Scott Martin's Page - April 2006 - Archives

New Orleans, La. 4-27-06

It was nice to shoot a couple under par today to start the tournament 
off. Mark could have easily shot 4 or 5 under if he could have rolled 
in some very makeable putts. His ballstriking was pretty good and he 
wasn't in any trouble. Honestly, this course doesn't have too many 
trouble spots if you can keep not too far off line. Today we managed to 
do that and got some better results.

It was a little disheartening to go into the media room and see the 
scoreboard. Some guys went pretty deep. Graham McDowell shot -8 and a 
red-hot Stuart Appleby shot -7 in his first competitive round since his 
victory last week at the Shell Houston Open. Although there were a few 
rounds of -6 or better in the morning, the lower scores were in the 
afternoon after the wind stopped blowing like it had for the early tee 
times. As I was driving to the course this morning I was listening to a 
local radio station for a weather update. Even though I check for wind 
direction on my computer before every round, I wanted to hear what they 
had to say. The DJ comes on and says the wind will blow in the morning 
for Thursday and again on Friday afternoon. Just in time for our tee 
times this week. Seeing as though they're expecting thundershowers on 
Saturday, the wind should be pretty strong Friday afternoon. Not a good 
draw this week for a player (and caddy) that needs to make the cut.

But if we want to feel sorry for ourselves all we have to do is look 
around and listen to what this area has gone through for the past eight 
months. Personally, I can't believe that 8 months has gone by so fast. 
But from what I have heard this week for some people it seems like 8 
years.

The people of New Orleans are putting on a brave face but they honestly 
don't know if it will ever be the same. Very understandable. Outside 
of the French Quarter, which is the way it used to be, the city hasn't 
changed that much since Hurricane Katrina. In the 9th Ward, sight of 
some of the most extreme flooding after the levees broke, it looks like 
a war zone. The feeling was quite different from what my wife, Sunny, 
and I saw a couple of weeks ago when we drove through Mississippi along 
the gulf coast. I'm not sure exactly why but it has to do with this 
being a more densely populated area. Some neighborhoods are littered 
with so much debris. It's hard to imagine where it will all go. Yards 
are littered with their neighbors houses. Thousands of abandoned cars. 
Boats, I mean good sized boats, not row boats are in people's yards. 
Everywhere. Power lines still toppled over and not repaired because the 
power isn't needed there. All the people are gone. It's hard to explain 
what it looks like. It's very, very sad.

The first time I came to this tournament back in 2000, I hardly left my 
hotel except to work. I stayed on the opposite side of the river from 
downtown. An area called the West Bank. Not the safest part of town but 
there always have been areas of New Orleans that were off limits. The 
West Bank isn't off limits but you have to be aware of what's going on 
around you. This part of New Orleans wasn't affected by the broken 
levees like the 9th ward but it did suffer some hurricane damage.

The tournament here is always the same week as the New Orleans Jazz 
Festival. Needless to say, I have had my share of fun here. Never a 
shortage of things to do. While coming here for the last few years, I 
have explored and have come to love this town. As I was saying, you 
have to be careful in some areas but if you are, there is a lot of fun 
to be had. I have seen countless concerts and eaten some of the best 
food I have ever had. The culture is very unique and the architecture 
is beautiful. Flowers, horses, shops, restaurants, balconies and 
cobblestone. I would like to go on and on about all the great things 
this city has had to offer me and others over the years. And it all 
comes from the people. But now a lot of them are gone and so is a lot of 
the heart of the city. It's sad.

Honestly, I can't put into words how this city has changed. It still 
has some great things to offer but isn't the same.

I was in the media center today and Tom Auclair of insidetheropes.com 
has done a great piece on the city. I highly recommend people have a 
look at what he has done.

Do you know that hurricane season starts in two months?

Houston, Tx.   4-22-06

Unfortunately, another tournament, another missed cut. But as I wrote 
to a friend this morning, it isn't for lack of effort. Mark grinds away 
right to the end of every round and refuses to quit. Right to the last 
putt. As a caddy, I couldn't ask for anything else from my player. 
Making a cut would be nice but that will come.

