2016 LPGA, PGA- Brooke Henderson Graham De Laet, Ames and Others

[killer_carlson]

Canadian McKenzie Hughes wins on the Web.com tour this week. This will secure his PGA tour card next year. This means that from the Web.com tour we have both Brad Fritsch and McKenzie Hughes earning Tour cards for next year.

Don't know if Hadwin, Sloan or Taylor will be able to maintain their status. They'll have to pick it up down the stretch.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

Don't know if Hadwin, Sloan or Taylor will be able to maintain their status. They'll have to pick it up down the stretch.

Hadwin is inside the top 100 (80ish) and will likely make the playoffs. He's the top Canadian in the FedEx standings right now.

Taylor is 128th and will need a good week next week to make it to the playoffs.

Both are safe for next year. All four Canadians are in the field at the Wyndham next week. It's one of my favourite tournaments a year as it's fun watching guys grind to make the cut and then grind to make the playoffs on Sunday. I'm sure it's NOT fun for them, but makes for some good TV.

Sloan is 40ish on the Web and will have to play the tour finals for a shot at his card. Should be good for a Web card next year. Not being able to close the tournament he was leading on Sunday earlier in the year really set him back. It looks like he should make the Web finals.

Getting your card is one thing. Getting inside the top 70 and being able to pick your schedule is something completely different. I hope Hadwin can have a good playoffs and get there. That will be a big help for him next year.

[killer_carlson]

i didn't realize Hadwin was having a decent season. Taylor needs to pick it up though.

[malcolmk14]

Caddying in the LPGA event this week at Priddis. Hope the weather turns around!

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Hadwin is inside the top 100 (80ish) and will likely make the playoffs. He's the top Canadian in the FedEx standings right now.

Taylor is 128th and will need a good week next week to make it to the playoffs.

Both are safe for next year. All four Canadians are in the field at the Wyndham next week. It's one of my favourite tournaments a year as it's fun watching guys grind to make the cut and then grind to make the playoffs on Sunday. I'm sure it's NOT fun for them, but makes for some good TV.

Sloan is 40ish on the Web and will have to play the tour finals for a shot at his card. Should be good for a Web card next year. Not being able to close the tournament he was leading on Sunday earlier in the year really set him back. It looks like he should make the Web finals.

Getting your card is one thing. Getting inside the top 70 and being able to pick your schedule is something completely different. I hope Hadwin can have a good playoffs and get there. That will be a big help for him next year.

Being in top 125 gets you pretty high status and gets you into pretty much every event except for the majors and world golf championships. Top 70 doesn't do anything to get into those events. Taylor will be fine for another year too because he won that tournament. It's the Web.com graduates, or guys playing with the 125-150 exemptions that have trouble getting into pga tour events.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Caddying in the LPGA event this week at Priddis. Hope the weather turns around!

One of my golfing buddies is doing the same thing.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

Being in top 125 gets you pretty high status and gets you into pretty much every event except for the majors and world golf championships. Top 70 doesn't do anything to get into those events. Taylor will be fine for another year too because he won that tournament. It's the Web.com graduates, or guys playing with the 125-150 exemptions that have trouble getting into pga tour events.

You need to be top 70 to play in Jack and Arnie's events. Top 80 gets you into Colonial.

[malcolmk14]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Caddying in the LPGA event this week at Priddis. Hope the weather turns around!

Well, my player is top 10 heading into the weekend. Hope she can keep it up. What a thrill it's been so far!

[killer_carlson]

Sharp 12
Henderson 21

Ames T-3 1 shot back going into Saturday
Spittle needs to put a big tourney or two in. He's dropping back the Schwab list

Hadwin is T-6


No Canadians in top 20 on Web.com tour. Fristch has really slowed down after a blistering start to the season.

[killer_carlson]

Ames 2 shots back through 13 on the Champions - including tossing a double bogey on the front nine.

Sharp has a strong day and finises 4th on the LPGA. Great for her. Strong season continues, should be a career best now.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Well, my player is top 10 heading into the weekend. Hope she can keep it up. What a thrill it's been so far!

Went and watched on the final day. Great venue and tournament. Where'd your player end up?

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Caddying in the LPGA event this week at Priddis. Hope the weather turns around!

