Mylan Classic Tuesday Practice Day

The Mylan Classic is a new event just south of Pittsburgh, PA. Kevin was arriving to the course around noon so I had to leave the house at 5am. I packed and put everything in the car last night so all I had to do was get up, shower, and leave. The 4:30 wake up alarm wasn't too tough since I went to bed with the kids last night at 8:20pm. The drive up took about 7 hours and I pulled in to the course noon. Kevin's flight landed about 11:30 and he was at the course by 12:30. We had lunch and then he had some treatment on his back. He was complaining about a sore back last week and it has not improved.

After his treatment, he practiced putting and then went straight out for a practice round. We are not in the pro-am tomorrow so we played all 18 this afternoon. This course is extremely hilly and will be the hardest walk we have all year. Since we are only going to see this place once before the tournament, we spent extra time around the greens, chipping, putting, and charting the breaks of the greens. I also had to get all of the elevation changes on each hole, noting all of the adjustment yardages for the uphill and downhill slopes. It takes a lot of time to do all of this so we did not walk off of the golf course until 7:30.

My hotel this week is about 25 minutes away from the course. I'm staying near the Pittsburgh airport at a Four Points Sheraton. It's a little nicer then last weeks Jameson Inn!! I decided to stop at Chick-Fil-A for dinner and bring it back to the room. Its been a long day and I was in no mood to sit down in a restaurant. I'm tired and ready for bed!!!

Round Four Knoxville Open

Off at 8:33 this morning with Andrew Buckle. We had a great ball striking day - hitting all 18 greens. Unfortunately, we had a poor putting day. Three 3-putts with three 1-putt greens adds up to 36 putts total. Kevin struggled with his speed today starting right from the first hole. The greens early in the day were still alittle wet from the dew and they were rolling slower then the first three days. When they dried out, we continued to struggle. But in the big  picture, we made the cut, made big progress with the ball striking, and can now build on this into next weeks tournament.

After the round, I drove back to Morganton. Picked up the kids and went out to my club for the Parent Child Tournament. I played with Alex (4 yrs old) and my Dad played with Albany (7 yrs old). It was a three hole alternate shot format for the 7 and under age group. Alex and I shot 13 for three hole and won the age group. Albany and her Pop Pop shot 16 for the three holes and finished 2nd. We all had a great time.

I'll be home tomorrow and will drive up to Pittsburgh on Tuesday morning. Looking forward to a day at home with my parents and family. My wife, Geraldine turned 40 today and we did not have much of a birthday party for her. Maybe I can think of something to do with her tomorrow. At least the kids and I brought her home some hardware for the wall!! Happy Birthday Mom!!!!

Round Three Knoxville Open

Another perfect day here in Knoxville. We teed off at 9:45 with Jonas Blixt. It was an up and down day. Five birdies with four bogeys for a one under 71. Standing at -5 for the tournament in 52nd place. Kevin is doing a lot of good things but just needs to clean it up a bit. Nothing major. It's just one of those weeks where a little momentum could lead to a real low score.

Kevin had a lot of friends and  family come out today. Dennis, Brain, Bradley and Gray also came over from Morganton. After the round,  Kevin decided not to practice and take the afternoon off. He was frustrated with the round and he just needed to take some time away from the course.

We tee off tomorrow at 8:33 so it will be an early morning. I'm all packed and ready to get out of town. I will be going home as soon as we finish tomorrow. The Parent/Child Tournament is at Mimosa tomorrow. Our early tee time here will allow me to get home in time to play with Alex and Albany. The 7 and under age group plays three holes of alternate shot so as long as I can get home by 4:30, I will be able to play with them. My parents are also up visiting from Jacksonville, Fl so it will be nice to see them for a day.

