Scott Martin's Page - January 2007 - Archives
Last updated on Sunday February 25, 2007

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Scottsdale, Az. Wednesday 1-31-07

This week of one of the best tournaments of the year because of one
reason. Attendance. Aside from having a pretty strong field, this
tournament gets huge crowds. When the weather is warm this place gets
packed. Unfortunately, the weather so far this week has been cold and
rainy. It's supposed to start clearing up tomorrow and the weekend
calls for clear skies with a high of 70 degrees.

Not like yesterday. It was cloudy and cool when we teed off Tuesday
morning for our practice round with Nathan Green. We teed off at 8:15
and we were done at 12:30. Peter and I had lunch and then we headed to
the range for a couple of hours. By the time we started hitting balls
the rain was coming down and it had cooled off to around 50 degrees.
Throw in a 20 mile an hour breeze and it made for a bit of a long
afternoon. The range was nearly empty with no more than 5 guys hitting
balls. That's pretty unusual for a Tuesday afternoon when the range is
usually packed.

TPC Scottsdale Stadium Course is in really nice shape. The fairways and
greens are pure and the place is nicely manicured. As I was saying ,
attendance here can be amazing. If I'm not mistaken, I believe this
event had close to 500,000 people in weekly attendance a couple of years
ago. When the weather is good, this is the social event of the year for
the Scottsdale-Phoenix area. I know one thing, the beer flows freely
here. We're guaranteed to see our share of hammered people this week. It
never fails.

One hole in particular used to get a little out of control some years.
The 16th hole is a 170 yard par-3. It used to be that there were no
grandstands on that hole and the crowd was really rowdy. I mean HUGE
crowds on this hole. The last few years the tournament has set up huge
sets of corporate skyboxes. When we played yesterday, I couldn't
believe how big it has gotten. When we got to the tee yesterday it
looked as though we are in an arena with an opening on one end for the
green. It's quite the scene. It has to be the most exciting tee shot in
golf. During tournament play, when we walk off the 15th green and head
to the 16th tee, the crowd starts to go. They know who is playing in
the groups. We walk through a tunnel from 15 green to 16 tee and when
we come out of the tunnel the crowd erupts. If I can compare it to
anything it is like gladiators walking out into the arena. We're
surrounded by huge skyboxes and large crowds. It certainly gets your
attention. The crowd will yell at the players and sing the different
school songs that the players went to. When the player tees up his ball
during the tournament the crowd goes quiet. But the instant he makes
contact the crowd explodes. If your ball hits the green they'll cheer
like there's no tomorrow. But if you miss the green they'll all start
booing. I like our tee times this week for one reason. We play early on
Thursday and late on Friday. That means we'll be playing #16 at around
4 o'clock Friday afternoon. The crowd will be huge and they'll all be
quite lubricated. It should be fun. I know one thing, I'm glad I'm not
hitting a shot there. I know it can unnerve some of the best players in
the world. Go here to see pictures of the hole. This is the hole in normal times.

I saw something interesting yesterday. Long-time tour veteran Mike
Hulbert is caddying for Davis Love III. Hulbert has lost his playing
privileges and has been doing some TV work and still gets in the odd
event. I saw them both walking along yesterday and Hulbert had a bag on
his shoulder. It was Titleist, like Mike used to use. But what got my
attention was that Hulbert had running shoes on. I asked a couple of
guys and sure enough, Hulbert will be caddying this week. Mike has
always been one of the characters on this tour and is a good guy. I
would like to see them have a good event this week.

Leucadia, Ca. 1-25-07

It would have been nicer to shot a couple of shots better today but 1-over par on the south course at Torrey Pines wasn't too bad after all. Peter didn't drive the ball very well today, especially on the front 9 where he missed 6 of 7 fairways.

