The First Tee Course Reporters

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Josh Mizels and Adrian Romero will be serving as Course Reporters from the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship this week.

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Day 2- Cadillac Championship by Adrian Romero

It's raining, it's pouring, and all the golfers are taking shelter. That was the story here at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship during my second day at the golf course. Not long after the start of the first day of competition play, roars were expected to come from the 10th tee when Tiger Woods approached. Instead, the skies roared with lightning and wind.

The rain delay allowed me to discover that there are both positives and negatives to staying indoors. The obvious negative was no play on the course, but the positive was more opportunities to meet people we may not otherwise have been able to meet. While in the Media Center waiting out the rain, we had an opportunity to speak with various caddies for PGA TOUR players and ask how they handle rain delays, as well as how they prepare for a tournament. This time also allowed us to understand how the word spreads from Meteorology, to Rules, to the golf course, to the entire Media Center to all the players, and finally, to Twitter!

As we finished lunch and walked outside onto the course, Tweets were being posted that scoreboards had fallen on the course. Sure enough, as we walked up to the ninth green, we saw that the huge scoreboard facing the 18th green had fallen over and several camera towers had fallen over as well. With scuba gear ready, men retrieved a $100,000 camera from the river behind the 9th green while leaving the scoreboard scattered on the 9th's right rough. These catastrophes did not stop play though, and that was the best part of today. After all, Tiger Woods, Graeme Mc Dowell and Phil Mickelson were paired together in the first round!

Many will say that golf is the least dangerous sport out there, but in reality, today has proven this statement wrong. Other than the weather and towers and scoreboards that could potentially cause harm, golf creates fatigue in the players. Bubba Watson is a testament to this statement as he withdrew from the tournament with aches and pains, according to his Twitter account. From introductions to players and caddies, to interviews with Alex Miceli and the broadcasting department, the Junior Course Reporting Program has been a great experience that I will cherish.

Day 2- Cadillac Championship by Josh Mizels

Day one of Junior Course Reporting ended better than I expected. We were able to sit in on Alvaro Quiros's interview and had a few good laughs with him. When comparing his game to that of the legendary Seve Ballesteros, Alvaro mentioned that he does not have "his hands" and that Alvaro "is more of a brick-layer." I asked him if he had any advice for young, aspiring golfers, and this was his answer:

"Any advice about that? Well, you know, this is something that nobody has to teach me, never, and it's ambitious. I mean, if you want to go further, in anything, you need to be ambitious. You really need to love what you are doing. So in my case, I think any advice should be just try your best. Just try your best every single day and work hard. Mainly I think we are in a wonderful sport because people who don't have a great talent can spend a lot of time practicing, and can make great things happen. And the opposite; people who have lots of talent but who don't work enough won't reach the same point, and I think this is beautiful. This is the only advice probably: Work hard."

Today started off with a bang, literally. Just 20 or 30 minutes after the tournament began, play was suspended due to inclement weather. Ian Poulter, via Twitter, compared the storm to a "mini hurricane" and a "mess." Not only did the scoreboard on 18 totally collapse, but so did the TV tower behind the ninth green. Fortunately, no one was hurt during these incidents. A team of scuba divers was sent to recover some of the equipment from the lake and did so in front of a sizeable gallery.

When the weather cleared and the practice facilities reopened, we had the opportunity to watch Tiger Woods warm up. Soon after, we went into the broadcasting truck to see how televised golf is produced. Many people may think that it is any easy thing to do, but there is more to it than you would imagine. There were cameras and people all over the place and commands were being given throughout the truck. I walked out with more questions than I had before I walked in!

Our day concluded as we finally were able to go out onto the course and watch some golf. We saw Tiger hit an escape shot on the par-5 12th hole from the left rough just a couple of feet away from us. A high cut over a tree was all it took him to find the fairway. When we returned to the Media Center, we had an unexpected opportunity to talk with Alex Miceli, writer for Golfweek magazine and a personality for the Golf Channel. He shared with us how he prepares for interviews and what types of questions he asks.

I would like to thank the PGA TOUR and the First Tee of Broward County for giving me this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Day 1- Cadillac Championship by Adrian Romero

The 15th century founders of the game of golf would have never imagined the game to be as technologically advanced as it currently is today. This became quite clear to me while participating in The First Tee Junior Course Reporter program at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship. Certain conversations and interviews with PGA TOUR professionals and caddies definitely made the technological advances more apparent.

Upon my arrival to the practice facility, I was greeted by Billy Schroder, vice president of player relations for the PGA TOUR, who immediately introduced my fellow course reporter and me to PGA TOUR players Jason Day, Ryan Palmer and Rory Sabbatini. Right off the bat, Jason Day focused on the changes and tweaks necessary to adhere to this particular course in South Florida. He suggested that he now knows that "Bermuda grass will make [him] change [his] wedges to have 10 degrees of bounce instead of rye grass, which requires six degrees of bounce." Let's just say that the game has come a long way since Jack Nicklaus's "Golf My Way" video.

