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19th Hole

Caddie Corner: 11 questions with PGA Tour veteran Gerald “G.W.” Cable (Kevin Chappell’s caddie)

Published

2 years ago

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In this new GolfWRX feature, called the “Caddie Corner,” we’ll be firing off questions to a different caddie every week on the PGA Tour.

Caddies, or “loopers,” as some call them, are the too-often-overlooked people who actually have a huge impact on players every week on the PGA Tour. They’re tasked with many objectives – everything from carrying the bag, raking bunkers and getting yardages, to playing psychologist on the golf course as their player competes for millions. If you’re curious to learn more about the caddies, as well as their stories, lifestyle and insights, then welcome to the “Caddie Corner.”

In our first iteration of the Caddie Corner, we spoke in-depth with Shannon “Shan” Wallis. Check that out hilarious and insightful interview here.

This week, I grilled Gerald “G.W.” Cable, a 14-year PGA Tour caddie and former tour player who currently loops for Kevin Chappell. He’s also formerly worked with names such as Steve Marino, Chris Kirk, Morgan Hoffmann, Heath Slocum, Matt Every and a slew of others.

Enjoy the talk below!

How’d you end up being a caddie on the PGA Tour, and what’s been your career progression before caddying?

So I played for 7 years professionally. Got to play in some tour events. Hurt my back, was a club pro for a couple years working down in South Florida and Steve Marino called me, he was having a few issues. He just asked me to come out for a few weeks. Then it turned into 14 years. That’s basically how it started.

What’s the best restaurant where you go and it’s like, I can’t wait for that event so I can go there to eat?

That’s a great question. I’m more of a dive bar guy (laughs). Hmm, best restaurant…I’m not too high class, so I can’t even give you one. Like I said, I’m more of a dive bar guy, so like I find a nice bar with shuffleboard in it and that’s where I head.

What’s your favorite sport aside from golf and who are some of your favorite teams and players?

I’m a D.C. guy, I grew up in the D.C. area, so I’m a Football Team fan. I root for the Virginia Cavaliers in college sports, and I’m really into football. It’s tough to beat last weekend in the playoffs, that was pretty amazing. But sports in general, I love following ’em.

What’s on your music playlist right now?

Man, I’ve got everything. I’ve got two little girls, a 3 and a 1 year old, so I’ve got some different kids songs. They love some of the teeny bopper s*** like NSYNC. My sisters used to play ’em, so I’ve gotten them into that. Then like, I can go with pretty much anything. Let’s see, what was a listening to? I was listening to some Haste the Day, like some screaming music on the way in. But yeah, I do it all. 

What’s been your most important lesson you’ve learned along the way about caddying?

So it’s crazy. You learn so much. Obviously when you play, for me it was hard to learn a lot of stuff. When you caddie, you really learn a lot more. It’s been really valuable in that way, just kind of seeing what…I don’t know how to put it, but it’s like you don’t really realize it when you’re playing, but you can see it in some of the players. You can give them some decent advice on mental things, or when they’re getting a little too quick. It’s kind of easy to see things in the future when you’re caddying, as opposed to when you’re playing, you’re kind of stuck in the moment, but you can see things snowballing. So it’s been kind of cool to see.

Aside from actually carrying the bag, what’s the most difficult part of your job?

There’s really not many tough things. You get to do this and see this type of stuff almost every week (the view at Torrey Pines). I mean there’s not many bad things, to be honest.

Life’s good.

It is. It really is. I can’t really give you one. Yeah, it’s all good.

Caddies are known for having the best stories. Without incriminating yourself too much, what’s the funniest story you have about caddie life?

I mean, I’ve done a lot of things for money. I’m not scared. A quick one: British Open trip. It’s pretty nasty, but I started it off with… it was a thing of dip, and somebody said, “Will you drink that for a thousand dollars?” And I chugged it, with the chew in it. So I made a quick grand on the way to the British Open. And then there was some stuff to follow that I’ll leave out. But it paid for my rent for the week.

What’s the biggest, “Uh oh, I messed up,” moment of your career with a player?

Oh man, there’s been a few. I’ve left a yardage book in a car one time and I had to run because I didn’t realize it. I had to run back to the car and we were on the tee, that was pretty bad, but I made it.

One of the guys I caddied for, all he wants is waters. And he was leading a tournament, ended up winning it. But I mean he was chugging water so fast, and I couldn’t keep enough. They were those little shot waters. I mean, I had five in the bag, I’m not kidding, and all five were gone and I’m asking people in the crowd to like give me some water, and they did. So that was pretty cool. But that was a pretty bad one. I was like, man, there’s nothing I can do. I was pretty prepared.

If your player’s a little bit nervous going into a first tee shot or last tee shot, what’s something you might say to calm them down?

You just gotta try to make fun of ’em or something. Something to get ’em off that topic or whatever they’re feeling. Yeah, lighten the mood up a little bit.

What’s your favorite tour stop to caddie at, whether it’s the course itself, the location, or the perks you get?

There’s a lot of them. Hilton Head is great. Torrey Pines is always great, it’s nice to come out west. Charlotte is pretty cool. Obviously, course wise, it’s always nice to get to The Masters, that place is so pure. Yeah, there’s so many it’s hard to pick one.

Based on working so closely with tour players throughout the years, what advice might you have for amateurs golfers trying to improve their games?

Ideally, it’s like the time you put in. I feel like, at least a lot of the amateurs I’ve been around, they think it should just happen overnight. And it’s just not the way it is. You just have to be a little gentle on yourself. People expect a lot, and I get it, but it’s just unrealistic. At the end of the day, if you put in the time you’re gonna get better, in my opinion. You see how it is out here, these guys work their butts off, and they still, they’re not the best all time. So it’s like, you gotta give yourself a break. But that’s all. If you put in the time, you’ll get better. There’s no secrets. Put in the work.