He faired better on the back 9 in the driving department where he missed only 1 fairway. He hit four tough fairways down the stretch on 14, 15, 17 and 18. Throw in a solid 3-iron on the tough par 3, 16th hole and he had a lot more confidence after the back 9 compared to the front. He hit a really nice 4-iron from 207 yards in to a little breeze on #15 but it hopped into the back trap and he couldn't get up and down. He wasn't too upset because he just it too good. It's tough to not get rewarded for a good shot. It was good to hear Peter say that he figured out his driver on the back 9.

Another good part of Peter's game today was his putting. Although they weren't dropping into the hole. On the first hole he had a 45 footer lip out really hard when it certainly looked like it was going to drop. Peter stopped dead in his tracks as he was stepping towards the hole thinking he made the putt. There were four or five putts of significant length that lipped out. At one point Vijay jokingly asked Peter if it was his home course because it looked as though he really knew the greens.

Peter's distance control has been great. Whenever he hits the ball right at the hole you know it will be close. Even the shots that drift off to the left or right are still relatively close because of good distance control. Good things are happening in all aspects of his game and when it all comes together he'll have some good results.

I was mentioning one of our playing partners earlier. It's always fun to be paired with one of the top ranked players in the world like Vijay Singh. His game can be impressive but he wasn't on today. He had two main issues with his game today. Driving and putting . The holes that he hit a good shot at the flag was followed by a missed putt but he also missed his share of fairways. He'll have his chance to play his way back into the event tomorrow when our group plays the north course at Torrey Pines.

I'd have to say we'll all have a good chance to score after seeing the scores on the north course today. First round leader, Brandt Snedeker, shot a whopping 11 -under par!. When our group was on the 2nd green, I looked at the scoreboard and saw the he was -6 after 5 holes and then -9 after 9. I honestly thought he was going to shoot in the 50's. I think the high score on the north course was 1 over today. The south course played a lot tougher. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's round.

The weather here this week has been spectacular, today in particular. It's been great to be able to ride my bike along the coast this week. Sure, it takes more time to get ready before I leave and then when I'm done at the course but it has been beautiful to ride along the coast and smell the salty air. The weather is supposed to be pretty good the rest of the week but there will be a few more clouds on the weekend.

We heard a story yesterday that raised a few eyebrows. One of our shuttle drivers was talking about the transportation office is this week. It's where the players go to get their courtesy cars. These guys don't need to rent cars because each tournament supplies them for the players. Peter has a friend coming in for the weekend and he needs to be picked up at the airport because Peter will be playing when he arrives. So Peter was asking the shuttle driver if someone from transportation would go to the airport to pick him up. No problem, someone would go. He also told Peter that he thought there were a couple of players that appeared to be a little too spoiled. When one of the players got his courtesy car keys for for one of the free cars with a full tank of gas, he came back into the office to say he didn't like the color. It was silver. Personally, I wouldn't mind a a brand new silver, free car with a full tank of gas for the week. Another player didn't like the number of his car, which was 83. It reminded him of a bad round of golf. They can be a little too pampered, to say the least.
 

Leucadia, Ca. 1-22-07

I'd like to apologize for not having more than one update last week. We just didn't have any internet connection where we stayed.

It was a mediocre week last week result-wise but there were some flashes of brilliance at times during the week. You'll have to forgive me for forgetting some of the details but after playing five rounds on four courses with 12 different amateurs, it all seemed like one long week. Which it was. I've often enjoyed pro-ams but not all players and caddies on tour would say the same. Last week went well with the amateurs and I even ended up with a few extra bucks for my efforts.

The Bob Hope Classic has four of the five rounds with three amateurs and one pro in each group. It is well known among caddies that the amateurs who play in this particular event tip the tour caddies pretty well. But there are times that the tour caddy in the group will walk away from a round with no extra money. Over my four rounds I made a total of $260. I got $60 after round 1, $50 after round 2, $20 after round 3 and a tidy $130 after round 4! That was a nice surprise. I've heard of some caddies making $500-$1000 by the time the week is over. A few years ago the amateurs in one particular group gave the tour caddy $50 for each birdie his pro made. The player made 8 of them.

