Brennans Caddy Report-The Presidents Cup

The city of Montreal has always been one of my favorite cities and I am sure everyone will have a great time here. Everyone this week is staying downtown which makes it very convenient for dinner and entertainment but it is a long way to the golf course. They have buses that take us to the course, most of the time with police escorts which makes the trip a little bit better. I am very excited to see how everyone enjoys the week here in Canada.
 
The Presidents Cup is made up of 12 Americans against 12 from around the world that are non-Europeans. The Europeans play in the Ryder Cup and for everyone else we have this event.  This is my fourth time caddying in the Presidents Cup and I really enjoy being around the team atmosphere which we have this week. Golf is such an individual sport where everyone is quite serious so this week is a great change. The guys hang out together all week, joke with one another and more than anything pull for each other as a team. I grew up playing lots of team sports and I really enjoy the team aspect so this is a great week for me. It is also great to get to play with some of the best players in the world with everyone trying to win the cup. I have been on two losing teams and one which tied so I would like to see how it is to win one!
 
The host course this week is the Royal Montreal golf club which is one of if not the oldest clubs in Canada. What they dont tell you is that this club is the oldest but the current course is not the original one. The original course was out near the airport on land that has since been developed. So the Royal Montreal name has been around for a long time but on different courses. Aside from that this course is great, one of the better ones in Canada. They have made some great changes to it since the 2001 Open Championship to try and make it a bit tougher.

I am not a big fan of a few of the new greens, they are very severe and in my mind a little too tricked up for an old traditional course like this. The have lengthened it out to a very good comfortable distance for the way guys hit it today. One thing that I really like this week is that they have kept the rough quite low which is going to make for some good low scores and lots of birdies. We see so much rough every week that it is nice to be able to play some different shots if you were to miss the fairways. I think this is what fans want to see and not just have guys chop the ball back to the fairway when they are in the rough. The course itself is in very good shape, the fairways are perfect and the greens are also very good. With all the wind we have had there is a good chance that they may get quite firm which will make things a bit more difficult. 
 
The last few days Mike has been paired with Vijay which makes a lot of sense since they are playing the alternate shot format tomorrow. Thursday is the alternate shot format where they simply alternate shots, one guy teeing of on even holes and one on odds. This is a tough format for everyone as the guys are not use to playing every second shot, the flow of the game is so much different from what they are use to. It is also a little weird as you play so fast, when Vijay tees off we are already halfway down the fairway waiting for the ball. Often time we play our shot to the green while he is still walking up to the ball, so you feel a little separated sometimes. Tomorrow match with Phil Mickelson and Woody Austin should be lots of fun and I am really looking forward to getting off to a good start for the international team.
 
Aside from the golf there are lots of things to do in Montreal, just so happens the Canadians are in town tomorrow night and I am taking a bunch of the international caddies. Several of the foreign guys have never seen a game live before so it should be exciting to see how they enjoy it. I know I am very excited to see the NHL season get started and looking forward to the game tomorrow.
 
This is going to be a great week of golf in Canada and one which I am hoping will motivate our young golfers for years to come. I think its about time that we have several guys who are world class players coming from Canada and this might be what it takes to get the ball rolling. I would like to congratulate Jon Mills on his win last week on the Nationwide tour and I expect some good things from him over the next few years. Lets hope the next caddy report comes with a summary from this week and the Presidents Cup going to the International team!!