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He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. Pingback: Caddie Corner: 15 questions with Reynolds Robinson, a veteran PGA Tour caddie – GolfWRX

  2. Pingback: Tour caddie shows off the far less glamorous side of the job at Pebble Beach – GolfWRX

  3. Thugoyim Ngo

    Jan 29, 2022 at 5:54 pm

    Hey G.W., tell us about the time Chap and Horschel’s wife got caught together…….

    Reply Report comment

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19th Hole

Celine Boutier responds after report claimed she refused to play with two teammates at Solheim Cup

Published

13 hours ago

on

Sep 27, 2023

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Following last week’s Solheim Cup, a report from Handicap54 on X indicated that Celine Boutier asked for a partner change after Georgia Hall had underperformed alongside her during the morning session of the Solheim Cup on Friday.

“I tell a ‘funny’ situation that I found out about @thesolheimcup, from different sources. I’m not going to name names, for now.

Captain of one of the two teams receives the request from one of her best players (player A), who complained about the level of her teammate (player B, on Friday morning).

‘Can I play with another golfer in the afternoon?’

The captain answers yes and tells her with whom. And the player in question gives her a third name (player C). Well, the captain answers that it is impossible, sends her to sit down for the Friday afternoon session and decided that third name play with the player who had a low level (player B). And these last two won their match, that afternoon! ???”

“Yes, the golfer was Céline Boutier. And I wanted to wait for the celebrations to pass and I wanted that the names were saying by the friends of Golf Sin Etiquetas (@gfcgolf and @alexlarrazabal1), who had the same information and were on the course (I considered that they had priority and I was waiting to them). At the same time, I want to clarify a detail that I have explained poorly. The story is like this. Friday afternoon, Celine Boutier tells Pettersen that she doesn’t want to play with Hall and wants to play in the afternoon, with another player. Suzann tells her that she would play with Maguire (I explained that detail poorly, but it is a detail that does not harm what I said). Boutier refuses and Suzann Pettersen decides that the French golfer won’t play that afternoon.”

Boutier responded to the claims in an interview with Ouest France.

“I don’t know what to say other than that it’s completely false. Leona is a player that I respect enormously, even more so in the Solheim Cup. We know each other very well, since university (they both studied at Duke in the United States).

I don’t see any personal or professional reason not to want to play with her. It’s even the opposite, it’s an honour to play with her. This is unfounded and almost comical in fact. Anyone who knows us and our relationship would know that’s not true.”

Boutier has yet to make any comment on the claim she didn’t want to play Friday afternoon with Georgia Hall.

Although the report has now been disputed, Handicap54 is standing by his original report.

“If Celine Boutier had seen this, she would have denied the situation of Hall too. This is not the first time that a player/part of the team players has tried to ‘deny’ a conflict in the Solheim Cup/Ryder Cup. But I respect their ‘denial’. I still stand my tweet (much more, after seeing this) and admire Pettersen’s ability to overcome all these internal problems that she had.”

“Koepka and DJ ‘would have had a fight’ at the @rydercup 2018. Koepka denied it, but he had a great relationship with DJ… which was not seen again until LIV Golf. I insist: this is not the first time that a player/person on a player’s team tries to deny a situation like this. I respect Boutier’s response but I still stand my tweet.”

The original source then doubled down on their take, saying on X:

Have a take? Discuss this article at GolfWRX on X.

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19th Hole

‘They might be leaking oil’ – Why Wyndham Clark thinks Europe may be mentally drained by Sunday

Published

19 hours ago

on

Sep 27, 2023

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The 2023 Ryder Cup gets underway in just a couple of days, and it’s safe to say that the mind games have well and truly begun.

Earlier this month, Ryder Cup rookie Wyndham Clark hit the headlines for comments he made regarding the prospect of facing Rory McIlroy in Sunday’s singles.

While speaking to Golf Channel, Clark said:

“I have the utmost respect for Rory – he is one of our great ambassadors of our game. He is obviously one of the best of all time and he is still going so he can be that. I have tons of respect for Rory and because of that respect, I also want to beat him. I like to think I am better than him and I want to prove that.”

The U.S. Open champ caught some flack for those comments, but it hasn’t stopped Clark from showcasing his bullishness, with the 29-year-old exclaiming on Wednesday that he believes members of the European team may have played too much golf heading into this week’s event.

When a reporter mentioned to Clark that he’s had some weeks off while the Europeans have been playing themselves into form, the US Open champ mentioned how it could be a hindrance to the Europeans.

“I think the European team, I think it’s great that they got to play. I also think they might be maybe a little mentally fatigued as this week goes on. This is obviously a very intense environment and mentally challenging, and then also you put in a pretty physically demanding golf course being so hilly and up and down that maybe come Sunday they might be leaking oil and we’ll be fresh.”

There’s not long to wait now to find out if Clark is correct or off base in his assessment.

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19th Hole

‘This can’t be real’ – Golf fans react to John Daly’s hilarious NSFW Instagram post

Published

20 hours ago

on

Sep 27, 2023

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On Tuesday night, John Daly took to Instagram to show a photo of a statue of himself at Mystic Rock at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort.

The statue had a bee’s nest attached to it and looked as if it was adding to the statues below the belt area.

Daly posted the photo with the caption, “Thanks to the hornets for making it life size #savethebees @nemacolin #mysticrock”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by John Daly (@pga_johndaly)

Country artist Randy Houser replied, “Hahaha!!! Does it itch or sting?”

Another commenter, @ryanshager replied, “I’ve seen it, it’s actually bigger”.

Daly has been a controversial figure at times in golf, but there’s no denying that he always bring some entertainment to the table.

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