Insights from an ANWA Caddie

Joe Zwickl’s day job as a caddie at Bandon Dunes is the envy of golf fanatics everywhere. This week, though, a different job takes him to an even more enviable locale: Augusta National Golf Club.

Zwickl will be caddying for Furman University’s Anna Morgan at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. This is his and Morgan’s second go-around at the ANWA, and they will be looking to improve on Morgan’s T-21 finish last year. An inside look at Augusta is always a treat, and Zwickl was kind enough to take some time to field my questions about the experience. (Joe’s answers have been lightly edited for clarity.)

Tell us a bit about yourself, your background in caddying, and how you met Anna Morgan.

Caddying wasn’t my original choice of profession. I used to be a chef. I’m proud to say that I burnt myself out of that industry at a younger age than most. One day I woke up and decided I was never going back to the kitchen, and I was going to caddie. It has been seven years since then, and it will be my second time caddying at ANGC in a meaningful tournament, which is still absolutely insane to me.

I started out caddying at Pinehurst, and I was lucky enough to get paired with Anna Morgan in the 2021 Women’s North and South tournament. During our first practice rounds together, I asked her what her goals in golf were. Very quickly she replied, “Play in the ANWA.” During the North and South, we learned that we work together extremely well, and most importantly we were able to keep it fun. We ended up finishing the tournament as the runner-up. We lost in the final match to Gina Kim on the 17th hole at Pinehurst No. 2.

As we were saying our goodbyes, Anna told me that if she qualified for the ANWA, she wanted me to be on her bag. We stayed in occasional contact for the next six or so months, and then one February morning I got a text from Anna with a picture of her invitation to play in the ANWA and the message, “Hey, know a good caddie?”

Our résumé together has been two North and Souths (runner-up in 2021 and semi-finalist in 2022), one ANWA, a U.S. Women’s Open qualifier (where she got a spot through a five-for-two playoff)), and the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles.

What was Anna’s goal going into the ANWA last year?

She wanted to make the cut and play in a tournament round at Augusta National. Happy to report that the goal was accomplished.

Goal for this year: win.

Had you or Anna seen Champions Retreat Golf Club, the venue for the first two rounds of the ANWA, prior to the tournament? What’s the course like, and does it favor any particular part of the game?

Neither of us had seen Champions Retreat. I did some very light research and saw the layout and who designed the courses. Champions Retreat is everything you’d expect from the designs of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player. You pretty much need to hit it down the middle and avoid the hazards—I mean “penalty areas.” The greens were very new Bermuda and rock hard, killing a lot of spin on approaches. If you are wild off the tee, Champions Retreat will eat your lunch.

With the pressure to get in the top 30 after two rounds to qualify for the final round at Augusta National, how tense does that last nine at Champions Retreat become? Anna was hovering right above the cut line last year and had a couple of late bogeys. Was there anything you and she talked about during those final holes?

We had a rain delay in the second round and had to finish our last six holes, I think, on Friday morning. I don’t recall what exactly we said during that stretch because it was so tense. Not between us—just the situation.

Anytime things start moving quickly with Anna. I go stand eye to eye with her and tell her, “I need you here with me right now.” Basically it’s a reminder to stay in the moment, and that one shot isn’t the end of the world. It’s hard to explain the feeling on that final stretch when you’re trying to get or stay in the top 30. Anna is as tough as they come, though, and was able to battle it out, which was awesome to watch and be a part of.

Did you caddie for Anna during the practice round Friday? Some players take the opportunity to work with an Augusta caddie to get insider knowledge.

So the way the practice round works is all the girls have to hire an ANGC caddie. The only person allowed inside the ropes with them is the caddie they plan on using for the tournament. We picked the brain of our caddie and also were just both taking the whole situation in. For me, it was my first time on property, so my first experience at Augusta was one not many people get to have and one I’ll never forget.

Any behind-the-scenes details you can share?

