a day of volunteer service in order to promote giving back to the places we live in. I love this idea, as it really reinforces that we should all do our part to help out our towns and communities. An email had been circulated about for volunteers to help caddy for the LPGA Safeway Classic this week in Portland, and I decided to use my volunteer day for this. One, it is a great charity, the Trillium Family Services; two, I play golf so why not watch people better than me to get some pointers; three, it's normally nice weather in Portland so a day outside sounds like a great time to volunteer.

Well, one and two came true, but mother nature had other thoughts about number three. After three straight days of over 100 degree heat, Sunday came along and the thunderstorms and clouds began to appear, and there was a bit of unsettled weather all day. On Monday, they had expected a chance of thunderstorms with temperatures in the 70s. Ok, a 30 degree drop in a matter of 48 hours, with the chance of rain. August is usually one of the most non-rainy months in Portland, so seeing showers in the forecast meant for me to just grab a jacket on the way out as I left for the course.

I arrived at Columbia Edgewater at 6:40 AM, and proceeded to the pro shop to check in. Columbia Edgewater is a private country club, and walking through the gates, it was obvious this was a different type of golf course. The main clubhouse had large oak doors at the front, and a driveway porch where folks were ready to collect clubs for the day's round. There were plenty of Benzes, BMWs and Audis in the parking lot, getting special parking in the main parking lot. For people that work very hard and have earned their monies, I think something like joining a country club can be an enjoyable thing. For me, I'm a public course low-key kind of guy, so the opulence just were a bit much for me. I suppose I would really suck as a rich person, because if I had loads of money, I'd probably be doing the same things I do now just with more money. To me, money helps you get the things you want out of life, but it shouldn't be an obsession or used as a status symbol.

I checked into the caddy desk, grabbed a cart, and waited. It was 7:00 AM and my group was starting from the fourth hole at 8:02 AM. My guy was part of a golfing buddy group that decided to participate in Monday's Pro-AM for charity, and there would be one LPGA pro included with our group as well. It sounded like a recipe for a load of fun, and so I headed off to the fourth hole after fueling up with some coffee and fruit with a smile on my face. The day was nice enough, not too warm, and the rain had held off so far in the day. As I arrived at the hole, I was joined by the three other caddies, and we shared some talk about the day, our golfing experiences, and the fun we were going to have for the day. Soon, our golfers showed up, followed by our pro, Angela Jerman.

Angela showed up, and had a big smile on her face and a spring in her step. She was ready to play, and proceeded to meet all of her group and then spoke to each caddy for a few moments before the round. She was extremely personable, and thanked us all for coming out this morning. Then, without too much warning, a few thunder rumbles started up and she looked around, asking if we were actually going to start play. Then, a couple of lightening flashes filled the sky. I had left my jacket in the car, and decided I was going to take my chances with the weather. Within a few minutes, a large horn blew alerting everyone to come back to the pro shop. Apparently, a weather system was coming and they wanted to suspend play until it had passed. The golfers and Angela were soon off in their carts, while me and my fellow caddies started walking towards the pro shop.

It didn't take more than 5 minutes and the rain floodgates opened. It was coming down in buckets, and I was soon soaked from head to toe. We found a hospitality tent to hide in for a few moments, until course security came by looking for us. They said it's great that you were out of the rain, but being in a large metal tent with lightening about wasn't very smart. They piled us into a few carts and took us back to the pro shop. By then, I was fully soaked and looking like a drown rat. I soon was munching on a granola bar and some coffee, trying to dry out and checking the weather forecasts on my phone's browser. It appeared it would let up for a bit, but not for an hour or so. The rain didn't stop until almost 8:45 AM, and we were soon told that the round would resume at 9:30 AM. I scurried off to grab my jacket and change from my golf shoes to regular running shoes. My golf shoes are actually sandals, which are extremely comfortable shoes but yes, if it rains, the socks get wet. I was back at the pro shop at 9:15 AM, and was soon walking off to hole 4.

As we made it back to the tee box, our golfers and Angela were already there and waiting to go. The chatter resumed, and Angela was charming the group with stories about her university, Georgia, and SEC football. The guys soon teed off, and then Angela got ready to go. She just walked up to her ball, flexed her knee, swung and BAM, the ball was flying straight as the day. Her swing was compact and effortless, and I was simply amazed. As the day wore on, she chatted with group members about various topics, saying over and over she was a chatty person and liked to have fun on the course. But she was extremely professional in her approach to her game, hitting good shot after good shot while being very charming and personable.

I had impressed the golfers by me saying I was not working today because I was being paid to volunteer for the day, and that my golf game was actually walking around and occasionally hitting objects towards a target. My humour was apparently on, and as they asked me about my golf game, I was able to share the courses I played, all public, and my best golfing experience, which was playing in Scotland back in 2006. But as the day wore on and the stories kept flying, what impressed me was Angela's demeanor. She was having fun, engaging the group, and just out there enjoying herself.

My brushes with professional athletes haven't been too many, but I respect the ones I've been able to talk to. John Stockton served me food and beer at his old tavern in Spokane, I've interacted with members of the Portland Timbers over the years and found them to be upstanding gentlemen, and meeting some of the Sunderland players earlier this year on my honeymoon, they were impressed that we would come all this way just to see them. And now, I can add Angela to that group, because she impressed me with her attitude. She treated everyone so well, and showed that she's got a good amount of golf talent. Plus, in researching her on the interwebs, she's involved in charitable causes and does a lot of great community work. Additionally, we found out that Monday's Pro AM was strictly attended by LPGA pros on a volunteer basis, so only the pros that wanted to be there came. And there were lots and lots of them about. And I think that the ladies tend to go out of their way to make themselves available to the fans, as I saw many of them chatting with fans, signing autographs, and enjoying the light drizzle.