An interesting story at the tournament this week. One of my former 
bosses, Craig Perks has one of the nicest guys on tour caddying for 
him. Van Silver has been on tour for 15 years and has caddied for some 
really good guys. Besides working for Craig for a second time, Van used 
to also work for Larry Mize. Larry is a nice as they come, no doubt 
about that.

  Craig was in the tournament this week with Van on the bag. On Tuesday 
evening, Larry got into the tournament but was going to show up without 
a caddy. He put a couple of calls in looking for a caddy for the week. 
He didn't want any of the guys that were in the lot looking for a job 
because he didn't know any of them. He called Van to see what his 
arrangements for the week were. After being told that Craig Perks was 
in the field and Van was already caddying for him, Larry checked the 
tee times. On Thursday, Perks played in the morning and Larry was in 
the afternoon. Larry asked Van if he could caddy for two guys in the 
same week.

Van caddie for Craig for the morning, who shot plus 1. He then caddied 
for Larry in the afternoon and he shot the same score. Two bags both at 
plus 1 after the first round. Friday morning Larry Mize shot -3 to make 
the cut easily. Van then caddied for Caig in the afternoon who didn't 
play well and missed the cut. So Van will now caddy for Mize this 
weekend. I spoke to Van and he said it was the first time he had seen 
that happen to him or anyone else. Let's hope Larry has a good weekend.

It was good to see that happen. Some (a lot) of these guys have huge 
egos and would never let that happen. There are some players who won't 
let their caddies work for anyone else. When I worked for Notah Begay, 
he told me that I couldn't work for anyone else if we had an off week. 
These days, I'll look for work if Mark is off. Like the Wachovia 
Championship for example. Mark is probably not going to play there, so 
I'll try to line something else up. It'll be tough to find one for that 
week.

It's not suprising to see what happened this week, considering who is 
involved. Three of the nicest guys involved in the tour. Van Silver, 
Larry Mize and Craig Perks. Go Larry, go.

Houston, Tx.    4-20-06

I had a good day with Mark yesterday. There was a pro-am on the tournament course but there was another pro-am
at a second course yesterday where Mark played. I have to admit that it was nice to be able to ride a cart
for our pro-am. The pros and caddies who participate in the "real" onsite pro-am have to walk. Not only did
the pros in our event ride a cart, they were also paid to participate. Usually about $2500. 
When there is a cart involved in a pro-am the player ususally gives his caddy the day off. Mark gave me
the option as well but I wanted to go along for the day to keep him company.

We had a good group of guys and had a nice time. But once our pro-am was done Mark still wanted
to play a little more golf. We returned to the clubhouse to turn in our scorecard and then went to the
parking lot so I could get my clubs. New clubs at that. When Mark showed up from his home in Ft. Worth
on Tuesday, he had a suprise for me. He had built me a new set of Hogan irons. They look so nice. The
only thing wrong was that the grips were too small.

Seeing as though our pro-am was on a cart, he started the round without me so I could regrip the clubs
before the Callaway trailer left for the day. All the big manufacturers trailers leave the tournament Wednesday
afternoon. It was fun to be able to work on my own clubs and fit them how I like. I have learned alot about
club building in the last few years and was anxious to do my own stuff. Bruce, the main Callaway club builder
was very helpful with some great tips on club work. It was reassuring to get some help from one of the top
clubmakers on tour. By the time Mark had gotten to the third hole I was finished regripping my new set as
well as the set I had been using.

Once we picked up my clubs at the car we went out to the second hole a started playing a few holes.
We jumped around alot from hole to hole, Mark once again, trying a couple of new drivers he had. We did
that for a couple of hours. We had four holes to play and Mark wanted to have a little match against me.
At least he gave me a half a shot a hole. He won the first two and it wasn't looking good for me. We managed
to both make par on 17 so that gave me the win with my 1/2 stroke advantage. One hole down with one to play.
He blows it by me by 30 yards on the par5 18th. I hit a good 3 wood second shot and leave myself 135 to the
hole. Mark only has 85 yards  to the hole. I hit a smooth 8-iron pin high about 12 feet. He hits a lob wedge to
2 feet. If I make my putt I win because of the half shot he has given me. If I miss the putt he wins 3 holes to 1.
I roll in a perfect putt to tie the match. Dead center. It felt like a victory to me to tie a 7-time PGA Tour winner.
Not that he's been playing well but it was fun just the same.