Cool. Can you tell us about your background - are you a local pro or something? I would've imagined that the top women have their own regular caddies like the men, but if that wasn't the case they'd need someone with good golfing chops.

[GirlySports]

i was there most of yesterday following the lead group.

It was COLD! and a lot of walking.

[Zarley]

Was there yesterday for the afternoon. Pretty impressive to see some of these ladies bomb it. Jutanugarn was hitting mid 200s with 2 iron off the tee.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Zarley

Was there yesterday for the afternoon. Pretty impressive to see some of these ladies bomb it. Jutanugarn was hitting mid 200s with 2 iron off the tee.

Thin air of Calgary!
Just hearing the sound of contact off the driver was amazing.

And the birds were noisy too!

[malcolmk14]

Originally Posted by Bunk

Went and watched on the final day. Great venue and tournament. Where'd your player end up?

Had a tough day Sunday and shot 76. Ended up tied for 37th. Had a ton of tap-in par's, just couldn't get any birdie putts to go till the 18th. Still a great tournament for her! She's a first year LPGA pro and it was her best finish.

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Cool. Can you tell us about your background - are you a local pro or something? I would've imagined that the top women have their own regular caddies like the men, but if that wasn't the case they'd need someone with good golfing chops.

I'm not a professional but I am a decent golfer. Worked in the Pro Shop at a course here for the last five summers, and I've caddied in a few PGA of Alberta events. When I applied for the Pro-Am there was a place on the application to write in caddy experience. I said I had caddied in a few professional events, and they contacted me to ask if I'd be interested in caddying for a pro for the week. I was thrilled, and a little nervous. But it was an amazing experience.

I was with her from Monday to Sunday, two practice rounds, a day of practice, and then four tournament rounds. She made a couple cuts this season so I'm not sure what I was expecting, but making the cut was the goal so we said that we wanted to be under par both days. That was the mantra. Red numbers. We figured that would make the cut.

I took detailed notes on her club usage, talked strategy off the tee and on approach shots, paced off yardages, but left putt reading mostly to her. Just a reminder here and there of when a putt was insanely fast and would likely run away, which a lot of them were. The greens were very fast and tough to read.

She shot 71 on Thursday and was pretty happy with her round, and then Friday she went on a little run halfway through the round and made an eagle and a few birdies. Before we knew it she was -7, and we were heading to the weekend. Shot 66 on Friday, and was thrilled, and T-9 on the leaderboard.

Imagine my surprise when I checked tee times that night and saw that we were off Saturday morning at 10:28 with Lydia Ko. I almost pooped myself. I think I was more nervous than she was, but I tried to treat it like it was no big deal for her sake. Later in the day I asked her if she was nervous and she said just on the first tee, and that it was her first time meeting Lydia and golfing with someone with that kind of attention and following.

The round with Lydia was awesome. Nervous tension the entire time, she is so intense and serious. Very thorough and takes every single shot seriously, never missing any kind of angle and talking through everything with her caddy. The galleries following us were insane, unlike anything I've seen, but once the round gets going you really don't notice. You just focus on the golf. My player grinded out a couple long par putts on 1 and 2, and then chipped in out of the bunker on 3 for birdie to break the tension a little bit. Played really well from there and shot 69, finishing the day at -10, tied with Lydia. Lydia shot 70. Tied for 10th heading to Sunday.

Sunday was tough. Very cold early in the morning and our group was put on the clock after our tee shots on the 4th hole because we encountered some difficulty on the first few. So we were basically running until the 14th when we were told we were back on time. None of the 5-10 foot birdie putts that were falling earlier in the week were going in. So it wasn't necessarily grinding pars all day. They were all pretty easy pars, but just no birdies to offset the few bogeys she made. She ended up shooting 76 and fell down the leaderboard. Had to be -2 or -3 to keep pace with the field.

All in all it was an amazing experience. We played with some awesome golfers on the weekend (Lydia Ko, Minjee Lee, Chella Choi, Gaby Lopez) and were in contention to win some big bucks. It just didn't come together on Sunday like we would've liked. Had a great time though, it was a pretty awesome way to experience a golf tournament like that, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Found Lydia on the putting green after our round on Saturday and got a photo with her, ate a few meals with Ariya Jutanugarn (she's friends with the player I caddied for), and had a short chat with Brooke Henderson on Saturday, who I am a big fan of and have been following for years after I saw her play in 2012.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Had a tough day Sunday and shot 76. Ended up tied for 37th. Had a ton of tap-in par's, just couldn't get any birdie putts to go till the 18th. Still a great tournament for her! She's a first year LPGA pro and it was her best finish.



