Jensen Castle with her friend/caddy Tom Moylan. (USGA Photo)
Who was that man caddying for University of Kentucky junior golfer Jensen Castle when she won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship in New York? Golf Channel analysts told us his name was Tom Moylan but not much else. So I asked Castle Wednesday to tell us a little bit more about the man who was on her bag.
Turns out a few years ago she was playing in a tournament in Charleston, S.C., and stayed with a host family — the Moylan and their three children. The Moylans and Castle became friends and have stayed in touch since then. When she goes from Columbia to Charleston to see her coach, Ricky Sullivan, she stays with the Moylans.
“We just hang out and cherish the time,” Castle said. “They came to watch me play in Puerto Rico my freshman year (at UK).”
Castle’s original plan was to drive from South Carolina to New York by herself in her not-so-new Toyota. The Moylans talked her out of that and convinced her to fly and Tom Moylan flew with her.
Castle planned to be her own caddy despite playing with a stress fracture in one rib that had kept her from playing golf for about two weeks before the Amateur. Moylan asked if she wanted him to carry the bag during her first practice round.
“He ended up doing it. He didn’t really do anything but we had fun,” Castle said. “After seeing the front nine (holes), I thought, ‘This is so hilly. No way am I going to push a cart (with her bag) up.’ So the second day he picked up the bag.”
She told him he could caddy as long as she stayed in the tournament if he would “just carry the bag and stay out of the way.”
His job was to carry the bag and hand her the club she wanted. But he also had a calming impact on Castle.
“He is very relaxed and calmed me down. He emphasized having fun,” Castle said. “He kept reiterating that to me. He said, ‘You need to smile. This is a great opportunity.’ It was just very relaxing to have him.”
He even helped her find a place to stay in nearby Greenwich, Ct., with friends. They had three children and room for her but she had to sleep on an air mattress even as she chased the amateur title.
“A bed is a bed. I was glad not to be alone in a hotel,” Castle said. “I slept on the air mattress for two nights. I finally got booted to a twin bed the last night.”
