Scott Martin's Page - June to end of 2007 - Archive
Last updated on Wednesday January 09, 2008

Placentia, Ca. 9-25-07

It sure would have been an great experience for me to have had the 
opportunity to caddy at the President's Cup this week at Royal 
Montreal. I really can't even begin to think of how it really would 
have been. It would have been the experience of a lifetime.

Even though I'm not there, I have been in touch with a number of 
caddies trying to line up some tickets for people back home who would 
like to go but didn't have the chance to purchase any. The guys have 
come through big time and there are a few extras floating around. 
Fortunately, they are also free of charge.

If anyone would like to go there a couple of people that they can 
contact about getting a hold of a ticket or two. My sister, Karen and 
brother, Steve, can be called and arrangements can be made to pick them 
up. Karen's house in 2Mo is where they can be picked up. It will be a 
first come first served basis so the earlier you call the better your 
chances.

All the tickets are daily passes. If you call Karen or Steve they will 
let you know what days are available. I spoke to a friend who went 
today and he did warn me about the parking situation. Apparently, you 
cannot bring your car onto Ile Bizard. You must use the general parking 
lot and take a 20-30 minute shuttle ride to Royal Montreal. For the 
energetic type, the best way to go is by bicycle. You can lock your 
bike at the front gate and walk right in.

For those of you who do take advantage of these tickets, I hope you 
enjoy the golf. It should be great.

Here are the contact numbers.
Karen 450-473-7242 Home
Steve 514-206-6049 Cell
514-367-5360 Home

A call during the evening is the best time to get a hold of either one 
of them.

Waco, Texas 9-24-07

I had a lot of time to think about things as I drove down to Texas the 
last couple of days.

A combination of Peter not playing very well and the two of us making 
bad decisions at bad times has lead to us missing the last three cuts 
in a row.

Last week was same routine, same result as bogeys on #15 and #16 cost 
us making the cut at the Turning Stone Championship just outside of 
Syracuse, NY. Three weeks before in Boston it was late mistakes that 
cost us the cut there and prevented us from moving on in the FedEx Cup 
playoffs and playing in Chicago with a big purse and no cut. Not a good 
vibe going on right now.

It's not a good feeling to make mistakes out there. I have to say that 
it is easier to accept a pro making a mechanical mistake than it is to 
accept a mental mistake such as a club selection or a read on a putt. 
The two late mistakes made last week are eating away at me and I'm 
having a hard time letting them go. The big one was on #16 when we were 
in between clubs and a lack of focus and balls on my part didn't help. 
What it all boils down to was lack of communication.

We were in between 5 and 6 iron. If it was a 6, it was a hard one. If 
it was a 5, then it was a small 5. Just before Peter stepped into the 
shot with the 5 iron in his hand he said to me, "Do we need one less 
stick?" I said no but omitted the part about it being a small 5 iron. 
On top of it being too much club for a normal 5 iron, Peter pulled the 
shot, which will always tend to go farther. So it misses the green 
left, where it bounces hard, it's the wrong club and he pulled it. The 
ball ended up 15 yards over the green.

So now Peter is really pissed off, but is saying nothing. He hits a 
GREAT chip to 12 feet but misses the putt. On top of him knowing I was 
a very little help with the club selection, the two other pros in the 
group, Corey Pavin and Jeff Maggert, heard our brief exchange on the 
tee about club selection. They know I %&#^ed up back on the tee and 
didn't help Peter at all.

It happens to us all out there at times. Players hit bad shots and 
caddies make bad calls. But it can sometimes be tough to deal with. 
I've seen other players hit bad shots and caddies make mistakes and I 
knew they were as it was happening. Probably like Pavin's and Maggert's 
caddies on the 16th tee on Friday. They knew it was a bad call but I 
didn't see it clearly enough to help. Mechanical mistakes are going to 
happen. Mental mistakes are totally avoidable.

I left NY after Friday's round and am now in Waco, Texas. I'll drive 
the final 180 miles to San Antonio today and get a flight back to 
California where I'll spend the week at home. Next Sunday, I'll fly 
back to San Antonio where we play our next event. We NEED a better 
result than we've had the last three events.

Speaking of better results, a few guys got them at key times. One 
player who had a great week last week was Michael Allen. He finished 
solo 2nd last week and made enough money to retain his card for next 
year. This is a great time of the year on tour. A lot of guys have to 
get tough and play well to finish off the year. Now that the FedEx Cup 
is over, it will be a race to the finish to get into the top 125 on the 
money list. A couple of guys made big moves last week, including Allen. 
It's great to see Steve Flesch win for the 2nd time this year. As tough 
as he can be on the course, he's one of the nicest guys when he's not 
inside the ropes from Thursday to Sunday.

