PHOENIX — With so much talk about golf with the WM Phoenix Open underway this week, much of the focus is on the golfers. If you ask the pros, they can partially attribute their success to their caddy.
Hitting the links instead of linebackers, former gridiron great Reggie Bush played 18 holes at the Phoenix Open Pro-AM on Wednesday.
Instead of being on the field with ten other guys, he relied on just one teammate - a caddy.
Bush admitted he’s never been asked the question what makes a good caddy but he said, “I’d say somebody who’s obviously easy going, down to earth obviously somebody who’s knowledgeable about the course about the greens.”
After 18 holes today, Bush said football is still easier than golf but if he ever considers a second professional career, he may think about pairing up with 18-year-old Jeremy Dreher.
After class, you can find the high school senior at Desert Forest Golf Club.
The Moon Valley High School student says after he was humbled with a bad round during a tournament a few years ago, he came to the Phoenix Open where he realized golf can be a team sport.
“It’s going to be so cool to be on the other side of the bag being able to caddy for someone and learn new info,” he said.
So Dreher started carrying the clubs for members at Desert Forest Golf Club in Care Free through a junior caddy program.
He quickly found out offering advice on someone’s golf game when you’re barely old enough to have a driver’s license can be a little intimidating, but he got used to it.
”It just got me out of my shell to talk to people and converse,” he said.
So Dreher applied for the Chick Evans Scholarship. To sink the scholarship, Dreher needed to maintain his grades, display good character, have a financial need, and have a good caddy record which means ”he's at the mercy of the player,” said Desert Forest Head Golf Pro, Brandon Rodgers.
”He’s got to be a hard worker, considerate, thoughtful,” he added.
That bad round Dreher shot as a young teen may have not been so bad after all because over the holidays he said he got the ”best Christmas present ever” when a letter from the Western Golf Association showed up in his family mailbox.
He opened it to learn he got the scholarship he had been vying for, for over two years.
The scholarship is worth an average of $120,000 including housing.
He’s hoping to carry the clubs all the way to Colorado university in the fall.
“Just had to have that goal in sight, it was awesome that journey I’ll never regret it,” he said.