Mizels (blue shirt) and Romero on the range with Tiger Woods in the background.

Caddie Andy Prodger's face might be familiar to those who remember golf from the time of Jack Nicklaus. Andy has won 41 tournaments, including two major championships, while on the bag for professionals like Nick Faldo and his current partner, K.J. Choi. On the practice putting green, we were lucky enough to get an interview with the veteran caddie. Much of the interview focused on the subject of technology and how its advance has affected the game of golf today. Andy stated that his level of play in the past was like "tiddlywinks" compared to today's professional play. That brought up the question of whether this has a positive impact on golf and whether it has been dealt with properly by the courses. According to Andy, courses "need to be shorter and need to focus on precision" rather than length as a whole, even though he is a fan of the new technologies. He went on to explain that professionals can hit it a mile, but whether they "can hit it straight" is the true testament to their greatness. He also supports the statement that "some of the greatest holes in golf are the short holes."

Technology has had such an impact on the game of golf, from club selection to swing analysis. The game of golf has been and is evolving since its beginning. Thanks to the Junior Course Reporters program, I have been given many opportunities to dig deeper into this subject and learn about the varied positive and negative responses from both PGA TOUR professionals and caddies.

Day 1- Cadillac Championship by Josh Mizels

Stepping onto the practice facility Wednesday morning during the WGC-Cadillac Championship was a great way to start my day as a Junior Course Reporter. After watching a few of the players hit balls, I had the opportunity to meet Billy Schroder, vice president of player relations for the PGA TOUR. He talked to us about his job and how (the Player Relations department) serves as a liaison between the players and (the TOUR).

We were then introduced to Jason Day, Ryan Palmer, and Rory Sabbatini, winner of last week's Honda Classic. We asked them questions about how the course was playing this week and changes they had to make to adjust to the conditions. They all agreed that the length of TPC Blue Monster, the wind, and the grain would make this week difficult. I also asked Ryan Palmer about his pre-round routine. He said that he arrives on the practice tee only 50 minutes before his tee time; "the worst thing is sitting [on the practice facility] and waiting to tee off."

The next thing on our agenda was to go and visit the TaylorMade and Titleist equipment trailers. Both representatives we talked to, Henry from TaylorMade and Brett from Titleist, compared their jobs to that of the pit crew at NASCAR. They travel around the country to practically every PGA TOUR event, and build golf clubs for the TOUR players. The coolest part of this experience was seeing the drawers full of brand new golf clubs; drivers, woods, hybrids, irons, wedges, putters -- every club you could imagine can be built and hit in less than 60 minutes. Although we didn't get to keep any clubs, we were able to walk out with a bag full of tees.

I look forward to tomorrow and the opening round of the 2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship. We plan to meet the chief meteorologist of the PGA TOUR and TOUR executives. Hopefully, we will be able to watch some golf too. Although ranked 4, 5, and 6 in the Official World Golf Rankings, the grouping of Graeme McDowell, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will be the number one group to watch. I am excited for day two of my Junior Course Reporting and the first round of this tournament.

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REPORTER BIOGRAPHIES

ADRIAN ROMERO

My name is Adrian Alexander Romero, I attend Pembroke Pines Charter High School in Pembroke Pines, Florida where I am a senior and 17 years old. I am a native born Floridian who loves the game of golf. I am an avid golfer with a +0.9 USGA Handicap. I am also an avid contributer to my community with my involvement in many organizations within my community: Youth Leadership Broward as Alumni and Advisor, National Honor Society as President, Mu Alpha Theta Honor Society as President, Student Government Association as Treasurer, Interschool Council Representative, ONE Pines Charter as previous Junior Representative, YMCA as Leadership Development Counselor and my Varsity Golf Team as Captain. One of many accomplishments has been with The First Tee of Broward where I am a mentor and the founding chair to the first "Monday After the Masters" Charity Golf Invitational that has me competing for a prestigious Silver Knight Award in my community. Other than golf and community service, I enjoy playing basketball with friends and being with family. Once I graduate high school in 2011, I plan on attending a four-year university like Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, Florida State or the University of Florida. I would pursue a major in political science with a minor in business, since I plan on getting my MBA and Law degree.

JOSH MIZELS

Josh Mizels is 16 years old and lives in Weston, Fla. He is a 10th grade headmaster's honor roll student at University School in Davie, Fla. He was recognized as the Citizen Scholar in ninth grade and has played on the varsity golf team since 7th grade. This past year, Josh was the captain of the golf team and placed in the top 10 in both the regional and district finals. He was recognized by the Miami Herald as a member of the 3rd Team All BrowardGolf Team and was also the recipient of the Presidents Award by the JGA of Broward County.

Josh has volunteered as a Junior Mentor for The First Tee of Broward County for the past 3 years where he has completed nearly 200 community service hours. He is Birdie Level certified and is working toward his Eagle Level certification. Josh has enjoyed representing and supporting The First Tee on and off of the golf course.