The US Open Golf Championships
By WOWT Rob Gaastra
It all started on a Tuesday at the weekly NSD OPDEF meeting, when my cell phone rang. I heard, “We’re going to the US Open!” It was my Mum - my brother Doug Batty had just achieved one of the 75 qualifying spots (from around 9000 entrants) for one of golf’s four major tournaments.
I broke the news to my boss, “I’m going to have to take some leave next week Sir; I’m going to be caddying in the US Open”.
I was excited about Doug’s achievement, but I had no idea how big this was going to get. My phones rang hot the next morning as I fielded calls from many media sources; that day Doug, my parents and I were on TV One news, then Doug was on Campbell Live, and in the days following there were articles in various newspapers. I was also very privileged to get some clothing sponsorship, courtesy of “The Cut Magazine”, “USANA Health Sciences”, and “Maxwell’s Golf Retreat”.
Sunday arrived, and I was on my way to New York, where I was met by a chauffeur, who took me to Bethpage, home of the 2009 US Golf Open. It was then that I got my first taste of how spoilt we were going to be… Doug was waiting in our courtesy Lexus car. It was some machine, and the GPS was a godsend (we still managed to get lost every now and then!).
That evening Steve Williams rang Doug and asked if we wanted to join Tiger [Woods] and him for the first practice round - bit of a no-brainer really! I was pretty shattered from the long trip so chose to hit the sack, only to be woken at 0057 by Doug shuffling around. “Doug, it’s midnight, what are you doing?” I said, to which he replied, “Oh, is it” and then proceeded back to bed. He had dreamt that he missed his tee time with Tiger Woods, so was a bit flustered and hence his sleep walking!
We awoke to rain, and lots of it. I checked the golf bag, packed the car, and off we went. At the course I was getting the gear out the car and asked Doug, “Where’s your umbrella mate?” to which he replied, “I haven’t got one.” It was raining quite hard. So we had to try and get one, only to find out that nothing opened until 0700 but our tee time was at 0650. Totally saturated, we headed to the first tee, pushed our way through the crowds (all whom had umbrellas), ducked under the rope, rocked up to Steve and Tiger, and proceeded to introduce ourselves. They didn’t comment, but you could definitely tell what they were thinking, “Don’t you guys have an umbrella?” The nine holes with them were over way too soon, but it was a great experience, and it’s fair to say that they are pretty good at what they do, and the fact that they were really nice guys to chat with was a bonus.
So what was the course like? It’s definitely the hardest golf course I’ve ever seen:
- longest hole - 605 yards par 5,
- seven par 4s over 450 yards, the longest of which was a 525 yard monster (the longest par 4 in US Open history)
- three of the par 3s come in at over 200 yards.
Doug hits the ball as far as anyone I know here in NZ, but he was basically hitting 4 Iron, 3 Iron, or a Fairway Wood into most of the par 4s, and he couldn’t reach either of the par 5s in two shots. It is a long golf course and the wet made it even longer, with the only reprieve being the soft greens, making it possible to stop the ball on your long approach shots. Then there was the rough; if you missed the fairway, you typically only had about 6 feet of the first and second cut before you were up to your knees in long grass.
Some other well-known players that we got to play with during the practice rounds were Luke Donald, Robert Allenby, and Thomas Levet. They were all nice guys too, and it was a huge confidence boost for Doug going into the tournament, knowing that they had all won on the PGA tour and yet none of them looked anymore impressive than him. Doug now believed he could get out there and mix it with the “big boys”.
The day of the tournament - and unfortunately the rain caused play to be suspended without us playing a single shot. On one occasion when the news media crews were assembled around the clubhouse, Doug and I sharing the same umbrella, made our way towards them. Doug was holding the umbrella (like little brothers do for their older siblings) and as we got close the camera men basically pushed Doug out the way and threw their cameras into my face! Chuckling away Doug said, “They think you’re a golfer!”
The weather fined up on Friday, and we finally found ourselves on the first tee. Doug was introduced to the gallery, who responded with loud applause, before he pumped one down the middle and off we walked - we were in the US Open. At the 4th hole, where Doug had just made his 3rd up-and-down par save, he said to me, “Man you look nervous.” I replied, “Just hit a green would you, you’re giving me heart failure.” It’s much harder on the nerves caddying than playing, as you have no control over what the player is doing, and you’ve got no idea what’s going on in his head.
After eleven holes Doug was looking good at a respectable one over par, when he committed the ultimate US Open sin….he missed a fairway. He managed to get on the green for three, but it still took him three putts to get the hole finished, a double bogey. He stood on the next tee and blew one out into the bush. A lost ball meant he was three off the tee, which led to back-to-back doubles. He managed to re-gather his composure and finished the last five holes one under par, but the damage had been done and he carded a four over par 74 (the same score as Tiger Woods).
The tournament was behind schedule, so we had only an hour and a half rest, before our second round. We managed to complete another six holes, at three over par, before play was called off due to poor light. So we went home at seven over par, knowing we had to do something special the next day.
From our early start on Saturday, Doug made two pars on a couple of the hardest holes on the course, but he missed the fairway on the next hole and his ball was deep in the rough. This led to yet another double bogey, his fourth of the tournament. After setting up some great birdie opportunities, only to let himself down with the putter, Doug decided to putt with his eyes closed for the last four holes. This brought a change of fortune and he holed some great putts, one of which was on that monster 525 yard par 4. Fist pumps, and laughs all round – Doug had birdied the longest par 4 in the US Open with his eyes closed!
Although we were immensely disappointed at missing the cut, Doug had not disgraced himself and played the last nine holes one under par. From my perspective, I was happy with my performance and even made a couple of club choices when Doug was undecided, which worked out perfectly. I never made any serious mistakes, but I did witness one, when the caddy of one of Doug’s playing partners stepped on a pitch mark in the fairway, a few inches in front of their ball. This resulted in a two shot penalty, and that guy missed the cut and a guaranteed US$15,000 (at the least) by just two shots!
It was great mixing with the best golfers in the world and getting to see that at the end of the day they are all just normal guys. The biggest thing for Doug is the confidence in his own ability, and the knowledge that the gap between him and these exceptional sportsmen is actually very small.
It was a great experience that I’ll treasure, and obviously talk about for years to come. Coming back to work, however, was a reality check, as the aisles of the NSD warehouse are a long way from the fairways of the US Open!
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