It's the Halloween edition of #AskESPNCaddie! Only treats for those who ask me questions on Twitter using the hashtag. The "trick" is to find the best ones for your enjoyment.
This week's questions run the gamut of categories and topics, which makes sense this early in the season. Save me some candy, enjoy.
#AskESPNCaddie what are some of the hardest courses to caddy for and why? Thanks!
— T (@Nufan969) October 30, 2015The two toughest things about caddying are wind and hills. Hills are complicated because they can influence ball flight (sidehill and downhill lies especially) and make carrying a 35-pound golf bag extremely tiring. Wind is difficult because it exposes any flaws in the player's ballstriking, which will make both the caddie and the player look bad at times. That puts Kapalua Plantation (where they play the Hyundai Tournament of Champions) and Augusta National on top of the list as the scariest courses for a caddie. I have not been fortunate enough to caddie at either venue, but have spoken to enough loopers and seen enough golf at both places to know they are the toughest walks on tour.
"All great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage." -William Bradford
All tied, back 9, Sunday at Augusta. Rory, Jordan, JDay. Who you got and why? #AskESPNCaddie
— Pete Bacas (@Bunk4Golf) October 30, 2015I'll choose the only guy of those three who already has the green jacket. Jordan Spieth will feel so much less pressure since he already has one. Now, if we're talking the U.S. Open or The Open, I'd take Rory McIlroy because of his experience of closing those events. But Jason Day would get my PGA Championship nod, now that he has one. We can only dream that your scenario comes true. If the three of them are within a shot of each other at the top of the leaderboard going into Sunday of Augusta, ratings would be through the ceiling! Let's keep our collective fingers crossed.
@ESPNCaddie does Tony Finau break in to the win column this year? #AskESPNCaddie
— Brent Putney (@brent_putney5) October 30, 2015I completely believe that Finau will be in the winner's circle this year. Last year, he learned exactly which parts of his game needed the most improvement (driving accuracy, sand save percentage and strokes gained putting). Knowing Finau, he'll be working hard to get inside the top 50 in those categories by the end of the season. Along the way, he'll notch his first PGA Tour victory.
@ESPNCaddie #AskESPNCaddie best way to improve your green reading?
— Arturo Gonzalez III (@AgonzalezIII) October 22, 2015That's such a great and complicated question. Why? Because so much has to do with where you play and how you putt. If you live in the Southeast, you want to get good at reading Bermuda grass. If you're an aggressive putter, know that Bermuda grain won't play as much break as you think. If you live on the West Coast, you want to know whether Poa annua greens have tendencies. If you're up north, you're putting on bent grass (which I find the easiest of all to read). Then it becomes speed, line and what do you aim at.
I guess the most important thing about reading greens is first knowing what kind of grass you're putting on. Then find what's most comfortable; focus on where you want to aim the putter or on the apex of the break. On putts inside 4 feet, pick a piece of grass on the edge of the hole. Think only of rolling the ball over that single piece of grass. You're gonna be money from now on!
#AskESPNCaddie when u play golf do u still prefer to walk or do u take a cart?
— Matthew Broach (@i_c_crazy_matt) October 29, 2015The shape of my body right now might not scream, "I love walking!" but I really do walk when I play. Not just for the physical benefits but, most importantly, for the mental exercise I need. That might seem funny to some who don't walk, but try walking sometime when you're having a really bad day/week/month. Find somewhere that allows walking and play alone. Just you, the golf course and the stress that's in your life. When you're done with the round, it's amazing how much clearer things have become. Is your health and happiness worth being "off the grid" for 3-5 hours? I bet even the people around you would jealously say yes.