From the Masters

Augusta, Ga. 4-9-06

Another Masters has come and gone. Phil wins his second green jacket in three years. He now has won the last two majors, going back to the PGA Championship at Baltusrol last year. Two down and two to go. The last player to have all four titles in a row was Tiger Woods. Not the same year but all four titles over two seasons.

I have to be honest and say that Phil wasn't my first choice to win the title. I certainly knew that he could do it but I was pulling for others to don the green jacket. First choice was Fred Couples. After making birdie on #1, Freddie then had birdie chances on the next two holes but his putter let him down. If he could have put a coupe of shots between he and Phil, it would have put a little more pressure on Mickelson to perform. But Phil was rock solid and didn't make a bogey until the 18th hole when he had a three shot lead. It was a good victory by one of the all-time greats of the game. I wonder how many guys will consider putting two drivers in the bag after this week.

This week was a great experience, having had the opportunity to work for Tom Auclair and his website, insidetheropes.com. I have taken photos in the past at other events but nothing can compare to the Masters. I can totally appreciate the time and effort these journalists put into a major tournament. It is now 9:15 on Sunday night and this place is still filled with writers trying to meet deadlines. They're all grinding away on their computers writing their take on events that happened here this week.

After taking photos for the three practice rounds this week, I had the opportunity to be a video camera operator for the rest of the week. When the leaders were in the interview room after their round, Tom and I would be camped outside the back door hoping to get a one on one interview. Tom has not missed one PGA Tour event in the last 8 years. He is a hard working, truly honest journalist. Because of his approach to the trade, he has built a great rapport with the best in the game. We did an interview with Fred Couples after his round today. This guy loves Tom. He gives a great interview and is always in a great mood. I have seen Tom with many of the today's great players. Aside from Couples, Tom has a great relationship with three others that will always give him their time to do an interview. Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods. I see other journalists practically drooling when Tom is having a one on one with any of these guys. Normally, a player will give an interview with a group of journalists. Not that I have been doing this long, but I have never seen a player give his time to any one journalist like they do for Tom. The bottom line is, Tom will be honest and straight forward. No crap. Some journalists try to dig deeper than Tom, looking for a little dirt at times. The players know that Tom won't ask any questions that will get under their skin. Just the facts is all Tom ever looks for. Journalism is certainly an interesting look at the game. After taking photos, operating a video camera and doing some writing for Paul's website, who knows where this will all lead to after my caddying career. Maybe I could cover the Tartan tournaments for the L'Eveil.

As lucky as I am to do what I do, between caddying and some media work, today I had just about the best experience you can have at a golf tournament. My media credentials this week gave me access to the clubhouse here at Augusta National. For lunch today, Tom took me to the clubhouse and in particular, the dining room upstairs, for lunch. Along with four other writers, we sat out on the balcony of the clubhouse which was overlooking the practice putting green and the first tee. I had to pinch myself a couple of times to make sure it was real. The food was nice, nothing fancy, but the view was to die for. I wish I could have had all of you there with me to share the experience. I apologize, but this story will have to do. What I really liked was that they were quite busy today which meant the service wasn't really fast. Good for me because it gave me that much more time to hang out on the balcony. We sat up there for a couple of hours and one of the guys even had the courage to go get his camera. We were all a little nervous when he brought it out. This is a very tightly run ship at the Masters and a wrong move can have you tossed out for good. But nobody said a word about the camera and we made sure that we all got a couple of photos for souvenirs. It was a very memorable experience, indeed.

Next week the tour is off to another one of my favorite spots, Hilton Head, SC. Harbour Town is a great little track. Not long but very tight. I have a quick story about one of my best weeks there. Back in 2001, I worked for Canadian player Glen Hnatiuk. I was filling in for a few months while his regular caddie, Shaun Segers, finished a semester at college. We had a good run that year but it was our last event together. Before we teed off Sunday, I jokingly told Glen that we should shoot 62 and call it a day. I don't recall if he shot 63 or 64 but he did play really well. The four par 3's at Harbour Town are very demanding. All Glen was able to do was birdie all 4 of them that day. Four 2's on the scorecard look pretty good. I still brag about that to the guys whenever someone mentions Hilton Head.

