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Inside the Ropes: How a Caddie Prepares for Major Week
By the time most people are looking at a leaderboard, a caddie has already walked every inch of the golf course — usually more than once. For me, Major Championship prep starts long before the first tee time, and here at The Chevron Championship, the details matter more than ever.
First impressions? It’s long. Properly long. The golf course is incredibly soft, the greens are fast, and there’s virtually no run on the ball. That combination changes everything. Fairways actually play wider than they look because the ball just stops where it lands, but that also means the course stretches itself out. You’re hitting a lot of longer approach shots, and when you do, you need to be extremely dialled.
It’s very much a second-shot golf course. The green complexes are tough — big at first glance, but with surprisingly small playing areas once you start breaking them down.
While Esther’s working with her physio or spending time on the range, I’ll head out on my own. That quiet time is invaluable. I’ll walk greens, pace off different tiers, study slopes, feel underfoot where the contour changes. I’m looking for knuckles, run-offs, the subtle things that don’t always show themselves immediately.
A big part of that work is understanding where we can miss. Not every miss is equal, and at a venue like this, that distinction can save you shots over four rounds.
Around here especially, it’s critical to be chipping back into slopes when you miss. Anything above the hole becomes incredibly quick, and you’re suddenly just trying to stop the ball rather than hole the shot.
When I’m mapping greens, I’ll pace off slopes and record them in my book. A red arrow tells me the ball will actively want to roll — usually three or four percent slope or more. A green arrow gives me the general fall of the putting surface. That might not move your ball straight away, but it gives context.
I’ll also grade misses depending on pin position. Something that’s perfect on Thursday might be a nightmare on Sunday. If I write ‘OK’, it’s genuinely fine. ‘A1’ means we can be aggressive. ‘A2’ is playable but tough. And ‘X’ — that’s dead.
For Esther’s game this week, the par fives are key. You have to take advantage of them. They’re long in places, but they’re also where your best opportunities come from. That means being clean with your wedges and committing to the right decisions.
The par fours are testing. The par threes are tough. Realistically, you’re not going to pick those apart all day. The birdies tend to come from wedge play into the par fives or from hitting something special when it really counts.
One thing I really like about this golf course is how it finishes. The front nine is solid, but the back nine is where it really comes to life. And down the stretch, hole 17 stands out as one of the key moments in the tournament.
It’s a difficult finishing hole that demands a decision. As the week goes on, it can become drivable, introducing genuine risk‑reward scenarios late in the round. From the back tees, though, it’s brutally tough — a hole where a single swing can change the momentum of a championship. That balance is exactly what you want coming towards the end of a major.
The last five holes are incredible. There are options everywhere — tee boxes, pin locations, water in play, and demanding green complexes. It asks proper questions, right when the pressure is highest.
It should be a great tournament to watch. The weather might play its part, but the golf course is outstanding. And if you see the ball ending up in the right places, there’s a good chance a lot of quiet preparation went into making that happen.
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