How's this sidebar? When Flesch won in Reno a few weeks ago, his caddy, 
Billy, had taken the week off. We all know what can happen when a caddy 
takes a week off. Victory! So it was good to see Flesch win again, only 
this time, Billy was there.

A fellow caddy on tour had some serious health issues last week. Greg 
Rita, who has caddied on tour for the last 25 years, had a blood clot 
on the brain while in North Carolina last week caddying on the 
Champions Tour. The story went around on the range Friday morning in 
New York about what happened on Thursday in NC. I first heard that it 
was very serious but by Saturday I had heard he was improving and would 
be released shortly.

After I had left a message Friday night on his cell phone, he called me 
Sunday as I was on my way here. He was in the car with his wife. She 
had driven to NC from Jacksonville to take him home. He isn't allowed 
to drive for the next few weeks. He also isn't allowed to fly. He told 
me that as he was on the range getting ready for the pro am on 
Thursday, he started to feel dizzy and had slurred speech. He had to 
sit down and the next thing he knew, he was in an ambulance and on his 
way to the hospital. He said a few hours are a blank. He was kept for 3 
nights and was released. Let's hope for a full and complete recovery 
for Greg.

Here's an overdue story. Back in mid-August, 2Mo resident. Rick 
Debonis, had a chance to caddy for a friend of his who plays on the 
Canadian Tour. Tom Stankowski, brother of PGA Tour player, Paul 
Stankowski, is a fulltime player on the Canadian Tour. Rick and Tom met 
last year when Rick caddied for Tom in the same event. They happened to 
meet by chance when Rick was walking the course getting ready for the 
tournament last year. They formed a solid friendship and they keep in 
touch on a regular basis.

Once again this year, Rick was on the bag when Tom played in the 
Montreal Open at St. Raphael on Ile Bizard. Tom opened up the 
tournament with a solid 67 in the first round and was tied for 5th. 
Nice start. They were tied for 11th after day two and were still in the 
hunt going into the weekend. But a 3rd round 75 dropped them to a tie 
for 26th with one round to play. Tom had a pretty good round on Sunday 
when he shot a 69 and finished tied for 22nd.

I'm sure Rick had a good time again. They had a top 10 last year and a 
22nd this year. Pretty good playing. Rick grew up caddying at 
Laval-sur-le-lac and I know he does a great job for Tom. Tom has him 
involved in all aspects of his game and I'm sure he appreciates all 
Rick does for him when he's on the bag. It's tough for some of the 
Canadian Tour players to get good caddies. Only a few of them hire full 
time loopers. There isn't much money out there and most of them can't 
afford a full time caddy.

So when a player comes to a town for an event and is lucky enough to 
have a guy like Rick on the bag, it can go a long way to the player 
having a successful week. Great job again, Rick. Keep it up and you and 
I will be rooming together on the road before you know it.

Cicero, NY 9-19-07

I'm not quite sure how to start this off after not writing for about 6 weeks.

After a two week break, Peter Lonard is back at it in upstate New York. 
The BC Open which used to be held at En Joie Golf Club in Endicott, NY 
is now held at the Turningstone Resort just outside of Syracuse. It's a 
nice resort course which is in great shape. We played a practice round 
yesterday and it was the first time both Peter and I have ever seen the 
place.

It's got some good length to it, with wide fairways and greens that are 
in perfect condition. A few of the greens are a little funky with big 
undulations but nothing too crazy. The place is also pretty soft so 
these pros should be able to go pretty low. Some guys think the winning 
score will be around -20 but I think it will be -15.

Last year was the first time this event was played here at 
Turningstone. At the time, I was working for Mark Brooks. Seeing as 
though Mark had played quite a few in a row at this time last year, I 
decided I needed a week off to recharge my batteries and spend some 
time at home in California. There also happened to be a motorcycle race 
that I really wanted to see just outside San Francisco the same weekend 
of the tournament. So I took the week off and headed home.

I spent the week at home with Sunny and the kids then rode my bike up 
to Monterey for the weekend to see the races. I'll never forget turning 
on my computer Saturday night to check the scores at the tournament. I 
almost threw up when I saw that Mark was in 2nd place going into 
Sunday's final round. It never fails. A caddy takes a week off and the 
player has a great week. Fortunately for me and unfortunately for Mark, 
he had a lousy Sunday and finished around 15th or 20th.

