US Womens Open

Oh my goodness. What a week! I knew going into the week that caddying in the US Womens Open was going to be awesome but I had no clue how much fun we were going to have!

Lucy had a late first round tee time so we woke up early Thursday and went out to practice while the first half of the field was out playing. We had the place to ourselves and I think it calmed her nerves a bit. Nothing is worse than having a late tee time and sitting around all day. It’s hard not to think about your round and how you’re going to perform and trying not to watch the leader board as the morning wave plays.

The crowds were much much bigger and just hearing the applauses and roars were music to my ears. It’s kind of nice being on the other side of the bag because I didn’t have nerves the whole week. Lucy’s short game made Oakmont look easy leading up to the tournament. She was hitting the ball great and we had an awesome game plan for the course. We got off to a nice solid start and didn’t find any trouble until our 8th hole of the day, #17. It’s the short par 4 hole that Jim Furyk bogeyed in ’07 in the US Open. Our original game plan was to hit an iron up the hill to make sure we kept the ball in the fairway. She chose 5 iron which was the play and landed the ball in the left side of the fairway. We walked up there and had to get the gallery to yell at us to let us know where the ball ended up. An inch above the bunker on the side wall in thick US Open rough. No need to go into detail but we walked away with a triple followed by a double on 18. If we took 4 holes away or even changed them to bogeys it would have made a world of a difference. Instead her first round was an 83 and we had a lot of work to do the next day.

The second round we had another solid start. Had an understandable bogey on 3 but turned around and had back-to-back birdies on 5 and 6. We made the turn at even and found a double on 10. #10 flat out sucks. Not a fan of that hole. Lucy made another putt from off the green on #16 which was sweet. I told her it was going to be a quick putt and she nailed the putt pretty hard, not listening to her caddy. If it didn’t hit the pin it was going off the green. All I could do was throw my hands in the air, pretty much saying “it’s good!!!!” The round was called once we got to 17 green because of lightning. I heard Oakmont got at least 2 inches of rain that night and it was amazing how quickly they turned the course around for the next morning’s finish of the 2nd round. We woke up at the butt crack of dawn and finished our last two holes. She ended up shooting 78 and missed the cut. She was bummed but I had to tell her that she should be proud that she qualified for the Open…I didn’t and envied every shot she was able to hit. I’m really glad she asked me to caddy though. It was hard work and my back and feet hated me for it but I learned so much and realized that that’s my ultimate goal. I want to be in that atmosphere week in and week out. I’m going to work hard and do my very best to not get down on myself and to keep looking ahead for the ultimate goal.


I was able to meet Christina Kim in the locker room during the rain delay and got my picture with her. She was really sweet and I was happy I finally got to meet her. We were on the putting green early Saturday morning warming up and were putting at the same hole as Kristy McPherson. I like her golf game and since she’s American, I said “hey good luck today. We’re pulling for you.” I think she was slightly caught off guard because she said “who me? Thanks! Ya’ll have fun today!” …she went out and shot 78 I believe and knocked herself out of contention. I apparently jinxed her. Paula Creamer was walking past us that same morning and I said “good morning” in a cheerful voice and all she mustered out was a “morning” and didn’t even make eye contact with me. Hmm…I guess it was too early in the morning for her. I was able to give Wendy Ward a hug and had a quick chat before she headed out and played awesome on Saturday to put her in the final group on the final round. She’s a fellow Ping girl and veteran out there so I was pulling for her to play well the last day. I played with her in February in Phoenix and really enjoyed playing with her. She recommended me to this amazing chiropractor in Scottsdale because I had the worst crick in my neck. Very nice lady so I had to cheer her on. Sunday rolled around and of course I walked by Paula Creamer before she teed off so I told her “good luck today!” And she looked at me (finally) and gave me a quiet “thank you.” I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she was in the zone. Lucy thinks I was trying to jinx her but I was sincere when I said it! Lucy, her dad, her brother-in-law, and me went out and watched the entire final round. It was the coolest atmosphere and just a blast to watch them play the same course we knew. I’ve never seen anyone win a major championship in person so we stayed til the end, had a great view and afterwards snuck under the ropes and were on the 18th green with Paula when she gave her acceptance speech. I’m really glad an American won and it was definitely her time to win a major.





Lucy and I are on our way to Hartford, CT right now. We are taking a tiny detour because I thought going along the coast would be prettier than going through Scranton, PA. I’ve only been to NYC once so the whole northeast part of the country is new to me.

I’m really excited because I found a great tour caddie to work for me the last couple of tournaments of the Futures Tour season. He’s caddied for a lot of great players and is definitely wanted by a lot of players but for some reason he wants to carry my bag. I’m already grateful and excited to see how well we can play these courses. One more week in Connecticut then flying home for a week to get refreshed and say hi to the family, dog, and friends before I head out for another 3 weeks.

I didn’t get a whole lot of practice this week in Oakmont but hopefully there isn’t much rust and more course smarts in my head to take me on to a victory. I feel like I have my back against the wall right now because I’ve been in a somewhat huge slump of playing consistently well and I really need to finish in the top 90 on the money list so four great finishes is what I’m looking for. Please keep me in your prayers this week. I’d really appreciate it. Take care everyone!