There were times last week that I saw Peter hit the ball as good as I've seen any pro hit it. It was a thing of beauty. After shooting 5-under at PGA West on Saturday to make the cut and play in Sunday's final round, we headed over to the Classic Club to practice a bit. At one point, Peter was hitting 4-irons like I've never seen. One after another were nailed dead center on the club-face and straight at the same target over and over. The start to the season hasn't been what he was hoping it would be. But there have been things happening lately that will only give him the confidence he had at the end of the '06 season in Australia.

There were four or five times last week that Peter would get on a roll and go on a birdie run. It would have been nice to be more consistent but it was good to see that he had it in him. His confidence has growing a bit recently so, hopefully, he can gain more as the weeks go along.

Yesterday's final round was played in a howling wind. Shooting even par as Peter did, was a good day. I know a few guys scored well but I'm sure the average score was well over par for the day. It was downright nasty.

I've had a busy schedule to start the year with having to travel to Hawaii and back and then heading to Palm Springs for the Bob Hope. What is really good for me with the west coast swing is that three of the events are close to home. After caddying 5 rounds in Palm Springs last week and finishing on Sunday, I then drove the 90 minutes back to my place in Placentia, 35 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. I spent the night there and was up at 6:00 am this morning and went to the gym for 45 minutes. I then went back to the house and loaded up my motorcycle for the ride down to San Diego, another 90 minutes away.

I got down here around 1:00 pm, checked into my hotel, unloaded the bike and then went to Torrey Pines and walked 18 holes. I got that done just as the sun was setting over the Pacific. It was beautiful. Seeing as though we play 2 golf courses here this week and Peter is not in the pro-am on Wednesday, we'll have to play all 36 holes tomorrow. I'll be getting up at 6, getting my bike ready and get to the course around 7. I'll have a quick breakfast in the caddy trailer and I'll meet Peter in the parking lot at 7:30. We'll hit balls a bit and will be on the 1st tee by 8:00. He'll play 18 holes, we'll have lunch and then head out and play the second course in the afternoon. I will sleep like a baby Tuesday night. Guaranteed.

This is one week I've always enjoyed. San Diego is a beautiful city and the setting for this week's event is one of the nicest of the year. It's right along the cliffs on the Pacific in La Jolla, just north of San Diego. I treat myself this week and use my motorcycle. It takes more time to get ready for each day and I have to give myself extra time for that. But it's certainly worth it. I stay about 12 miles north of the golf course and I get to ride my bike up and down the coast all week. This week is supposed to be sunny with highs of around 70 degrees. It's a great place to ride.

As I was walking the course today, I was reminded of the time that I caddied for Brett Quigley here back in 2005. We were paired with two real characters, Neal Lancaster and Chris Riley. Neal can really talk and has been known to get into player's heads during a round. Lancaster was chatting Riley up on the first tee. After they all hit their tee shots Rily comes running up behind Brett and I and says, "Neal is trying to get into my kitchen but I'm not letting him in." As goofy as Chris Riley is, it sounded pretty funny.

I saw a good one today as well. I saw one of Peter Lonard's buddies and fellow Aussie, Nathan Green, talking to three guys near the putting green. Nathan had his golf bag with him but there were no clubs in it. As he was talking to the guys, he gave the bag to one of them and shook his hand. After Nathan walked away, I went over to the three guys to see what had happened. As it turns out, Nathan got a new golf bag today and was taking his things out of the old one and putting it into his new one. One of the guys was talking to him and made a comment about the old bag and what he would do with it. Nathan offered the kid the bag. The guy loved it. I told the guy that it was the bag that Nathan had used when he won the New Zealand Open a few weeks ago. I've been around Nathan Green lately and he's a really good guy. I'm sure the guy he gave his old bag to thinks so as well.