I don’t know if people talk about this, but I was completely blown away by the amount of sprinkler heads there are. You truly do not need a rangefinder out there. Other than that, I was pretty overwhelmed by just getting to walk the golf course and go on all of the greens.

Oh, and when Anna was hitting bunker shots from the back bunker on 12 towards Rae’s Creek, the ANGC caddie and I were blocking balls from going into the creek, and the ANGC caddie slipped and fell in the creek. He said, “Now you have a funny story for your friends,” as he stood in the creek in his whites with water up to his waist.

How did you prepare for reading Augusta’s greens? Was there a green or putt that was especially difficult to read?

Initially I was nervous about the greens, but once I actually got to walk on them and really look at them, I was less intimidated. At that point, I had been working at Pinehurst No. 2 for a bunch of years, so I was accustomed to the idea of a five-foot putt breaking two to three feet.

On No. 6, Anna’s tee shot ended up on the right plateau with the pin front left. She had to putt backwards up and around and back down to the front. We three-putted, but it was truly one of the craziest putts I’ve ever seen.

Many ANWA participants have talked about the intimidation factor of the first tee. Was there anything you said to Anna before the round began to keep the nerves in check?

I don’t know if there is anything to be said. It was the first time in either of our lives that we were heading to a golf course where there was a gallery of 40,000 people. What do you say? I told her to remember that all of these people are here to watch you play golf, so let’s go out there and show off for them. But nothing really prepares you for the 10 minutes of standing on the first tee, waiting to tee off at Augusta National with that many people watching, and with Nancy Lopez, Annika Sörenstam, and Condoleezza Rice sitting within an arm’s length.

We see the men play Augusta National every year. Was there a particular shot or hole that you thought was a better fit for the women?

This isn’t going to be a hot take at all, but it has to be 13. Looking through my yardage book from last year, there is no chance of hitting anything but a 3-wood or 7-wood into that green if we’re going for it in two. It is the epitome of a “momentous decision.”

A large portion of the field has a chance to win on Saturday at Augusta, as it’s normally pretty bunched after the Champions rounds. Anna was only a handful of shots from the leaders. Was there a specific moment or turning point, positive or negative, during the round?

We had a moment between 16 green and 17 tee when we realized it wasn’t going to happen. I felt a little relieved, as I’m sure she did. I thanked her for the opportunity of a lifetime and said something like, “This is something I’ll never forget.” She then proceeded to make par on 17 and birdie on 18, which was met with a classic ANGC roar. I wasn’t ready for it and neither was Anna. I’d like to think we ended on a positive note, and we’ve talked about those two holes a few times since. Golf is weird in that when you stop pressing and the expectations go away, the game seems more free and easy. Maybe that’s what will get Anna the win this go-around.

Is there anything you and Anna learned from last year that you’ll take into the plan for this year?

It would be wrong of me to speculate about what she learned, but I can tell you about what I learned and what we talked about after the round.

I believe there was a lot in the final two holes of the tournament. She could’ve been upset about how the day went, but she wasn’t. We were both just happy to be there and to have the privilege to be part of a great tournament. But we ended our last conversation before leaving Augusta with an agreement that next year we were going to win and would accept nothing less. We know what playing golf in front of that many people is like, and we know what a tournament round at Augusta National is like. Everything seemed like such a big deal last year and since then we’ve also competed in a U.S. Open together. I think that may give us a little leg up on first-timers.

We’ve only had rookies win at ANWA. Do you think players with experience will have the upper hand this year?

It’s so hard to say. The tournament hasn’t been around long enough for anyone to make that judgment, in my opinion. But I believe there is something to be said for playing in front of that many people a couple of times to get it under your belt.

How rough is it returning to Bandon after the Augusta experience? (Kidding!)

It’s going to be rough only because I fly home and the next day I start a five-day job! But I do have nine days off after that. I look forward to playing Chambers Bay and Waverley Country Club with my wonderful girlfriend Amber, and also going out for a couple of date nights while in the big city.