Brian VanDongen - From the Drop Zone

Q&A With Mark The Caddie A conversation with Mark Milatz, a caddie at Whistling Straits (and @caddietales on X)

I caught up with Mark the Caddie (@caddietales over on X) to talk about golf and life from the other side of the bag.

fromthedropzone.substack.com/p/q-and-a-wi...

Fall ball at Forest Hill.

LIV Becomes Lixy Or however you pronounce LXXII.

54 holes. Now one of the core rebellions of LIV (hell, they named their league after the number 54) is gone: tournaments are 72 holes. LIV’s revolution just needed an extra day to get what they want … world ranking points.

fromthedropzone.substack.com/p/liv-become...

Nothing like a fall home game.

“…that bridge, it has some haunted feel to it.”

I’ll make sure my alarm is set.

The Pain and Purpose of a Frost Delay Frost and fairways don't mix.

Frost delay. One of golf’s most deflating phrases.

But playing on frozen turf can kill the grass and destroy quality course conditions.

fromthedropzone.substack.com/p/the-pain-a...

I haven’t played golf in three weeks. I need to play this weekend before it gets really cold. (I mean, it’s gonna be a high of 60, which isn’t bad, but a November 60 hits different.) But it seems like everyone else has that idea too, since the tee sheets are packkkedddd.

MeTEEdeconk National.

Somerset Hills at 6,000 feet.

I Finally Took Exit 22A Off Of I-287 To Visit the USGA Museum It's a gem hiding in plain sight.

I’ve driven past the USGA Museum sign on I-287 more times than I can count, always thinking I’d stop “someday.” A few weeks ago, I finally did.

open.substack.com/pub/fromthed...

Who Should Be The U.S. Ryder Cup Captain in 2027? And no, it shouldn't be Tiger.

If the last (at least) two years of the Ryder Cup taught us anything, it’s that the captaincy matters. So who should be captain in 2027 for the US team?

fromthedropzone.substack.com/p/who-should...

golf is dumb

Assuming Burns wins his match, the final score would be 14.5 to 13.5. With the envelope rule giving a withdrawn singles match a tie and therefore a half point. If that counted as a loss, the score would be 14 to 14, with Europe retaining the Cup.

Rolex, please pay for another hour of commercial free golf.

These matches are all really good today. This is the Ryder Cup we thought it would be.

When a course plays harder on a random Wednesday when people sleep in their car overnight for a tee time than it does for a professional event, something is wrong.

Gotta think the Nassau Players Club members aren't happy with how their beloved Bethpage Black is playing this weekend.

Apparently, the motivational speech in the US team room for today was the 28-3 Super Bowl comeback. That’s only four scores. The US needs 9.5 scores.

Instead of having an envelope, I think the Ryder Cup should go like the NHL emergency goalie they just pull a random guy out of the stands to play.

Genuinely excited to watch the first four matches tomorrow.

Too bad it seems like the final result is not really in question.

Is Luke Donald the European captain in 2027?

The biggest European win since 1979 is 18.5 to 9.5 in 2004 at Oakland Hills. Just throwing that out there.

Maybe the US team needs to lay off the creatine.

And to think, the US players are getting paid for this performance.

Collin and Harris were 4 down through nine. It wouldn't matter who they played this morning. They'd be at least 2 down at the turn against every other foursomes side.

If Alabama can sit Jalen Hurts and win a national championship, the US can sit Scottie, right?

Is Bethpage Truly "The People's Country Club?" The best thing about Bethpage State Park is that it is for the people.

A public park with picnic pavilions, playing fields, tennis courts, and biking and hiking trails. Oh, and five golf courses. Bethpage is truly “the people’s country club.”

open.substack.com/pub/fromthed...

Yardage Book: Hole 4, Bethpage Black The fourth hole at Bethpage Black personifies the course.

When I played Bethpage Black, the moment I saw the fourth hole was the true “so *this* is the Black course” moment.

fromthedropzone.substack.com/p/yardage-bo...

Never forget.