It was good to see that Peter was striking the ball really nice 
yesterday. At one time on the range before the practice round, he was 
hitting a few 8 irons. Each was was perfectly struck. I mean really 
nice. The swing, the sound and the ball flight were all spot on. All 
the balls from those 8 irons were in one small grouping out on the 
range. It looked like I could have gone out and thrown a blanket on 
them.

Peter was really excited about his play during the initial part of the 
practice round. But he pulled a couple of shots towards the end of the 
round and I could tell by his body language he was a little concerned. 
The good thing is is that we have all day today to work out any kinks 
that developed yesterday. I've got to meet Peter at the course at 11:00 
this morning and we'll spend a few hours working on things. I'm looking 
forward to it today. Two weeks off seemed quite long to me so it feels 
good to get the bag back on my shoulder.

As for the FedEx Cup, I like the way it all unfolded. Not so much for 
the guys at the top but it was interesting to see the guys, like Peter, 
who were on the bubble at the first and second events in New York and 
Boston. We were going to play in the second event in Boston for sure 
but after missing the cut in New York, Peter had to make the cut in 
Boston to move on and play the 3rd playoff event in Chicago. At that 
event there were only 70 players, no cut and a $7,000,000 purse! But 
after not playing well in New York and then also missing the cut in 
Boston, we didn't deserve to move on.

No big surprise that Tiger won the FedEx Cup. In the 3 playoff events he 
played in, he won 2 of them and finished 2nd in the other one which 
Phil Mickelson won. That was some good golf. Seeing Tiger and Phil go 
at it was fun. Phil had a good lead on Sunday in Boston but Tiger kept 
pressing and putting the pressure on. Mickelson can really play when 
he's on and they put on a good show. It's great to see them play 
together because everyone knows there's a good rivalry. That's being 
polite.

Now that the FedEx Cup is over the rest of the tour can get back to 
work. There have been a lot of guys that have had four weeks off and 
need to make money to get their cards for next year. There are 7 events 
left and a lot of them will play all of the remaining events. Peter is 
going to play 4 of the final 7 events. It will be one week on and one 
week off for the rest of the year. We'll play here this week, San 
Antonio, Scottsdale and finish off at Disney in Orlando.

Seeing as though I still have my own car and have to get back to 
California, I've got a couple of long drives coming up. After this week 
is over, I'll drive my car to San Antonio for our next event. That's a 
1700 mile drive! Thankfully, I have next week off and don't have to 
really rush. After San Antonio I have another week off so that will 
give me the time to drive to California and get my car home. That drive 
is just over 1300 miles. That will be over 3,000 of driving in the next 
3 or 4 weeks! It may seem like a lot but I'm really looking forward to 
it. What a great way to see the country.

Seeing as though I haven't written in such a long time I have quite a 
few things that I would hope to catch up on. One thing that I've been 
meaning to write is about rookie Brandt Snedeker's caddy, Scott Vail. 
Scott is from Oshawa, Ontario and has this is his (and Brandt's) first 
year on tour. Snedeker should be the rookie of the year after playing 
solid all year long. Anyway, Scott's dad, Eric Vail was the rookie of 
the year in the NHL in 1975 where he played for the Atlanta Flames.

Something else to write about that is long overdue involves 2Mo 
resident Rick Debonis. Once again as he did last year, Rick caddied for 
Tom Stankowski at the Canadian Tour event a few weeks back. It's a good 
story and I also have some photos of their week together at the event. 
I've promised Rick that I would get it done and I will shortly.

Akron, Ohio  Saturday 8-4-07

This weekend has somewhat of a similar feeling that we had at The Player's back in May, where
Peter finished tied for 6th in what was one of his best tournaments aside from his victory at Hilton
Head in 2005.

His ball-striking this week has been really good. We did have two weeks off and I was expecting a
bit of rust on his game. His Tuesday practice round was off but he got it back together for
Wednesday's practice round. It really was nice to have all three days (Mon-Wed) to play practice rounds
this week before the tournament started. There were no pro-ams this week and I think it was a big
factor in helping Peter get prepared after a 2 week break.

We had a good pairing this week with Peter playing with one of his favorites on tour, Kenny Perry.
The third in our group was fellow Aussie, Geoff Ogilvy. Geoff was off a bit this week but he
still managed to hit some great shots, as they all do, every round. A few missed greens were tough on
his score. Even though he has one of the best short games on tour, this week's rough made it very
difficult to get up and down. Kenny Perry played well and is near the top of the leader board
going into today's third round. 

