"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
online golf column
by
Chris Dortch

June 18, 2008

Braden Smyth, a friend to many of us in the Chattanooga amateur golf scene, had been haunted by a dream the last few years.

Dutifully working a succession of jobs in the corporate world since his graduation from the University of Richmond in the last ’70s, Smyth, 47, was pretty much miserable. Many times as he settled in behind a desk, his thoughts would take him away, usually to a golf course, which in his mind’s eye was the most beautiful place he’d ever seen.

No, Smyth didn’t envision himself as a professional golfer; his dream wasn’t quite so lofty. Rather than play the game for a living, he wanted to caddy on the PGA Tour.

Last week he got his chance, in what is arguably the biggest stage in the world—the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego.

Smyth’s vehicle to the big time was D.A. Points, a 31-year-old pro who has forged a decent living for himself while bouncing between the Nationwide Tour and the PGA Tour the last few years.

Points and Smyth first crossed paths just two months ago. Smyth, who quit his last corporate job in 2007—never to return, he hopes—had squeezed his way into a fairly exclusive club by landing a job caddying on the Nationwide Tour.

“The minute I walked between the ropes, I thought, ‘This is it. This is what I’m supposed to do’ ” Smyth recalled of his first time toting the bag of pro Ben Bates. “And that’s never changed any day since I’ve been out here.”

From that entry level gig with Bates, Smyth quickly stepped up the ladder when a fellow caddie recommended him to Points, who’s been a consistent six-figure earner whether it’s on the PGA Tour, where he won a personal-best $405,000 in 2006, or the Nationwide, where he banked $332,815 in 2004.

The two hooked up on a trial basis for a couple of weeks earlier this spring.

“After that was over, D.A. told me that I obviously knew what I was doing,” Smyth said. “I’ve been with him ever since.”

Perhaps the pairing has been fortuitous for both parties. Points is on pace to have his best earnings year, having already made the cut in all three PGA Tour events he’s played this season—including a tie for 14^th at Pebble Beach—and made $126,918.

One of those cuts came last week. Points shot 74-71 in the first two rounds to easily make it to the weekend. He was in 22^nd place after matching par with a solid effort in his second round, but a pair of 77s relegated him to a tie for 69th. Points’ finish was disappointing for player and caddy, but Smyth wouldn’t trade the experience of having worked in the U.S. Open for all the corporate cash in Chattanooga.

“It was so electric, just unbelievable,” Smyth said. “It’s hard to describe what it’s like until you’re right in the middle of it. The energy that’s out there and the whole atmosphere, it’s so much more than I thought it would be.”

Smyth took in the whole experience the Open had to offer, even rubbing shoulders with eventual champion Tiger Woods on the practice green. Points, an All-American from the University of Illinois, lost to Woods in the quarterfinals of the 1996 U.S. Amateur at Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon, and the two have exchanged pleasantries ever since.

“They chatted for a couple of minutes on the putting green,” Smyth said. “Which was surreal because there was about 5,000 people circled around us.”

Smyth also got to see up close and personal the famed U.S. Open rough.

“It was brutal,” Smyth said. “Even walking in it was tough. The grass would actually kick you in different directions, it was so thick. You actually felt like you were being pushed around.”

Smyth, and Points, had their fill of the Torrey Pines thick stuff the last two days, after Points’ driver became a tad stubborn. But before those two 77s, Smyth was on the bag of a player who was in the thick of things in the U.S. Open.

“That was an experienced I’ll never forget,” he said.

Smyth isn’t sure what direction he’ll go next, though his partnership with Points seems solid for the moment.

“He’s a real hard-working guy and pretty intense when he’s out there on the course,” Smyth said. “He expects a lot. He expects you to be ready and have your homework done.

“Whether it’s yardage or wind direction, you’ve got to be two or three shots ahead. When he asks for something, he needs it right then.”

Smyth’s gig this week won’t be nearly as glamorous as strolling the fairways of Torrey Pines in front of 50,000 U.S. Open fans. He’s working the Nationwide Tour’s Knoxville Open, but not for Points, who’s taking the week off. This week, Smyth will carry the bag of veteran pro Willie Wood.

“This is kind of a week-to-week, month-to-month thing,” Smyth said. “But I’ve got to take a chance and see what happens. I didn’t want to look back years from now and wonder what could have happened if I’d tried it. Now, even if it doesn’t work out, at least I gave it my best shot.”

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