PGA TOUR stars add caddying to honey-do list
By Lauren Deason, PGATOUR.com Editorial Coordinator
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Mark Wilson lugged his wife Amy's golf bag around the the Haig course at PGA National Resort & Spa for the biennial PGA TOUR Wives Golf Classic. It was a chance for the husbands to be caddies for a change and for a good cause.
Wilson, the defending champion at The Honda Classic, had a little hiccup once he got out on the course.
"I had to rake my own trap," said his wife Amy, with a laugh. "He remembered the clubs but he forgot to rake the sand."
"It's tough. There's lots of stuff going on that you don't realize. But the wives were pretty easy on us. I have a lot more respect for my caddie now," Mark added.
Prior to the 2 p.m. start on Tuesday, Zach Johnson strolled across the putting green wearing a blue tee-shirt, shorts, tennis shoes and a pink and white caddie bib. It was a far cry from the Green Jacket-clad Zach Johnson image that immediately pops into mind.
Sean O'Hair, who is usually spotted in a collared shirt and long golf pants, tugged his pink and white caddie bib on over workout shorts and a white tee-shirt.
Multiple-time PGA TOUR winner Justin Leonard didn't even get shotgun in the golf cart. He rode on the back. After the tournament ended, Ben Crane bounced his baby daughter on his hip until she giggled. Lucas Glover playfully chased Clemson University teammate Charles Warren's toddler son around at the post-event awards dinner.
The scene resembled the time you were in elementary school, ran into your math teacher at the mall on a Saturday afternoon and a light bulb went off in your head: They are real people away from their job. The 32 PGA TOUR players, who had to leave the club swinging to the ladies in the nine-hole scramble tournament, are simply regular guys and doting family men off the course.
For the wives, who are used to accompanying their husbands across the country, coordinating family life on the road and following 18 hole rounds of golf, the fun outing was a nice change of pace.
"Most of us spend our time following the guys on the course. This is the guys' chance to come out and support us," said Julie Petrovic, wife of PGA TOUR winner Tim Petrovic.
Like many of the wives on TOUR, Petrovic devotes much of her time to the PGA TOUR Wives Association. Proceeds from Tuesday's tournament, which made money through donations and sponsorships, will go towards various PGA TOUR Wives charities as well as the Nicklaus Children's Hospital in West Palm Beach.
Amy Quigley, a resident of nearby Jupiter, Fla., organized the tournament and coordinated with the PGA TOUR to put on one of the season's most popular charity events.
Just ask a smiling Arron and Angie Oberholser how much fun it was. Arron hardly had to use his golf knowledge because wife Angie is a former LPGA Tour player. She and Shauna Matteson, a former collegiate golfer, were paired together and won the event.
"She hits it pretty well," bragged Arron. "Troy and I were just trying to figure out the right lines for the girls to hit it off the tees. In a relaxed setting like this, she's pretty automatic and hits it right where she's looking. We had a blast...we should have it twice a year."
On the par-3 seventh hole, Sentient Jets offered a $500 gift card to Saks Fifth Avenue for closest to the pin and $50,000 for a hole-in-one. The offer was so enticing that several of the women who had purchased "mulligans" before the round gave it a second shot. Sean O'Hair even went so far as to jokingly cough during Angie Oberholser's backswing to try and distract the talented golfer from knocking it close to the pin.
Though Oberholser picked up several awards after the tournament, it was Brenda Calcavecchia -- playing with a pink golf ball and pink ribbon in her hair -- who landed it closest to the flag.
For many of the wives, however, their swings weren't quite as honed as their husbands. It was an especially hot day in sunny Florida and several of the women's golf balls felt the need to take a dip in the pond to the left of the seventh hole.
With summer-like conditions, an afternoon thunderstorm loomed ominously in the distance and suspended play at 3 p.m. Once the nasty weather passed, the women were able to complete their round and the men got to resume their caddie duties.
"It's great. This is my third time at this event and I enjoy it," said Zach Johnson. "They cater to us caddies, too, with coolers on every hole and it's great for the women to have fun.
"Everything the PGA TOUR Wives do for charity is great. They get involved in the markets that we visit even though we are only in town for one week. Whether they make a small difference or a big difference in a city, it's impressive."
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