Peter is still going with the short putter. He has had it in the bag for three events now and he's
gaining confidence with it with each round. He really does have a good stroke with it and all he
has to do is trust his ability to putt with it. As I've said before, Peter doesn't have the gift
that some good putters have. On the other hand, not many players have the ability to strike the
ball the way he does. He just has to grind away. Keep hitting the ball solid, trust your putter and
take advantage of the days when the putts fall. If he could have two good putting days today and
tomorrow this could be a nice week for us.

He'll need a good finish this weekend to get into the final major of the year next week, the PGA
Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I caddied there for Briny Baird at the US Open
back in 2001. I would love to go back to that course for another major.

Check out this picture I took Tuesday morning at Firestone. Paul is using it as his picture of the
month (POM) for July.

Akron, Ohio   Tuesday 7-31-07

It was a good two weeks off but it's good to get back to work as well. Especially at this
tournament. The regular PGA event is being held in Reno but I'm lucky enough to be caddying at Firestone
CC in Akron. It's the sight of this year's World Golf Championship. It has a field of 78 players,
no cut and a purse that is close to $8,000,000! It has the top players in the world and has been
won by Tiger Woods on more than one occasion. 

Peter got into this event because he was on the last International President's Cup team. I met
Peter here yesterday and had a good practice session followed by a 9 hole practice round late in the
afternoon. I have always heard Firestone was a good track and even had a chance to see it three
years ago when I took photos for insidetheropes.com. It wasn't until yesterday that I realized how
special this place is. It's awesome and tough.

I have to meet Peter again this afternoon but seeing as though I have never been here to caddy, I
got up at 5 this morning and went out and walked the course. I need to see it as much as I can
before the tournament starts. It's absolutely beautiful. The only other people out there this morning
other than me was the grounds crew. 

It looks as though it will be a tough test this week and I'm really looking forward to seeing how
we can do. The course is in immaculate condition. The fairways are perfect and tight. The rough is
punishing and the greens have some good slope and are really slick. There are trees lining the
fairways and in some spots are no more than 5 yards from the edge of the fairway. It looks really
tight in some spots. I'm curious to see how low these guys can go this week. I want to say it will
be a single digit victory but with the talent these guys have, you never know. I'm going with -9 as
the winning score.

I've got some company this week. Former 2Mo resident, Jody Scott, is on his way down from Toronto
and will spend the next few days watching some golf. It's a good one to come to. Great field,
awesome track and huge crowds. Jody should have a good time here.

Speaking of good times, my family and I had a good time as we spent our two week break in 2Mo.
Sunny and the four kids came from California and we spent the time hanging out in 2Mo and Montreal.
The kids had never been to Canada and it was fun to show them around downtown Montreal. They really
enjoyed themselves and look forward to coming back soon.

Last Saturday night, my sister, Karen, and her husband, Frank, hosted a great party to finish off
our holiday. Seeing as though Sunny and I were married in Las Vegas and never had a reception, we
ended up calling our gathering Saturday just that. Our reception.

 

There was a really good group of people and everyone seemed to have a good time. Karen and Frank's
backyard is beautiful and was the perfect setting for the party. I can't thank Karen and Frank
enough for being such great hosts. Great food was catered by Lola's Cafe and is the only way to go
when looking for a local eatery to provide the grub.

Once again, thanks to everyone for attending. It was a great way to catch up with old friends and
for some to meet new ones.  A special thanks to Sunny, Allegra, Jacklyn, Dehler and Jayde for
travelling across the country to meet my family and friends and to share a special time together.

Moline, Ill. Thursday July 12-07 (Pictures coming soon)

I've never been a big fan of showing up for an afternoon tee time on Thursday and seeing someone
that has shot 6 or 7 under par in the morning. That's exactly what happened today after Neal
Lancaster shot a 64 in the 1st round. It's highly unlikely that any player could keep that pace but you
never know.

Peter's round started well until he got to the first green and we both misread a birdie attempt
from 7 feet. He was a little hot under the collar. It didn't help things after he bogeyed the par 5,
2nd hole. A number of guys were -2 through two holes so it was definitely an uneasy feeling
walking to the 3rd tee at plus 1.

But he had a pretty solid day from that point even though he bogeyed the 9th hole. He ended up
playing the 1st round at -2 and is currently tied for 33rd. We certainly got the tougher end of the
draw getting an afternoon tee time on Thursday this week. There was very little wind this morning
but we had to deal with 15-20 mile an hour gusts in the afternoon. A vast majority of today's low
scores were from this morning. A few guys went low in the afternoon but not many.

