“ I said if you ever need a guy to fill in for a couple of weeks, I’ d love to come out. And then totally forgot about it,” Groves said.
Groves was at another friend’ s bachelor party at The Greenbrier three months later when he got a call from Reifers on a Saturday asking if he could be in San Antonio, Texas, on Monday.
“ I was in San Antonio on Monday afternoon not having any idea what I was doing,” Groves said.“ It took me a while to get used to caddying, looking at the [ yardage ] books and deciphering them … watching how the other caddies would go about what they were doing.”
In Groves’ first two tournaments( both
Mark Urbanek was on the bag for James Hahn’ s first PGA Tour win at the Northern Trust Open. in Texas), Reifers finished 11th in each.“ I said,‘ Gosh, that’ s pretty good money. I’ ll stay on board if you’ ll have me,’ Groves said.
They have meshed as a team although as players they have different styles. Groves is more aggressive; Reifers, who played on a Walker Cup team, was the No. 1 ranked amateur in the world at one time and won a Nationwide Tour( now Web. com) tournament in his second event, plays more conservatively.
“ There was definitely a learning period. I’ d say a good six months just to figure out what he was seeing and how he played … much safer,” Groves said.
Both caddies have a say in what goes on during a round. Each keeps an eye on their player’ s swing basics. Each is part of a team where communication is important and opinions valued. They offer positive encouragement.
“ It’ s a little bit of everything trying to learn when to say the right things and when not saying something is the right thing,” Urbanek said.“ Ultimately, we’ re just trying to steer them around and stay out of their way, especially when things are going well. They play the game at a really high level. Just give them the basics and let them go.”
Urbanek and Groves are paid weekly salaries plus they get a percentage of the player’ s earnings if they make the cut. The standard is 6 percent for making the cut; 8 percent for a top-10 finish and 10 percent for a victory.
Groves says if you want to know the gossip on the Tour“ just go into the caddie tent for 20 minutes. They don’ t hold back, and there’ s a lot going on.”
Both enjoy their time on the Tour, but Groves is more likely to give up the life before Urbanek.
“ I don’ t see myself for the long term by any means … a couple more years at the most. I definitely looked at it as an opportunity to go watch the best players in the world play and to see the golf courses,” said Groves, who has regained his amateur status.“ I’ ve really enjoyed it. We’ ve played with Rory, Dustin Johnson, Furyk. Just to be around those guys up close and in person, see great holes, I soak it in.”
A longtime sportswriter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, author Arthur Utley is a regular contributor to Virginia Golfer.
vsga. org J ULY / A UGUST 2016 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 25