Palm Springs, Ca.  Friday 1-19-07

I have to apologize for not updating this week. This morning is the first time I have had internet access all week. Myself and three other caddies rented a house here in Palm Springs but we have had no internet access. Unfortunately, I am in a bit of a hurry to go meet Peter Lonard this morning and I don't have time for a full update. I will try ASAP to give you an update for this week.

Bottom line is Peter is hitting the ball really good but the putting has gone flat. You've got to go deep here to have a chance. We're off to La Quinta today for our third round of the week. We play four rounds with 3 amateurs and 1 pro in each group. We then play a 5th round on Sunday after Saturday's cut.

We had a good start yesterday making birdie on the first three holes. Three under through three was a great start. Unfortunately, that's where we finished for the day which puts us right on the cut line for the week. We've got to shoot good scores today and tomorrow just to make the cut. As good as he's hitting it, if he can roll in a few putts, we'll have a chance.

Honolulu, Hawaii 1-12-07

We can't really make too many excuses for the way the 2007 season
started yesterday. There was really only one reason why we're three
over after round one. Driving accuracy. Peter's tee shots found only
two fairways on the front 9 and 4 more on the back 9. Even though the
stats on the PGA Tour website may show a couple of more hit fairways,
I'm not counting 2 of them because they shouldn't have been in the
fairway in the first place. After flaring one right on #12, the ball
hit a tree, bounced left and ended up in the short grass. On #16 the
tee shot was going left and looked like trouble. It somehow got through
a big tree and some rough to end up in the fairway as well.

Peter found a couple of faults in his set-up and worked on them on the
range after our round. He was hitting the ball really well while
practicing so hopefully he can carry it over into today's 2nd round. It
looks as though the cut will be around even par so to be safe, Peter
will have to shoot at least -3 today. A very do-able task.

I enjoyed our pairing yesterday. I've known JJ Henry and his caddy,
Matt Hauser, for the last 10 years or so. Our other playing partner,
Aaron Baddeley, is one of the nicest young players on tour and he loves
talking about fast cars, as I do. Aaron's caddy, Pete Bender, is
somewhat of a legend on tour. Totally old school. He won't even wear
shorts while on the course. Doesn't think it's right for him to do
that. Pete has caddied for some great players, including Greg Norman
earlier in his career. They're all good guys to be around for a couple
of days. Or four.

The weather was pretty good yesterday. Sunny, but there was a pretty
good breeze blowing at times. Nothing serious but enough to get your
attention. Today's forecast is very similar. Sunny and breezy. Is it OK
if I write that to people who are in the middle of winter back home?

My room-mate this week is Brian Sullivan who works for Australian,
Matthew Goggin. Goggin is one of the longest hitters on tour. Brian
told me a good story over dinner last night. One of their playing
partners yesterday was veteran, Glen Day. They teed off on #10 and
Goggin was blowing it by his playing partners by 80 yards. They get to
their 14th hole of the day which was the 5th hole. The fairways runs
out at 370 yards. Seeing as though it was downwind, Goggin hits a
4-wood and the other two players hit drivers. As they're approaching
the tee shots, one of the balls is 50 yards short of the other two. Day
turns to Goggin and says," If you keep hitting your 4-wood, it looks as
though I'll finally be able to out drive you." When they got to the
first ball they looked down to see that it was actually Day's ball that
was still 50 yards behind Goggin's. Better than being out driven by 80
yards I guess.
 

Honolulu, Hawaii 1-10-07

It was a good day yesterday for our first practice round of the '07
season. We got to the course around 8:30, hit a few balls and headed
for the first tee. We had a couple of good pairings for the round.
Waiting on the first tee by himself was past US Open champion, Corey
Pavin. He had already played the back nine so he only had 9 to go. As
we were waiting for the fairway to clear, along comes current US Open,
Geoff Ogilvy. Nice pairing. He also had teed off on #10 so he only had
9 to play as well. I wish I could remember all the stories that I get
to hear during practice rounds. I love playing with guys that as nice
as Corey and Geoff. I caddied for Geoff for a couple of weeks back in
'04. We even ended up in the last group on Sunday at Wachovia. Didn't
take advantage of it but still had a good week. He could play then but
he's that much better now. Corey hits it about half as far as Geoff but
he's a scrapper. Tiger once called Corey the best player on tour. Not
the most talented, but the best. He hits it nowhere but he has the
heart of a lion. It was a lot of fun playing with those two for 9 holes.