Peter's hitting the ball pretty solid again after a weak effort in Flint, Michigan a couple of
weeks ago. His play there seemed to set him back a bit but after going home for the weekend he came
back and gave it a good effort the following week in Washington DC, where the inaugural AT&T
National was held. That's where Tiger Woods hosted his first PGA Tour event at Congressional CC. Now
that, was a great tournament to be part of.

Congressional is a great golf course and was the perfect sight for Tiger's event in which he
hosted. Seeing as though Tiger presented the eventual winner, KJ Choi with the trophy when it was all
over, I wonder who would have presented it if Tiger himself had won.

There was certainly some electricity in the air. It was Washington on July 4th week and a lot of
the best golfers in the world were there. There were some big crowds, especially for us on
Thursday. Tiger happened to be in the group behind us for the first two rounds. At times, the galleries
ringed the entire hole. Around the tees, up both sides of the fairway and around the green. It was
fun to have experienced those crowds even though they were waiting for one of the players behind
us. There were some great roars from the huge crowds when someone in our group hit a good shot or
made a putt. The electricity was awesome. I've had a chance to feel some of that electricity in the
past and it never gets boring.

It was especially nice that week when Peter birdied our final two holes on Friday to make the cut
on the number. He hit a great bunker shot on the last hole and made a birdie putt to play the
weekend. After he sank the putt he came over to me and said we were going to pack his gear and he was
flying home for the weekend. I told him to go have lunch and we'd meet on the range in 30 minutes.
We'd make the cut. The cut was at plus 3 at the time (we were plus 4) and the wind was starting
to blow a bit. It was already a tough course and the combination of the wind and pressure to make
the cut would certainly get to a few guys. Besides, we still had to wait all afternoon to see what
the cut would be. It was only 12:30 and the rest of the field had to play. We ended up making the
cut and playing the weekend.

At one point one the range that afternoon he said he's really like to make the cut just to compete
on the weekend. He wasn't expecting to win being as far back as he was but he just wanted to get
out there and try to beat a few guys. He made a little progress on Saturday but not on Sunday. The
real progress was made in his game and the chance to continue building on good things that have
happened most of the year so far.

One more thing that changed that week. After using his trusted long putter on Thursday, he went to
a traditional short putter for the rest of the week. He really does stroke the short putter nice
and he has it in the bag for this week as well. Vijay gave Peter a good pep talk after Thursday's
round in Washington. He saw Peter on the practice putting green with two different length putters.
Bottom line, commit to one putter and get rid of the other one. Peter's sticking with the short
putter and it seems to be paying off. He hasn't made a lot of putts but he seems to give himself
more chances with the short one. I've been leery of the short putter up until 2 weeks ago but I'm
now convinced it's the way to go.

It's great to be on the bag for a player of this caliber. He's not Tiger but on any given week,
Peter can compete with any player on this tour. When he strikes it nice, it's music to my ears.
When he rolls some putts in, he'll always have a chance.

This is week four in a row and it seems to be time for a rest. We aren't going to the British Open
next week and also won't be going to the Canadian Open the following week. Two weeks off it is.
Let's finish off this 4 week run with a good finish here at the John Deere.

Auburn Hills, Michigan Sunday 7-1-07

Even though Peter missed the cut in Flint, we had to stay for the
weekend because we are in a British Open qualifier today (Monday). This
year's Open will be held at Carnoustie in Scotland. Seeing as though I
have never caddied in a British Open, I'm hoping Peter can pull it off.

The event is being held at Oakland Hills CC in Bloomfield, Mich. OHCC 
has hosted a number of major championships and a Ryder Cup. We are
playing 36 holes on two courses there, the North and the South course.
The South course is the main course, no pun intended. I walked the
course Wednesday and Friday. The South is a monster. It's long, has
deep rough and very undulating greens. Even par will be a good score
out there tomorrow.

The North course is a nice course as well but not near as tough as the
South. Apparently, Matt Kuchar shot 63 while playing there this past
week. There are approximately 80 players with the top 12 getting into
the Open. There were originally 130 guys entered but quite a few have
withdrawn for various reasons. Some guys don't want to deal with the
travel, the cost and other things that aren't part of the normal
routine this side of the pond.

