A long-time member of Priddis Golf and Country Club knows he’s got to be quiet until he earns the right to speak when he ‘loops’ at the CP Women’s Open at his own course later this month.
“There are phases of caddying,” said Mike Cronkwright. “There’s the sherpa stage, where you just carry the bag and wipe the clubs. Then you might build into ‘What way do you think the wind is going?’ The third phase is talking strategy, reading putts becoming a part of the team.
“You have to build the trust.”
Cronkwright will caddy for PK Kongkraphan at the Open on Aug. 22-28. She had requested a caddy who knows the course.
“She really wants me for the practice rounds, she wants to try and learn the course,” Cronkwright said. “Her best result this year was when she was with a caddy who knows the course, I think she is going for that strategy.”
She’s off to a good start.
Cronkwright, a Priddis member of some 22 years, estimates he has played 1,000 rounds at the scenic track.
Although he doesn’t make his bread-and-butter on the links, he’d be a good purchase at a Calcutta. He has a five handicap, and he’s caddied before, including the 2009 CN Open at Priddis, and more recently last week’s McKenzie Tour tournament in Calgary, when he caddied for Ben Taylor (who golfed in the 2016 Canadian Open).
He caddied for Eva Dahllof in 2009.
“She got caught in the bad weather and there were limbs coming off the trees, and she made a double bogey on an easy par 3 because of the wind and missed the cut by one,” he said. “I was lucky to have her.”
Cronkwright had a right to be nervous seven years ago.
“On the first tee of the pro-am, one of the players looked at me and said: ‘Mike do you know why you are here — Eva fired her last caddy mid-round last Sunday.’ We all had a good laugh and Eva was fine.”
Kongkraphan won’t just be relying on Cronkwright.
The players are given a detailed book on the course, which practically tells which way each blade of glass slopes at Priddis Greens.
“That book comes out on every shot,” he said, adding he will help when asked. “It’s just a dream for me to caddy on a course that I know so well.”
However, he doesn’t want to turn the dream into a nightmare.
“You have to be mentally alert,” said Cronkwright, who played tournament and college golf. “You don’t want to be moving when another player is hitting the ball, stepping on a ball mark, leaving the bag where another player can hit it. You have to be careful.
“And always count the clubs on the first tee (Ian Woosman was famously penalized when there was one too many clubs in his bag while in contention for the 2001 British Open).”
Caddying also gives Cronkwright a different perspective of the game and a chance to learn.
“Just watching the tempo of their golf swing, their short games,” he said. “Watching them how they handle the bad things. That is something I can learn from.”
Caddying has also changed how he watches golf. He might be watching “Bones” the guy who caddies for Mickelson, rather than Lefty himself.
“I definitely watch the caddies,” he said with a laugh. “Wether they are tending the pins, where they leave the pins. It’s just a refresher for me.”
Although Cronkwright got to talk with the likes of Michelle Wie, who was in the group behind Dahllof, it was hanging out with the other caddies he most enjoyed.
“In 2009, the regular caddies on the tour were just amazed with the caddyshack here, they were treated so well,” Cronkwright said. “I have never laughed so hard as being in the caddyshack with those guys. I can’t repeat them here, but they were hilarious.”
He plans to have several practice rounds with Kongkraphan as the LPGA is on a break during the Olympics before the CP Open.
This is the third time the scenic golf course has hosted an LPGA event. Karrie Webb won the Du Maurier Classic in 1999 and Suzann Pettersen won the 2009 CN Women’s Open at Priddis.
Money from the tournament will go to the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation. The target is to raise $1.2 million.
For volunteer or ticket information go to www.priddisgreens.com
