Caddie Tales: Only One Bruised Elbow

This weekend, Shane Bacon will be out at the J Golf Phoenix LPGA International caddying for one of the pros on the LPGA Tour, Erica Blasberg. You can follow him daily with his Caddie Tales.

My alarm sounded Thursday morning at 5:15 AM. I didn't like being awoken so early, but as a former competitive golfer, I knew the feeling. Excitement, anticipation and even a few jitters. It's what makes competitive golf so much fun.

The only thing was, I wasn't going to be playing. LPGA pro Erica Blasberg was. I was just carrying the bag for her on a rather chilly Thursday morning in Phoenix.

A quick shower, a Puma golf shirt to match my player's garb, and the fastest bowl of cereal I've ever consumed was all I had time for before I hit the door and drove over to Erica's hotel to ride with her to Papago Golf Course. As I pulled into the parking lot, my phone vibrated. "I'm in my car," was the text from Erica. Ouch. Strike one, Mr. Bacon.

The course was buzzing more than I thought it would be for an LPGA event on a Thursday. We pulled in, warmed up, hit some putts and arrived on the 10th hole for our 7:45 AM tee time. Erica was paired with Ai Miyazato and Audra Burks, and after some friendly exchanges and handshakes with Lisa and Mick, the other two caddies, we were off.

Erica smashed her tee shot down the left side of the fairway. I grabbed the driver from her as she walked back to the bag, and as I was congratulating her, I hit her in the elbow with her own Cleveland HiBore. "I'm sorry." Strike two.

There wouldn't be room for a strike three. After shaky bogeys on the first two holes, Erica played the final 16 at even par. She finished on a windy Arizona day with a two-over 74, and is currently T-90 out of 141 players.

She played the front nine without any birdies but had two on the back nine, including a nice two at the second hole (our 11th) where she looked at me and said, "I have no idea which way this one is going to break." After we both took a couple of looks we decided on the left lip and it turned out to be the line. I tried to take credit for it. I didn't deserve it.

After the group finished its round at the ninth hole -- a hole where Erica hit a recovery 6-iron over a tree on the green to set up a two-putt par -- I walked over to Miyazato's caddie Mick and asked him how he thought I did. "You did fine, mate. You did fine."

Blasberg gave me a B+. Which I guess is better than a bruised elbow.