Personally, I would SWIM to get a chance to caddy over there. The home
of golf. I've been lucky enough to have caddied in the other three
majors on the PGA Tour and would love the chance to caddy in my first
British Open. Carnoustie is the sight of Jean Van de Velde's blow-up
which opened the door for Scotsman Paul Lawrie to come from 10 shots
back on Sunday and win in a playoff. I'd love it if Peter could play
well today.

I had an interesting offer on Friday afternoon when we finished our
round. After we missed the cut, I was approached by Tim Mork, Brett
Quigley's caddy. Tim has been out on tour for years. He asked me if we
made the cut. When I said no he said, "Brett will probably give you a
call tonight. I think I got fired on the 16th hole." Sure enough, when
I check my messages, there is a call from Brett. If Peter had planned
to fly to Orlando for the weekend, I would loved to have worked for
Brett. But I knew that Peter would be practicing here all weekend
getting ready for today. I hesitated to call right away but 20 minutes
later I called him. We met outside the clubhouse and had a good chat.
He was very disappointed in himself for firing his caddy on a Friday.
He was also tied for the lead!

He ended up with JJ Henry's caddy for the weekend and failed miserably.
He was in the last group on Saturday and at one point was tied for 50th
place. I feel bad for Brett. He presses really hard for his first win.
He's sooooo talented but when he gets in the hunt he can sometimes
succumb to the pressure.

It's funny. Brett was trying to get his first win on tour here at
Warwick Hills. He has the lead going into the weekend and fires his
caddy, Tim. Now here's a true story. Tim's first win was right here at
Warwick Hills with Woody Austin for HIS first win way back when.
Wouldn't you want Tim on the bag to help you get that first win?
 

Auburn Hills, Michigan Friday 6-29-07

It started out as a pretty good round with a birdie on #1 yesterday.
But back to back bogeys on 2 and 3 really got our attention.
Fortunately, Peter made a 5 foot par putt on #4 and that seemed to get
him on track quick. He birdied 5, 6 and 8 and and at one point was tied
for 8th at -3. Nice.

But the wheels fell off on #15 where he made a bogey. That was followed
by a par on 16, bogey on 17 and a triple bogey, 7, on the last hole.
Peter made a hasty retreat and my day was done by 12:15. There was no
practice session at all, which is definitely not our normal routine.

Certainly, a better part of my week was the drive from Hartford to
Flint with my brother, Steve, following in his car. Also riding over
with me in my car was Rich Caniglia, who has recently been hired to
work for Eric Axley, winner of last year's Vallero Texas Open in San
Antonio. Rich worked for Jonathan Kaye for close to nine years on tour
but seeing as though Jonathan is out while recovering from surgery for
a bone spur on a big toe, Rich is working for Eric for the time being.

Rich and I both made the cut so we only left Hartford at 5 o'clock
Sunday. It's a 12 or 13 hour drive to Flint but there were a couple of
things I wanted to do on the way, so I knew it would be longer. I'm
normally at the next tournament sight by Monday afternoon but I told
Peter that I would only be able to get to Warwick Hills on Tuesday. I
wanted to go on what my sister, Sue, used to call, a Magical Mystery
Tour.

The best way to get to Flint from Hartford is over to Buffalo, through
to Canada, over to Sarnia and back into the US from there. On the map,
it's a pretty straight shot. But my route went south of Lake Erie,
through Cleveland and back around to Detroit.

Our first stop on the trip was just north of New York City in
Mamaroneck, NY. My favorite spot for pizza after #1 Chateau Lafitte in
St. Eustache, is a place called Sal's. You can buy a whole pizza or by
the slice. The three of us each inhaled 3 slices of cheese pizza and
were back on the road. Steve has never seen NYC and the closest we got
to it was about 20 miles north on the Tapanzee Bridge, which crosses
the Hudson River. Steve and I have walkie talkies to communicate while
on the road and I pointed out to him that the Manhattan skyline can be
seen once out on the span of the bridge. The most visible structure is
the Empire State Building. It's a great view.

We were going to be driving through some nice country in upstate NY but
it was getting dark and we wouldn't be able to enjoy the scenery. I had
a spot in mind that I wanted to get to and it was about 6 hours away. A
few years ago I came upon a beautiful spot in western NY state. It's
called the Allegheny Reservoir. Years ago as I was taking a backroad
(which I love to do), I followed a dirt road which led to the reservoir.
It's a great spot on the edge of the water and there is rarely a soul
in sight. I usually take out a few balls and drive them into the water.

