Haggin Oaks’Â own Taylor Woods was lucky to be a Fore Caddy for Fox Sports at the U.S. Open Chambers Bay
Originally from Puyallup, Washington, Taylor Woods is no stranger to Chambers Bay. Last summer she was a caddy there. So naturally when Fox Sports called and offered her a job as a fore caddy at the U.S. Open Chambers Bay, she jumped at this unique opportunity.
Taylor was chosen out of many applicants to be the summer intern for the Haggin Oaks Golf Course. She currently attends Methodist University in North Carolina where she studies Business with a concentration in PGA Golf Management.
What exactly is a fore caddy? A fore caddy, also known as spotter, is assigned to a foursome and stays with that particular group for the day. Taylor’s responsibilities for the week included figuring out what club each golfer hit, the number of putts each player had on a particular hole, how many greens each Pro hit in regulation and then she was responsible for relaying that information to Fox Sports via her headset. Fox Sports used this information from each of the fore caddies to determine which camera they should cut to for the best on-air coverage on television. 
On Thursday, she felt lucky when she was paired with Ernie Els, Geoff Ogilvy and Retief Goosen. Friday, she was paired with Matt Kuchar, Graeme McDowell and Hideki Matsuyama. On Saturday, Taylor was paired with Kevin Na and Marc Warren. Ending her week on Sunday, she was paired with Henrik Stenson and Tony Finau.
The Chambers Bay Golf Course is by no means easy to walk. Taylor walked an estimated 12 miles with her group each day. She followed the leaders when she wasn’t working and estimates that she walked around 25 miles each day.
Taylor’s days began around 8:00 am and she didn’t leave the course until 9 or 10pm each night. She had to be at the course 3 hours before tee times to determine which group she would be paired with for the day and to introduce herself to the caddies of the day. One of her fond moments from the week included watching the Pros on the driving range before their round, “It was crazy to watch [Cole] Hammer joking around with the Tour Professionals on the driving range. To him it was no big deal to be playing in the U.S. Open at 15 years old. He was enjoying himself and not letting the pressure get to him.”
She believes Jordan Spieth definitely had an advantage having a local caddy on his team. âYou have to play the course 5-6 times to figure out how to read the greens and fairways. Itâs not an easy course and having a local on your team gave him a leg up. He was able to hit each shot with confidence,” said Woods. Spieth’s caddy, Michael Greller, was once a local school teacher from University Place, that used to caddy at Chambers Bay during his summers off. âI remember standing behind the 18th green when Spieth hit his second shot 286 yards onto the green. I heard the caddy on the headset say, âknock it on, just like we practiced.â It was a 3 tier green and when he landed his 3 wood on the 3rd tier, I got chills. I knew he would make birdie putting the pressure on Dustin Johnson.”
Taylor will always remember her time at the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay. Fox Sports used her in Sacramento, CA the following week as a Fore Caddy during the U.S. Senior Open that was held at Del Paso Country Club.
