![\"\"](\"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/johnstrawn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2010\/09\/Lees-Clubs.jpg\" "\\"Lee's")
<\/a>Happiest Man's Bag: Orderly and Composed.<\/p><\/div>\n
My brother-in-law, Lee, the Happiest Man in America, is self-described as \u201cmildly OCD.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Although he\u2019s not as obsessed about it now as he used to be, he\u2019s never liked to accept conceded putts.\u00a0 He likes to follow the rules, and in golf that means holing out.\u00a0 Except in a match, of course, where putts can be conceded.\u00a0 But Lee\u2019s take is that if you intend to post the score, which he always likes to do, you should hole out to make sure your handicap is legit.<\/p>\n
So I used to knock short putts away in a gesture of concession, especially if he was leading in our match.\u00a0 We always play a three dollar Nassau, and I would enjoy watching Lee retrieve his ball, putting it back down on the green more or less where it had ended up and then making the putt.\u00a0 But over the last few years he\u2019s gotten into the spirit of conceding putts, although once in a while he still will pick up the ball and backtrack to putt out.<\/p>\n
The other day we were finishing a round at a local muni in Portland (where Lee shot 79, his first round ever under 80\u2014he was doing an awesome Fred Funk impression off the tee and his worst drive barely missed the fairway), when Lee raised an interesting philosophical question.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you think should happen,\u201d he asked, \u201cif an OCD guy who likes his clubs organized in a particular way gets a caddie who has his own style with the bag?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWould I know this guy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt came up in Oakmont.\u00a0 My\u00a0caddie\u00a0had his own way.\u00a0 And while we\u2019re discussing this, I want you to know I let him put things the way he wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course,\u201d I said. \u00a0\u201cGolf is hard enough.\u00a0 You don\u2019t want an unhappy caddy, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s true, \u201c he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd besides, you\u2019re not pulling the clubs.\u00a0 He\u2019s handing them to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I was afraid I might look in there and see they\u2019re not where they\u2019re supposed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo don\u2019t look.\u00a0 You want your caddie not just hauling the clubs around, but doing what\u00a0 a good caddie does, like our buddies Dave and Danny at Bandon.\u00a0 The club schlepping is the easy part: it\u2019s the psychological support you really need.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d Lee said, \u201cyou\u2019re right.\u00a0 Like, you\u2019ve just shanked your approach shot on the forth at Bandon Trails.\u00a0 It\u2019s the first round of five you\u2019re playing over the next two days.\u00a0 You break out in a cold sweat.\u00a0 That\u2019s when you want Dave to pat you on the back and say, \u2018Lee, don\u2019t worry, that happens to everybody.\u00a0 We know what you\u2019ve got.\u2019 And then you stiff your third from 60 yards and off you go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCorrect.\u00a0 The caddies at most clubs who loop for guests, at places like Cypress Point or San Francisco Golf Club, take ownership of your bag before they\u2019re finished shaking your hand.\u00a0 If you have one of those faux-tour behemoths, they grab a little carry bag, toss your clubs in there, make a calculated guess from watching your practice swing at how many balls you\u2019re going to lose, and load the little bag with ammunition accordingly.\u00a0 And off you go.\u00a0 As Steve Williams supposedly told Tiger during their audition, \u2018I\u2019m a caddie, not a mule.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
So Lee and I believe that when the caddie is on your bag he owns it.\u00a0 You can put it back the way you like when he surrenders control.\u00a0 And if his approach to organization makes you uncomfortable, avert your eyes.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s always good advice to worry only about what you control.\u00a0 That\u2019s the zen of golf: acceptance, toleration, surrender.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"