By 1 in the morning we were still about an hour from the reservoir but
Steve called me and told me he was getting tired. Seeing as though I am
most concerned about everyone else's safety, I encouraged him to
continue. We made it by 2:15. It was worth the effort though. Both Rich
and Steve were wondering just where the hell we were going once I left
the main road and headed down the steep dirt road to the reservoir. Once
we go to the water's edge and got out of the cars, the view was
awesome. The sky was filled with stars. What a sight.

We chatted for a while and enjoyed the night's atmosphere. That's when
I broke the news to Richie. We were going to sleep in the car, get up
early and be on our way again. On many occasions on a Sunday night have
I slept in my car while on my way to the next event. Richie had no
problem with that. Steve was asleep in his car in no time. I opened the
sunroof of my car so we could have a view of the stars as we dozed off.
I was awake by 4 because the mosquitoes discovered that we were there.
Closed the sunroof and crashed out again. We were all awake and ready
to go by 7:30. We all slept pretty good considering the accommodations.
With the stars the night before and the view of the water early in the
morning, it was worth the effort. Steve and Richie loved the place.

We were back on the road and onto Findley Lake, NY which about 50 miles
from the reservoir. Findley Lake is another one of those places off the
beaten path and is a great spot. I caddied for Jimmy Green at a
Nationwide event near there 3 years ago and that's when I found this
spot. We pulled into the local diner and ordered some breakfast to go.
I had a great spot to go to on the edge of the lake a couple of miles
down the road. It's a small rest area with picnic benches. We sat in
the shade and it was a beautiful morning. What a great way to start
the day.

Off we went and we were on our way towards Cleveland. Not sure what the
next stop would be but I was sure I would think of something along the
way. Two hours later and 20 miles outside of Cleveland I had an idea.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! Richie is a huge music lover like me
and he would be the perfect guy to go there with. When we got out of
our cars in the parking lot, Steve didn't know where we were. Richie
asked him if he ever heard of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "Nope".
So off we went.

We took a couple of photos outside and headed in. It was pretty good
and we all enjoyed it. There was some great stuff inside. Cars from
U2's Zooropa Tour hung from the ceiling in the lobby. I remember seeing
that show at the Forum in Montreal with Irene Gagnon, Danny's wife. It
was a really good show and exceptionally loud. Another one of my
favorites is Pink Floyd and they had part of the wall from their "The
Wall" tour on display. Another highlight was the top floor where The
Doors had a display. There was some great reading about the history of
the band along with photos and personal belongings. Guitars, clothes
and handwritten letters and notes from Jim Morrison. That was really
interesting.

We stayed for about 90 minutes and were on our way again. I'd say the
most exciting thing we saw on the way to Flint from Cleveland was old
Tiger Stadium in downtown Detriot. I never had a chance to see a
baseball game there but I heard it had a great atmosphere. Apparently,
they are going to start selling parts of the stadium to collectors.
There is a big demand for the seats. Another group is trying to turn
the stadium into condos.

We made our way up to Auburn Hills by 5 pm, exactly 24 hours after we
left. Steve and Richie enjoyed the Magical Mystery Tour. We had a great
time and it was worth the time and effort to do what we did. I'm
looking forward to the next one.

I'm feeling a little blue today. It's been great having Steve along the
last couple of weeks. It's gone by fast. As I'm writing this, he's
loading his car. If we miss the cut today, he'll head home right after
the round. It's about a 9 hour drive back to Montreal. If we make the
cut, he'll stay for the weekend. I hope Pete can have a good one today
so Steve can hang out for 2 more days.

Auburn Hills, Michigan 6-26-07

It was good to get back on tour last week after a 2-week break which I
spent in 2Mo. I had a great time visiting family and friends. I still
managed to spend a fair amount of time on the golf course. I played 5
or 6 rounds with different friends as well as my brother, Steve, and
brother-in-law, Frank Bouchard. The last round I played while back home
was at Laval-sur-le-lac, the club that I learned how to caddy on.

Myself and Rick Debonis, who also grew up caddying at Laval, went over
to see Laval head pro, Raymond Richer one afternoon. Raymond grew up in
St. Eustache playing golf and was a pretty fair hockey player as well.
Always a great guy. When he came out of his office to see us, we
chatted a bit and asked him if we could play the course while I was
back home visiting. Absolutely no problem. He let us pick the day, time
and even the choice of the two courses at Laval-sur-le-lac. The best
course is the older one, the Green course. We played Thursday morning
at 7:30 with my brother-in-law, Frank and another long-time Laval caddy,
Mike McKeown. If I'm not mistaken, Mike hadn't been to the course since
the 70's.

