Trevino: "Somehow we've got to get the caddie ranks back"

Golfweek's Adam Schupak attended the Western Golf Association's 4th annual Green Coat Gala and reports that former caddies turned stewards of the game look back at their looping days with increasing fondness.

This year Mike Keiser, Lee Trevino and Peter Jacobsen represented the past-caddie ranks, while Michigan State junior Jacob Mosley talked on behalf of the 870 students currently on Evans Scholarships.

For years, the caddie yard was the academy from which the likes of Trevino, Lee Elder, and 1985 Western Open champ Jim Thorpe graduated as professional golfers. Changing social patterns, and the golf cart, eliminated many of the caddie shacks making Trevino one of the last celebrated alumni of that hard school.

"Somehow we've got to get the caddie ranks back," Trevino said.

While We Were Sleeping Files: 76 World Class Players Took A Really Long Time To Play Golf Saturday

Reduced field sizes are always declared the only cure for PGA Tour slow play, which, according to Daniel Hicks of APF, hit a new low for Saturday's third round of the WGC-HSBC Champions when the 76-player field featuring a sizeable portion of the world top 100 golfers, took 5 1/2 hours to play.

There were complicating factors: high, wet rough, split tee threesomes and reachable fours and fives for everyone because the ball goes too far. Still, just 76 players. 76! And they aren't looking for lost balls.

The leader at the time, Graeme McDowell, called the situation "ridiculous."

"We've got threeballs, a lot of people out there and a couple of driveable par fours and a couple of two-shot par fives. Just a slow golf course. A long day," said McDowell, the 2010 US Open champion.

Ryder Cup star Poulter was less diplomatic in his assessment of the day after a level-par 72 left him four behind McDowell.

"There's no excuses. We need to be pressing and making sure people are keeping up to pace," Poulter told AFP.

"Five and a half hours is too long to play golf. End of story."

Bubba Watson suggested what he always does: penalizing players. Silly him!

"You have to penalise people," he told reporters after the first three rounds at the Phoenix Open earlier this year took well in excess of five hours.

"Give them a stroke (penalty). It could cause you to win or lose. I think strokes is the only way to do it."

Neither McDowell or Poulter took to Twitter to gripe, perhaps knowing they'd be fined for pointing out the obvious.