Looper of the Year
Ben Griffin’s caddie drove six hours to rescue his clubs from the Phoenix airport after they missed his flight to LA
Another week, another airline completely the transportation of golf clubs. The victim this time was PGA Tour sophomore Ben Griffin, who touched down at LAX after the WM Phoenix Open hoping to play the Genesis Invitational pro-am on Monday only to discover his clubs didn't make the journey with him. He played the pro-am with a rental set after being told his clubs would be put on the next United direct from Phoenix to LA at 2 p.m. Unfortunately that flight came and went with no sign of his sticks, as did the following flight by way of San Francisco, and suddenly things were looking pretty grim.
That's when Griffin’s caddie—10-year PGA Tour vet Alex Ritthamel—rounded up a couple of buddies, piled in the rental car and set off across the desert. Six hours later they pulled up to Phoenix International Airport, where they managed to locate the clubs and return them to their rightful owner. Here’s how it all went down from both Ben and Alex’s perspectives.
Obviously this wasn't an ideal situation, but as Griffin explains, it comes with the territory as a professional golfer. Thanks to Alex’s willingness to log some serious hours in the saddle, Griffin had his clubs in time for an evening practice round on Tuesday and should be ready to go by Thursday. All’s well that ends well … until they return that rental car that is. Sounds like Avis is going to be pissssssed when they see that odometer.