We were like kids in a candy store when we got there. It was nice to be
teeing off with other members instead of caddying for them. I won't go
into detail about the whole round but the bottom line was that we all
had a really good time. A little jittery initially but we all managed
to hit a few good shots. The weather was perfect and a good time was
had by all.

A funny story about something that happened on the 2nd tee. It's a 145
yard par 3. A good little hole. Not that there was any team play, but
Frank and I did happen to hit the first two shots. We were both about
12 feet from the hole. I forget what was said but I did blurt out
something about a "2Mo vs. Laval West match". Seeing as though both
Rick and Mike are originally from Laval West, they both shot me a glare
and I knew the game was on. That one comment changed the vibe in the
group from casual to serious. If I'm not mistaken, Laval West and 2Mo
have always had a friendly rivalry and we carried it on that day. It
was a close match right down to the wire. Rick Debonis reached the par
5, 18th in two and managed to roll in a great putt for eagle to tie the
match. He would never have made it if it wasn't for the great putt read
McKeown gave him. A memorable day, indeed. Needless to say, we all went
home happy.

A few days later, it was back to work. But I have company for a couple
of weeks. My brother, Steve, has come along to see some golf and hang
around the tour. Week one in Hartford was a great week to get back into
the swing of things for me. It's a small-town event with a homey
atmosphere. I love TPC River Highlands in Cromwell. A really nice
course. When the wind blows there like it did Friday and Saturday, it
can be a really good test.

It was nice to see Hunter Mahan get his first win in a playoff. Very
exciting golf down the stretch and in the playoff. Hunter is a pretty
nice guy who works hard on his game on the range. It paid off. It was
good to see one of my former bosses, Jay Williamson, have the best
finish of his career after the playoff loss to Mahan. Jay won on the
Nationwide Tour a few weeks ago and is well on his way to securing his
PGA Tour card for the 2008 season.

As for Peter, he was a bit rusty for the first few holes on Thursday
but managed to have a pretty solid week after a 2 week layoff. I
believe he finished tied for 29th. On Sunday, we had a chance for a
better finish than we did. A 4 foot birdie putt on 17 would have gotten
him to -5 but it slid by and he ended up with a par. Then a costly
bogey on 18 when Peter hit a 9 iron from 138 yards into a greenside
bunker. He not only short sided himself but the ball was also plugged.
He hit a pretty good shot to 14 feet but left the putt 3 inches short.
It was dead center. The missed birdie opportunity on 17 and the bogey
on 18 cost him close to $50,000! Can't feel too bad for him though. He
gets to give it another shot this week in Grand Blanc, Michigan at the
Buick.

All in all, his game is in a good spot. He's top 10 on tour in over all
driving. That stat is a combination of driving accuracy and driving
distance average. His iron play is really solid and his short game is
pretty good. It all boils down to putting. If this guy was a really
good putter, he would be top 50 in the world, easily. His tee to green
play would be even better than it is right now because his confidence
would be at a new level. If he KNEW he could make more putts, he would
be a contender on a regular basis. At one point not long ago, Peter was
a really good player. Right now, he's a pretty good player. I really
think he can get back there in the near future.

It's obvious that I haven't been writing much lately. But a good friend
of mine (hi Tina), gave me a boot in the ass last week and told me to
get back to work!. Tina told me the the exact date of the last date I
wrote and that it was time for an update! Thanks for the encouragement,
Tina. I met Tina earlier this year at Bay Hill in Orlando. She lives in
the Hartford area and is good friends of Mike and Wendy Goyetche. Mike
and Wendy have been coming to the event in Hartford for close to 20
years and sure enough, they were there again last week. They managed to
find the time to come down even though they in the early stages of
building a new home just across the border in Ontario. It was good to
see them all at the tournament.

I'm going to try something new in the future. Seeing as though I
recently learned how to send photos on my new computer, I plan on
documenting more of my road trips. I took some photos the last little
while and will post them along with some stories of trips I'll be on. I
think it will be a lot of fun.

My brother is urging me to write this. I don't want to drop any names
but it was a fun experience. Steve and I stayed with friends while at
the Hartford event. They are people who I met through my wife, Sunny.
Great people. They have a beautiful farm house in Connecticut and they
put us up for the week. I stayed in a great old Airstream trailer on
their property while there. I won't go into detail but we did happen to
have dinner with Renee Zellweger a couple of nights. She is good friends
of the people that we stayed with and was visiting for a couple of
days. She's really nice and it was fun to meet her. There, that's it.
No more name dropping.

Here is a picture from last Month at the Players' Championship