When we went to the 10th tee, Andy Martinez, who works for Tom Lehman,
came up on the tee to see if Tom could join us. Absolutely. Tom came up
onto the tee and then asked if Jim Furyk could join in as well. These
guys all know each other but they were just being polite by asking.
Some players do prefer to play practice rounds alone.

So here we were playing with 2 more major winners. Lehman having won
the British Open and Furyk the US Open. Now, as a player, if you don't
get a positive vibe out of a round like that, there is something wrong.
I would have to say that I preferred playing with Pavin and Ogilvy. Tom
Lehman is a true gentleman. I have a lot of respect for Tom. When I was
out to caddy in my first few event on the PGA Tour back in 1999, Tom
was the first player to say hello to me. Nobody, except Jimmy Green,
had a clue who I was. I was standing on the putting green minding my
own business when Lehman walks by and says hello. I was like, "Wow,
that was Tom Lehman." I giggle thinking of it now. The golf fan in me
still gets a big charge out of being around these guys.

 

Honolulu, Hawaii 1-9-07

It doesn't seem too long ago that the '06 season finished for us in
Tampa. Time flies. It was a great off-season for me as I got the chance
to go with Peter Lonard to Australia to caddy in a couple of events
down under. It went well there with Peter finishing off the season with
three well-played events. In his last event (one which I didn't caddy
in) he lost to Nick O'Hern in a 4-hole play-off at the Australian PGA.
Obviously not the end result he would have liked, but it should give
him plenty of momentum going into this season. I'm very optimistic
about this year.

Aside from getting the opportunity to travel to Australia for a couple
of weeks, the highlight of my off-season was having family come to
Southern California for the holidays. My sister, Karen, brother-in-law,
Frank and niece, Megan came to visit for the first time. Karen had
visited California years ago with her buddy Diane Vaage, formerly Cook.
It was Frank and Megan's first time there. Needless to say, we had a
great time together. Some of my wife's family came for Christmas
dinner, so we all got to meet for the first time. A good time was had
by all, to say the least. Karen and Frank even zipped up to Las Vegas
for a couple of days and met up with Trevor and Diane Vaage. It was
also great to have Karen and Frank there for New Year's Eve, which
happened to be their 30th wedding anniversary. What a great couple.
They are the greatest example of what a loving, happy marriage is all
about. Frank Bouchard is the greatest brother-in-law our family could
have ever hoped for.

I met Peter at the course at 3 pm here in Waikiki Monday and had a good
practice session. He hit balls, chipped and finished it off with a
putting session. We were out there for about two hours. I started off
my day at 6:30 am by going to the course to walk the holes in
preparation for the event. I have been coming here for 8 years now and
I don't recall there being any changes to the course since my first
time here back in 2000 with Jimmy Green.

I'm meeting Peter this morning at 8 and we'll play a practice round.
The weather is very iffy in Honolulu this week so we're hoping to be
able to get all 18 holes in. Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be another day
of practicing. I'm looking forward to the pairings coming out later
today. It always fun to see who our playing partners and their caddies
will be for the first two rounds.

Here's a rundown of our schedule to start off the year. We'll play 4
in a row starting this week. Following Hawaii it will be the Bob Hope
in Palm Springs, The Chrysler in San Diego, followed by the Phoenix
Open. Peter will then skip Pebble Beach but will play The Nissan Open
in LA. That will be our last event on the west coast.

I hope you all enjoy the updates this year. If anyone has something in
particular they would like to read about, feel free to send me an email
and I will do my best to write what you are interested in.