One last thing folks. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support to my family and myself these past couple of weeks, after the peaceful passing of my sister, Sue. We will never be able to thank you all for your sincere thoughts and best wishes. Thank you all again.

Augusta, Ga. 4-4-06

Well, I'm not caddying this week but I still get the chance to got to the Masters. And what a treat it is. This place is forever breathtaking. This week I've been fortunate enough to have been asked to work at the Masters in a new capacity. I've been here as a spectator, a caddie and now a photographer. It's not very difficult to take good photos at this place.

Two weeks ago, Tom Auclair, who runs insidetheropes.com, asked me if I would be interested in working for him as a photographer at the Masters. Every year it rolls around, I chomp at the bit to get the chance to come back again. Working this event as a photographer has been a real treat for the last two days. Tomorrow, I'll work the practice rounds in the morning and then will work the par 3 course for the afternoon.

On Monday and Tuesday the course is open to the players no earlier than 8:00 am. There are no tee times that can be made but as the players tee off, their names are posted on boards to inform which players have teed off, with whom and the hole they started on. When I leave the media center each morning in search of the, hopefully, next great photo, I
check the board to see who is on the course. Obviously, the big names are who everyone wants to see. There are two good holes to take photos at because of the early morning sun. Greens #2 and #7. There are plenty of bunkers that the players hit out of to practice. I've always liked the bunker shots because it's great to get the ball and sand blasting out of the trap in the photo.

This morning there were a number of good groups to follow. The first one I hooked up with was Sergio, Adam Scott and Tim Clarke as they approached #2 green. The second group had Tiger, O'meara and Calcavecchia on #7 green. There were actually two crowds following that group. Spectators and photographers. I was one of the last photographers to join the group so I had to battle my way to get near the front to get the shots I wanted. It reminded me of the old days when I used to battle my way to the front of the crowd at concerts at
the Montreal Forum to get good photos. What is different about taking photos at the Masters is that we are restricted from going inside the ropes. At all other events, photographers are allowed inside the ropes so that way we don't have to deal with the gallery.

Most media agencies including Sports Illustrated, Getty Images, Associated Press, etc. hire people to get to a favorite spot and save a place for the photographer. Once the photographer arrives, the spotter leaves and the photographer takes the spot. If a photographer is caught by Augusta security getting in patrons' way, they are thrown out. Don't mess with the folks at Augusta because they will not tolerate much. Caught with cell phone, you're tossed and the ticket is confiscated. If the ticket has been borrowed for the day, the original owner never gets it back. This year, next year or any other year. It's one of the greatest sporting events to attend anywhere in the world but it's a tightly run ship.

Tomorrow there is a tournament within a tournament. The par 3 event. It is held on the 9-hole par 3 course here on the grounds of Augusta. A number of the players have their kids, family members or friends caddie in the par 3. One pairing sticks out in my mind. I remember seeing a photo of Corey Pavin when he had David Robinson, the center for the San Antonio Spurs on the bag. Corey is no taller than 5'6" and Robinson towered over him at almost 7 feet tall. I'm not quite sure if the white jumpers were long enough for him. During my first and only time that I caddied in the Masters, I worked for Craig Perks. Craig had his then 6 year old son, Nigel, caddie in the par 3. Most players don't bring their whole bag to the event. The kids usually carry a couple of wedges and putter. But some of the buddies that caddie do want to carry the big bag with all the gear even though there is no hole longer than approximately 100 yards. The course isn't big and is very intimate. The flowers are in full bloom and the place looks gorgeous. I can't wait to work that event tomorrow.

Two more days until the Masters starts. There is electricity in the air, as usual. The only possible glitch in the week could potentially be the weather. Thursday and Friday are fine but there is a chance of thunderstorms for Saturday and showers are forecast for Sunday. Personally, I'd have no problem playing in the rain at this place.