The game itself was fun, and I enjoyed participating in a charitable event, but what I gained on the day was a greater appreciation for these very talented ladies, and how professional they truly are. Mind you, while I play golf, I hate watching it on television and I tend not to pay that close attention to various tournaments. I know the main people that play, but honestly for me, golf is an activity that you do, not watch at home. I enjoy being on the course, challenging myself to not lose all of my golf balls during a round and enjoying the once in a while great shot that keeps me coming back. My experience, though, showed me that there is a lot to seeing the game live, and I may have to take in some tournaments now and then in person. Maybe there is more to this game than I first realized, and at the very least, I'll remember that carrying metals sticks during a thunderstorm is never a good idea.

Random Thoughts from the World of Sports

The Olympics are a big part of my sports experience. I recall being disappointed with the U.S. boycotting the Moscow Olympics, but I also understood us needing to take a stand against Russia. The Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 were significant for me, not only because I watched as much coverage of the games as I possibly could, but I was able to assist with the Torch Relay as it came through Boise. I still have a picture of me and my friend John holding the torch, it was pretty cool. I was able to attend the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, where my friend Dave and I watched some hockey, aerial skiing, and spent some time in Calgary just running about and taking in the games itself. I've since watched Olympics go through various countries, the Winter Olympics go on a different schedule, and my personal experience of getting shut out of tickets to the Salt Lake games. I might try and travel to Vancouver BC in 2010, not only because the Winter Games are fun but I know the city well. But it's with great distress that I say that I'm not happy with what's happening now in Beijing.

It only slightly bothers me that someone lip synced a song in the opening ceremony because they thought the original girl wasn't pretty enough, and after seeing the actual footage on TV, it's annoying that some of the firework shots at the Opening Ceremonies were computer enhanced. I've heard that China is wanting to pull out all of the stops to put on the best ceremony ever, but simply put, this whole thing strikes me as a nation that is trying way too hard. We all know China doesn't have the best record of being an open country, nor do they deal with protests very well. Everything in their world is extremely structured, and the government controls all, even during this Olympics where the world was promised that we would see a new China. I'd think that with their human rights records and general bad impression on the world front, you'd want to be careful about things. But apparently a pretty face and computer images are supposed to make us all forget about Darfur and Tibet.

What I'm most irritated about is NBC's attempt to cover the Olympics. I'm used to watching sporting events that actually show coverage, provide analysis for what happened, and show the results. But the Olympics coverage is tailored more for the casual sports fan, as the coverage is littered with human interest stories, supposed live events that are cut and edited, and the footage is extremely slanted towards the US. I realize that NBC actually has numerous channels available to watch sports, and I've watched some of those channels simply to get away from the main feed. If an event is truly live, I'd expect it not to be interrupted with updates from other venues or in tonight's coverage, go from a supposedly live gymnastics competition to a swimming final and skip a whole turn. Seriously, it's as if NBC is thinking the viewers are all stupid and need to be force fed some patriotism and USA pride. I just want to watch events...

Which really gets frustrated when you have dozens of sports that rely on judging to determine results. I can respect most sports that have a clear cut winner because somebody scored more points, threw the object farther, jumped higher, ran faster or whatever. But to watch something where most participants do the same things and then have someone that is an expert determine who is better at spinning or tumbling or diving without really giving me, the viewer, any sense why one is better than another is dumb. A sport that needs to be judged is a sport that will create drama even if there's the smallest concern that something isn't right or there's inconsistencies in scores. When you rely on someone's perception to determine a winner, you run the risk of inconsistency and bias almost every time. Yet sports like baseball and softball aren't Olympic sports after this competition because they don't represent Olympic ideals. Yet tumbling and synchronized diving, gymnastics and boxing are, even with reports of judging issues in many past Olympics.

I can't take credit for the last point, it was discussed on the Morning Sports Page on 95.5 the Game during their morning show. I like the new format, and Gavin Dawson is a fresh approach to the sports game. He's a guy's guy but he also add some thoughtful comments and sensitivity to certain topics, plus he's a footy guy so that is a plus in my book. But seriously, guys, the problem with the previous morning show was that they talked Trail Blazers all the time, and I'm fearing this new version is risking the same issue. I love my NBA team, but I don't need to hear about every little move they make. I understand we are in a one major sport town, but there are lots of other things to talk about from the world of sports that are interesting. The talk didn't stop me from buying a quarter season ticket package for the Trail Blazers for me and girl, though, as I do need to see what all the fuss is about with this team.

After the Timbers match this weekend which I'll talk about a bit on Thursday/Friday in a preview as we face Montreal and then some afterwards, I'm going to get a new sporting experience. The LPGA Safeway Classic is next week at Columbia Edgewater, and I'm actually volunteering to caddy during the Pro-Am tournament on Monday. The proceeds for my volunteer work go towards Trillium Family Services, and at the very least, I will pick up some pointers for my golf game and spend some time outdoors. I will admit I don't watch golf on television because I find it extremely boring, yet I'll go out and swing the sticks anytime. Golf is a participation sport in my opinion, and watching it on television just doesn't have the same appeal for me as being there in person. Who knows, maybe I'll meet some famous golfers.

That's it for now, talk to you all later this week.