These ladies are boss on the moss
Posted on Wednesday, July 2, 2008
ROGERS — Patrick Byerly and Craig Castrale are part of a small club-carrying fraternity in professional golf. They are men who caddie for their LPGA Tour-playing wives. Byerly (Jill McGill ) and Castrale (Nicole Castrale ) are in town for the Northwest Arkansas Championship at Pinnacle Country Club, two of at least six men expected to be caddying for their wives this week.
They are in select company: 2008 LPGA Tour winners Leta Lindley (caddie Matt Plagmann ) and Karen Stupples (caddie Bobby Inman ) also have their husbands on the bag.
At least two other players — Stacy Prammanasudh and Catriona Matthew — will have their husbands cleaning their clubs and offering advice, a job not suited to every spouse.
Byerly said he and McGill rarely talk shop after leaving the golf course. They’ll work out together, eat dinner and catch a movie without giving any indication of their profession.
“I’ve just had the approach to try and support her the best I can,” said Byerly, who was McGill’s fillin caddie in Mexico in 2006 before hooking up full time.
“You have your trials and errors where you think, ‘Oh, I’m never saying that again,’” he said. “We’ve only had one time where I really put my foot in my mouth.” Byerly was trying to help his wife maintain exempt status last year when he and McGill agreed that they disagreed on strategy during the second-to-last tournament of 2007 in Mobile, Ala.
McGill, 36, was on the cut line to finish among the top 90 money winners and stay exempt, which McGill had done throughout her pro career.
Byerly said he figured if Mc-Gill could birdie the last two holes, she’d have an opportunity to leapfrog enough players to jump into the top 90 on the money list.
“We’re at a par 5 [at 17 ] and she hit a great drive and it was playable to get to the green in two. And we laid up,” Byerly said. “I just didn’t think it was a smart play. That was the wrong thing to say.... I don’t think we spoke the rest of the round.” McGill finished 94 th on the 2007 money list, but has bounced back to rank No. 63 this season despite nonexempt status. She said disagreements with Byerly are more exception than rule. “We weren’t filing for divorce papers and we had it worked out eventually,” McGill said. “And 99. 9 percent of the time we’re right there, and we’re not on the same [page ] all the time. But the great thing about Patrick is he leaves his ego at the gate.” The Castrales have strong golf roots. Craig Castrale played college golf at Southern Illinois, became a golf pro and was a regular caddie for LPGA players when he met Nicole on the golf course in 2002. They married Jan. 8, 2005.
“If Craig does feel strongly that I have a bad club in my hand, he will tell me and gives me reasons why he doesn’t like it and we’ll talk through it. At that point, I have to decide if he’s right or wrong,” Nicole, 29, said. “When it’s all said and done, we don’t keep score that I made five decisions well and he only made two.” Once they hit the first tee Friday, the Castrales said they will forget what the rings on their left middle index fingers represent and focus on the game.
“Ultimately, Nicole’s the boss. I’m still her caddie out there,” Craig said. “There’s a fine line between treating her like my player and treating her like my wife.”
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