Monday, March 30, 2009

My Caddie Days Are Over


I just woke up at 7:58 AM PT. I opened Jimmy Roberts "Breaking the Slump" last night at 10:00 PM and read exactly one word before completely passing out. Needless to say, I was pretty exhausted from a long week of caddying for Erica Blasberg.

First, I'd like to thank Erica. I'm sure I cost her two shots a round, but it was fun she couldn't have been more pleasant to work with. If there is a tour player perfect for this little experiment it would be her.

Second, I'd like to thank my bosses at FanHouse for allowing me the rare opportunity to spend some time within the ropes. I heard things like one LPGA golfer say, "It's so cold out here I'm freezing my titties off" before the final round Sunday morning. I got to tell Laura Davis "you smoked that drive" after her caddie told me her pop on 16 went 360 yards. I exchanged hellos with David Ledbetter. I talked about Okinawa with Ai Miyazato, one of the nicer professional athletes I've ever met, and even exchange my very, very limited Japanese vocabulary to rave reviews from Ai. I stood next to Michelle Wie. I caddied in the same group as Christina Kim. I even laughed on Thursday morning when all the players going out in the morning were bundled up in jackets and wind pants, Natalie Gulbis trudged out to the putting green in a short skirt and no jacket, obviously understanding her position as "Sex appeal superstar" on the LPGA.

I wrote my final piece for FanHouse right here, and you should check it out, because I actually don't, for once, hate what I put out there. It has perspective and shit.

Cool week all around. I sure hope I get the opportunity to maybe do it in the future.

Update: John pointed out in the comments that I failed to mention how I pissed Erica off on the 72nd hole. The 18th is a short par-5 and Erica was between clubs but the green is really hard so we settled on 6-iron. She hit it just short and as she was preparing to chip, I pulled the putter out so I could swiftly hand it to her. Big no-no. She chipped it up a foot or so, tapped in for birdie and then as we walked to the side of the green, she told me you NEVER pull out the putter when a player is chipping because it appears you don't think they will chip that shot in. Yikes. My bad.

3 comments:

14 STIX said...

It's been a fun read following your work with Erica this past week. Thanks to Erica for allowing us an insiders perspective. Congrats and best luck to you both.

John said...

You mention that you only upset Erica on the 72nd hole, but you don't say what you did to upset her. Hopefully it was minor.

Mind you, Shane, we're much more interested in making you look bad than Erica. Frankly, she's a saint for putting up with you all weekend.

John said...

If that's the worst thing you did all week then I figure you did all right.