Article June 11, 2012 Issue

'Pa' for the course

Brian Kissock

The golf season in the Northern Hemisphere is in full swing!—with three majors left: the US Open at The Olympic Club, San Francisco (June 14–17), the British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, Lancashire (July 19–22), and the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, South Carolina (August 9–12).

Several years ago I had the “temerity” to enter a qualifying tournament for the US Open Amateur Golf Championship, after having played several decades earlier on the European Professional Golf Tour. This qualifying event was being played in a semidesert area about 60 miles east of San Diego in blazing August sunshine. It was 36 holes in a day. No electric carts were permitted, which meant you carried your own clubs, pulled a cart, or found a caddy. No caddies were available that day, so I was pulling my own cart.

I went to the practice ground very early. It was filled with young men, all effortlessly driving about 300 yards. I waited, and when one young man had only a few practice balls left, I asked if I could step in. He looked around and said: “Sure. But is your man here yet?” He presumed I was a caddy, and I knew at once that this was going to be a testing day from several aspects.

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