Caddie Michael Greller has had some memorable moments at USGA championships, including being on the bag of Jordan Spieth when he won the U.S. Open a decade ago at Chambers Bay, not far from his home in Washington.
But to hear Greller tell it, seeing his older brother, Tom, who qualified the hard way for this week’s 45th U.S. Senior Open Championship at The Broadmoor’s East Course in Colorado Springs, Colo., takes the cake.
“I’m calling it the greatest [sports] accomplishment in the Greller family,” Michael, whose younger sister, Katie, was an All-American Division III basketball player at George Fox University in Oregon, told the USGA’s David Shefter. “I’m just watching golf. I don’t hit any of the shots.”
For more than 20 years, Tom, 53, had been trying to play his way into USGA championships and he finally did so, becoming one of 39 players to make it through local and final qualifying.
He’s also one of 44 first-time U.S. Senior Open competitors in pursuit of the Francis D. Ouimet Memorial Trophy
Tom survived the first 18-hole qualifier on April 7 at Arrowhead Golf Club, in Molalla, Ore., in a 4-for-3 playoff that included a bogey on the first playoff hole. Five weeks later, before the results were even official that Tom had booked his ticket in windy conditions at Bend (Ore.) Golf Club, Michael had booked an AirBnB for the family to attend. But he won’t be on the bag, even though Spieth is skipping this week’s Tour stop in Detroit.
That honor belongs to Tom’s 20-year-old son, Ray, a rising sophomore on the Northwestern College (Orange City, Iowa) men’s golf team, who will ably serve as caddie. Tom’s other son, 17-year-old Luke, will also make the trek, along with wife, Tabitha.
But little brother already has lent a hand in arranging a practice round alongside Hall of Famers Ernie Els and Bernhard Langer on Monday afternoon and is helping strategize how to play The Broadmoor’s par-70 East Course that stretches to 7,247 yards but won’t play too long at 6,200-foot-plus altitude.
You can read more about Tom Greller’s journey to his first USGA championship, here, including this nugget: When he qualified for the Senior Open, Michael was caddying for Spieth during a practice round at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, alongside Rickie Fowler. Spieth and Fowler sent video messages, the latter jokingly saying “we’ll see you at Shinnecock Hills next year.”
That, of course, was a playful reference to the fact that the U.S. Senior Open champion receives an exemption into the following year’s U.S. Open. Tom likely hasn’t dreamed that big but if he pulled off being the Cinderella Story out of nowhere, the question would be: Who does Michael caddie for at Shinnecock – his boss or his big brother?
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