I'm not a professional but I am a decent golfer. Worked in the Pro Shop at a course here for the last five summers, and I've caddied in a few PGA of Alberta events. When I applied for the Pro-Am there was a place on the application to write in caddy experience. I said I had caddied in a few professional events, and they contacted me to ask if I'd be interested in caddying for a pro for the week. I was thrilled, and a little nervous. But it was an amazing experience.

I was with her from Monday to Sunday, two practice rounds, a day of practice, and then four tournament rounds. She made a couple cuts this season so I'm not sure what I was expecting, but making the cut was the goal so we said that we wanted to be under par both days. That was the mantra. Red numbers. We figured that would make the cut.

I took detailed notes on her club usage, talked strategy off the tee and on approach shots, paced off yardages, but left putt reading mostly to her. Just a reminder here and there of when a putt was insanely fast and would likely run away, which a lot of them were. The greens were very fast and tough to read.

She shot 71 on Thursday and was pretty happy with her round, and then Friday she went on a little run halfway through the round and made an eagle and a few birdies. Before we knew it she was -7, and we were heading to the weekend. Shot 66 on Friday, and was thrilled, and T-9 on the leaderboard.

Imagine my surprise when I checked tee times that night and saw that we were off Saturday morning at 10:28 with Lydia Ko. I almost pooped myself. I think I was more nervous than she was, but I tried to treat it like it was no big deal for her sake. Later in the day I asked her if she was nervous and she said just on the first tee, and that it was her first time meeting Lydia and golfing with someone with that kind of attention and following.

The round with Lydia was awesome. Nervous tension the entire time, she is so intense and serious. Very thorough and takes every single shot seriously, never missing any kind of angle and talking through everything with her caddy. The galleries following us were insane, unlike anything I've seen, but once the round gets going you really don't notice. You just focus on the golf. My player grinded out a couple long par putts on 1 and 2, and then chipped in out of the bunker on 3 for birdie to break the tension a little bit. Played really well from there and shot 69, finishing the day at -10, tied with Lydia. Lydia shot 70. Tied for 10th heading to Sunday.

Sunday was tough. Very cold early in the morning and our group was put on the clock after our tee shots on the 4th hole because we encountered some difficulty on the first few. So we were basically running until the 14th when we were told we were back on time. None of the 5-10 foot birdie putts that were falling earlier in the week were going in. So it wasn't necessarily grinding pars all day. They were all pretty easy pars, but just no birdies to offset the few bogeys she made. She ended up shooting 76 and fell down the leaderboard. Had to be -2 or -3 to keep pace with the field.

All in all it was an amazing experience. We played with some awesome golfers on the weekend (Lydia Ko, Minjee Lee, Chella Choi, Gaby Lopez) and were in contention to win some big bucks. It just didn't come together on Sunday like we would've liked. Had a great time though, it was a pretty awesome way to experience a golf tournament like that, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Found Lydia on the putting green after our round on Saturday and got a photo with her, ate a few meals with Ariya Jutanugarn (she's friends with the player I caddied for), and had a short chat with Brooke Henderson on Saturday, who I am a big fan of and have been following for years after I saw her play in 2012.

This is one of the coolest things I've ever read on this site.


Thanks for sharing.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

This is one of the coolest things I've ever read on this site.


Thanks for sharing.

Should go in the CP Hall of Fame for posts on this forum.

[GirlySports]

very cool. I did not know some golfers don't have their own caddies.

[malcolmk14]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

very cool. I did not know some golfers don't have their own caddies.

Yeah, for golfers new to the tour it is quite a grind. They have to be top-125 on the money list to keep their tour card for the following year, so they try and play as many tournaments as they can get in to. They aren't making a ton of cash to pay a full time caddy so it's cheaper to go with local caddies as they go from place to place.

My player played Monday to Sunday here, flew out on the red-eye to Toronto Sunday night, and is playing Monday to (hopefully) Sunday there.