Round Two Knoxville Open

We had a 12:50 tee time today. The weather was perfect. Starting the round off the 10th hole,  Kevin hit the opening tee shot left but was able to recover for a par. He hit the ball very well today. We were 3 under thru 9 holes (-6 total) and he hit it to 15 feet for eagle on number 1 (our tenth hole of the day). Unfortunately, we three putted (missing a 2 footer). He continued to hit it well but missed two birdie putts inside 5 feet and two other par putts from 6 feet. The greens this afternoon got very "crusty" and bumpy. Kevin felt like he was hitting good putts but the ball was not rolling well.

After the round, we went to the range and continued to work on the same things - staying connected with his arms and getting off his right side on the down swing. After hitting balls for about 45 minutes we went to the putting green and worked on his new setup. He feels like he just needs more reps with everything to get more comfortable.

We tee off tomorrow at 9:45. Missed getting paired with John Daly by two groups. Dennis Woolard called tonight to tell me that he, Brain and Bradley Reep, and Gray Miller are driving over tomorrow to watch us play. Looking forward to seeing them and having a good time.

Round One Knoxville Open

Up early for the second day in a row for a 7:50 tee time. Those 5:30 wake up calls are always tough. We were paired with Scott Sterling and Dustin Risdon and the weather was perfect today. Kevin struggled on the front with his ball striking -hitting only four greens. He managed to shoot even on the front and then played much better on the back - hitting eight greens and shooting three under. He did a great job hanging in on a average day and getting it in the 60's. I feel this is why he is going to be a great player. (Great athletes get the job done when they are not on top of their game) When we finished, -3 was good enough for t-9th and two off the lead but that will change as the afternoon wave tees off.

Kevin has his Mom, Dad, and girlfriend in town so we had a short practice session after the round. He hit a few putts and then spend most of his time working on the range. He is trying to get off his right side better on the down swing so most of the balls he hit were drills. The session lasted about an hour and then we were done.

I came back to the hotel and started booking flights, cars, and hotels for the next few weeks. No big plans for the night. Dinner at Pei Wei, Big Brother on CBS at 8:00, bed by 9:00pm. I know....it's sad....but true!!!!

Knoxville Open Tuesday Practice Round

Well, here we go....my first blog from the road. My home this week is the luxurious Jameson Inn. (For the right price....caddies will stay anywhere!!) Not the four star hotels you all are used to staying in but it will do. Just to let you know, we always priceline our hotels out here on the road and sometimes you win but sometimes you lose.

This is our first week of a nine week stretch. We had last week off and since Knoxville is only 2.5 hrs away, I was able to stay home one extra day and drive in this morning. Kevin arrived about noon and our practice day got started. (for those of you that may not know, I am working for Kevin Kisner this year) Kevin spent his week off working with his swing coach, Hugh Royer and putting coach, Pat O'Brien. He showed up this week with a new putting setup and new putter. He is working on standing closer to the ball and getting his hands higher at address when he putts. Putting this week will be very difficult. The bentgrass greens here have taken a beating with the summer heat. They are very thin and soft. This Tournament was moved from the spring to the summer this year and the course will play completely different then years past. Hitting the fairways this week will also be very important. Advancing the ball from the rough will be next to impossible.

Kevin worked on his putting and short game for about 3 hrs, hit balls for about an hour and then played the back nine. We joined up with Brain Bateman and Luke List. We finished about 6pm and left for the day. We are in the morning pro-am tomorrow teeing off at 7:50am so he was ready to get out of there. (and so was I).

Starting a Blog

After playing the TableRock Cup at Mimosa Hills and talking to Coach Terry Rogers, I have realized that there are a few people out there that would like to follow the progress of the players that I caddy for on the Tour. I thought that by creating a blog, I can keep everyone up to speed with how things are going. I will try to blog every few days and update everyone with the life of a Tour Caddy. I have never done this before, so please be patient with the progress. As I start to learn the ropes, I will try to add pictures,etc. Thanks for all of the support and I hope you find this a little bit entertaining. Feel free to tell anyone you think may be interested in reading this. Thanks